Wild Salmon Program

Using science, policy, and restoration to improve the health of pacific salmon.

Photo by Fernando Lessa.

Raincoast’s Wild Salmon Program is focused on ensuring that wild salmon thrive across their historic range at abundance levels that sustain wildlife and communities. The Wild Salmon Program addresses threats facing the survival of wild salmon. We offer solutions to the systemic problems that drive short-sighted and commodity-based decisions on the land, in the water, and over resources, by all levels of government. 

Underwater photo of 4 Salmon smolts.
Photo by Fernando Lessa.
A school of salmon as seen from below in the Fraser River.
Photo by Fernando Lessa.

Salmon are the foundation of who we are 

Pacific salmon are a foundation species. Different from a keystone species, a foundation species is important because of the role it plays due to its sheer biomass in the ecosystem, and the strong influence this has on structuring an ecological community. Foundation species support ecosystems from the bottom up. 

Pacific Salmon support dozens of species of marine life out in the open ocean, and even more in their home waters where they come back to spawn. They also support the people of the Pacific Northwest, and have done so for thousands of years. Salmon are part of the ecological and cultural fabric of our coast.

A wild salmon crisis 

British Columbia is in an unprecedented wild salmon crisis. Intensified by a warming North Pacific Ocean, more extreme aquatic conditions, decades of habitat loss, overharvesting, as well as fish farm and hatchery impacts, many wild salmon populations in BC are experiencing low to record low returns. 

Despite reductions in fishing pressure over the last several decades, the situation for many populations is not improving. The reasons for this are complex, but recovery is hampered by decades of frontier resource ideology that has compromised the watersheds, the rivers, and the fish themselves. Fisheries that harvested wild salmon to their limits are now sustained by hatcheries. Climate change is now intensifying the consequences of these actions. 

Although wild salmon face unparalleled threats, there are more people committed to, and concerned about, wild salmon recovery than ever before. Almost 90% of BC residents are worried about the future of salmon. If we work together, we can restore healthy, abundant populations of wild spawning salmon to wild rivers in British Columbia.

Fraser River Chum salmon settle on the rocks near the bottom under a shadow.
Photo by April Bencze / Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

Photo by Fernando Lessa

A place-based approach

Over the last decade, we have been filling a gap left by the federal and provincial governments to support the recovery of wild salmon and their habitats in all their life stages, from the headwaters of their spawning grounds to the deep waters of their marine rearing grounds. We have completed habitat restoration, championed estuary protection, undertaken policy analysis, led research, furthered fisheries reform, and advanced ideas for new governance models. The success of this work is rooted in collaboration with Indigenous Nations, government agencies, researchers, NGOs, industry, and community groups.

The challenges that salmon face vary from place to place and from species to species. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for salmon recovery. This is why we believe that a place-based approach, focused on the watersheds where salmon spawn and adapt, and people in those places, is the best way forward.

Rigorous scientific research 

Raincoast’s scientists have published over 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers on salmonids in a variety of academic journals. Increasingly, we use a two-eyed seeing approach which weaves academic science with Indigenous knowledge to better understand the wildlife and ecosystems of coastal British Columbia. 

We want to better understand Pacific salmon to fill information gaps and advance their recovery and long-term persistence. Embracing this vision of wild salmon on the landscape requires consideration of salmon beyond their commodity value as catch, and embrace their value as spawning salmon in rivers, feeding wildlife, nourishing ecosystems, and influencing terrestrial landscapes.

School of juvenile salmon under water.
Photo by Fernando Lessa.

Recent articles

A Southern Resident killer whale and a young one breath on the surface of the Salish Sea.

Why Southern Resident killer whales need emergency protection

Preventing extinction requires bold action. Will the Government act before it’s too late?
A grey and white wolf stands on the tree line looking out over the grass and meadow flowers.

Episode 3: Wolves, biodiversity, and food security with Susan Bragdon

In our third Of Wolves and Women episode, Susan Bragdon reveals what her observations uncovered about the role of female wolves.
A wolf lies down on a gentle slope in the snow and looks out over the low area.

Episode 2: Wolf social behaviour with Jane Packard 

In our second Of Wolves and Women episode, Jane Packard discusses the importance of learning to see the world through the eyes of another being — whether two-legged or four-legged.
The dorsal fin of the killer whale known as J35, or Tahlequah, is seen above the ocean surface as she pushes her dead newborn calf, J61, with her nose.

A mother’s grief, a population on the brink

This population is on a trajectory to extinction. But trajectories can change. There is still time.
Several Southern Resident killer whales surface together gliding quickly through the blue water.

Give your input to DFO on vessel management to protect Southern Residents

Input on recovery of Southern Resident killer whales and potential general vessel management measures for 2025 and 2026.
Diane Boyd stands in a cutblock holding a radio antenna up in the air while tracking wolves.

Episode 1: Gray wolf recovery with Diane Boyd

In our inaugural Of Wolves and Women episode, Diane Boyd reminds us “It’s people management, not wolf management.”
Excerpt from a Woods Island restoration plan.

Habitat restoration occurring in the Woods Island Marsh in the Fraser River Estuary

We are restoring marsh habitats to improve conditions for juvenile salmon and other wildlife.
A crew stands in the Fraser River Estuary planning their next move.

Job posting: Salmon Conservation Technician

The deadline to apply is February 14, 2025.