Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative

Pacific salmon need our help. In recent years, climate change, habitat loss and fishing pressures have negatively affected Pacific salmon at every stage of their lifecycle. The goal of the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative is to stop the current decline of Pacific salmon and to support a transformed, strong and adaptable fishery that is sustainable – where protection, production, and prosperity go hand in hand.

Transcript

Hello everyone, and thank you for joining me for the launch of an unprecedented effort to save one of Canada’s most iconic fish.

I’m joining you from my home in Kespukwitk on Mi’kma’ki Mi’kma’ki – the traditional, unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq peoples.

Pacific salmon are essential. They are the lifeblood of so many cultures, economies and ecosystems along our west coast.

In fact, they affect just about every aspect of the Pacific ecosystem and the people that live within it.

However, Pacific salmon populations are in steep decline, due to climate change, habitat loss and other increasing threats.

Coastal First Nations, stewardship organizations, and harvester groups have been calling for urgent, dramatic action to save these populations.

And today, our Government is launching a new, $647 million dollar Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative – the largest, most transformative investment in salmon by any government in history.

The strategy will be framed by four pillars, reflecting 4 key priorities:

conservation and stewardship;
enhanced hatchery production;
harvesting transformation; and
integrated management and planning.

This Strategy will be a collaborative effort. One that is built from the ground up, in partnership with all levels of government, Indigenous peoples, industry, environmental organizations, and others key stakeholders.

We are going to harness each other’s contributions to deliver the best solutions to save and rebuild salmon populations.

The challenges facing Pacific salmon are enormous. But they are not insurmountable.

With the development of this historic Pacific Salmon Strategy, we will deploy all our resources on a level that meets the scale of this crisis head on.

Together we can do this. We have to.

For Pacific wild salmon, and for all the ecosystems, livelihoods, and ways of life that depend on the future of this species.

Thank you.

The Initiative

The Government of Canada's $647.1-million investment is the largest-ever Government investment in efforts to save Pacific salmon. Through this investment, the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative will guide a strategic and coordinated long term response, rooted in collaborative action, to stabilize and protect Pacific salmon for the ecosystems, people and communities that depend upon their sustainability.