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. 

Support our Wild Salmon Program
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.

Support this work
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

Three wolves stand in the intertidal zone, on rocks covered in seaweed and kelp, looking out onto the water.

Wolves, whales, and water

We have completed our analysis of inbreeding across Resident killer whale populations, yielding some interesting results.
Through the hazy orange and yellow light of an underwater river scence, a salmon emerges, looking a little haggard, mouth open.

Rethinking fisheries

Raincoast has long argued that ocean fisheries removing “yields” of intercepted salmon on migration routes are not sustainable into the future.
Shauna Doll and Brooke Gerle put a measuring tape around a giant tree in the rainforest, surrounded by ferns.

Conserving and restoring Coastal Douglas-fir forests

We’re now establishing long term monitoring and sampling protocols, developing management plans, and carrying out active restoration.
The Raincoast Fraser River Estuary team stands out in the water during low tide, measuring salmon flow.

Fraser Estuary research and restoration

Raincoast is undertaking a multi-year initiative that began in 2016 to conduct research and restore habitat in the Fraser River Estuary.
Wolves walk out onto a muddy flat during a low tide, on the central coast, surrounded by giant forests and some eagles or hawks flap in the foreground.

The science and ethics of wolf conservation

Marked by a long history of persecution and astonishing resilience, wolves continue to be in the crosshairs of both the public and policymakers.
A Grizzly bear stands in the river with a giant salmon in their mouth and paws, water spalshing all about with grass and rocks in the background.

Standing our ground and recognizing a broader horizon

Applied science in its most productive form requires a commitment to acknowledging – and communicating – difficult realities.
Hexagons filled with whales and other illustrated marine animals as well as maps and machinery lay on top of a beautiful Rocky Mountain lake scene.

The Global Plastic Pollution Treaty negotiations failed: What this means for microplastic pollution in Canada’s environment

Over two decades of scientific research reveals that microfibres are the predominant form of microplastics contaminating virtually all reaches of our planet.
A rainy foggy scene unfolds along a river, as seen from a canoe, with green coniferous forest and brown grass trailing off through the mountains.

Final field days of 2024

Canoes, old-growth forests, and appreciating the cycle of life.