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

Some of the many booths and activities at the Ocean Week Victoria festival at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Celebrate World Ocean Day with Raincoast

Raincoast’s sailing research vessel Achiever will be joining World Ocean Day celebrations at Fisherman’s Wharf on Sunday, June 8.
A grizzly bear is seen through vegetation.

Indigenous Roundtable gathering in Richmond, May 27-28

The Province of British Columbia has officially reinitiated its consultation process on the Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework and Commercial Bear Viewing Strategy, marking a pivotal moment in advancing collaborative, Indigenous-led grizzly bear stewardship across the province.
A graphic showing smaller icons that represent the water samples of five different categories: source water, freshwater, urban runoff, tap water, and marine environment.

A watershed based approach to water sampling

Measuring pollutants in different water categories throughout the watersheds of British Columbia.
Kristen stands in front of a podium with a microphone presenting a power-point that reads "Post wildfire logging"

Raincoast presents at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference

Raincoast biologists attended the 43rd gathering of the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference to present on forests, fire, water, and salmon.
Northern Resident killer whale A55 is captured from above, curiously lying on his side displaying a unique behaviour, surrounded by white-sided dolphins.

That time A55 Northern Resident killer whale rolled over, surrounded by Pacific white-sided dolphins

Drone footage captured during photogrammetry work shows unique behaviour from Northern Resident A55, surrounded by white-sided dolphins.
A stunning underwater closeup of a Chinook salmon, with a blue haze of light all around.

New film: Shared Water, Shared Crisis

New film shows Canadian scientists and First Nations leaders working together to protect Southern Resident Killer Whales and Chinook salmon.
4 youth watch as someone draws on a whiteboard onboard Achiever.

Encouraging and recognizing youth environmental action

Raincoast and Take a Stand: Youth for Conservation launch another edition of the Student Innovation Challenge to empower youth voices and actions.
Belugas surface watchfully, together, in an inlet on a beautiful sunny day with light dancing on the water.

Too loud to talk? Belugas tune in to ultrasonic channels

New research shows that beluga whales may exploit ultrasonic signals to maintain communication in noisy environments.