Shifting salmon policy
Photo by Alex Harris.
Ecosystems are complex. They are communities of living organisms connected through interacting processes and features on the land, in water, and between the two. Yet BC’s antiquated environmental policy doesn’t reflect this. Colonial society governs ecosystems by siloing them into distinct ministries and resources instead of reflecting the interconnected nature of habitats that make them function in the living world. This “siloed decision making”is the root cause of many of the ecological challenges we face today.
Our policy goals
1. Manage fisheries for ecosystems
- Set salmon harvest at levels that optimize the benefits of spawning salmon to watersheds and wildlife.
- Shift away from historic management paradigms that minimize the number of spawning salmon reaching rivers and maximize harvest (called Maximum Sustainable Yield). Move towards fisheries management that meets salmon spawning targets that are ecologically based, not harvest-based.
- Shift harvest toward selective terminal fisheries (conducted in or near the rivers of origin) that respect the ‘place-based’ nature of salmon, and optimize the benefits to ecosystems, Indigenous cultures, and local communities.
2. Implement ecological-based governance
- Conservation planning and a commitment to sustainability that looks 7 generations ahead.
- A “whole-of-government” approach that implements shared solutions by Indigenous, federal, provincial, and municipal governments to achieve salmon recovery from inland watersheds and rivers, to the open ocean.
- Governance that honours Aboriginal rights and title, inherent Indigenous jurisdiction and law, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
- Sustainable funding strategies for watershed-scale restoration and planning.
3. Advance land-use policies that prioritize the health of wild salmon and biodiversity
- Zoning that bolsters functioning watersheds and riparian habitat (i.e.protect natural features, limit impervious surfaces, reduce urban sprawl, adopt nature-based solutions).
- Forestry policy that prioritizes salmon health by restricting clear-cutting in salmon watersheds, and incentivizes a sustainable, second or third-growth forest economy.
- Climate adaptation policy that incentivizes nature-based solutions including natural shorelines, intact riparian areas, unrestricted floodplains, managed retreat, and use of rain-gardens in urban areas.
Our recent reports
Recent articles
Salmon eating wolves
Frankly, deer, I don’t give a damn. Dr. Chris Darimont talks with CBC’s “As it happens “
Journey into the Great Bear
Join Raincoast at upcoming Vancouver Island slideshows March 19 – 27, 2009 as we follow coastal wolves, bears and salmon into this wild region March 24, 7:00 pm Qualicum Parksville Civic Centre Auditorium with Raincoast’s Captain Brian Falconer and Maple Leaf Adventures March 25, 7:00 pm Comox, Stan Hagan Theatre with Raincoast’s Captain Brian Falconer…
eBay urged to halt guided trophy hunt auctions
Kelly Burgess Los Angeles Times blog February 13, 2009 Some North American wildlife advocacy groups are urging eBay to ban the posting of certain guided trophy hunts currently available on the online auction site.
eBay encourages wildlife depletion?
E Commerce Journal February 13, 2009 eBay auction website was asked to ban the sales of guided trophy hunts for bears, wolves, cougars and other top predators.
Raincoast calls on eBay to stop auctioning trophy hunts
CFAX 1070 Feb 11, 2009 Adam Stirling Raincoast says the lives of BC’s majestic predators such as grizzly bears, black bears and cougars, should not be sold online. But, Raincoast executive director Chris Genovali says that’s exactly what’s happening with trophy hunts being auctioned off on eBay.
Raincoast launches eBay campaign to end bids for grizzly hunts
February 11, 2009 Sidney, B.C. – Wildlife advocates urged eBay to halt the sale of trophy hunts of grizzly and brown bears, black bears, wolves, cougars and other predators on its website.