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Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative update

Issue 2022-1: May 2022

The Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI) represents the federal government’s long-term strategy to stop serious declines in key Pacific salmon populations through a series of science-based approaches, achieved through collaboration across governments, partners, stakeholders and interested parties to protect and rebuild stocks.

PSSI Update reflects recent notable activities, achievements and what is on the horizon.

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Stay informed with "PSSI update"

The Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI) was launched by the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in June 2021, with the goal of stemming the severe and ongoing decline of key Pacific salmon populations on Canada’s West Coast and restoring them to a sustainable level for future generations of Canadians. The $647-million long-term initiative is unprecedented in both value and scope, and the work will require the efforts of not only the Department, but of those whose lives and interests are affected by the state of Pacific salmon. This bulletin will share progress on the PSSI. The PSSI Update will be posted on the Department’s PSSI web page.

Salmon stewardship and enhancement

Protecting and rebuilding key Pacific salmon populations is the overarching goal of the PSSI. The Department’s Salmon Enhancement Program (SEP) and its capacity to support collaborative action through salmon stewardship, habitat restoration and enhancement is integral to achieving these goals. To amplify this work, 2 new directorates were formed and recently ramped up with the arrival of Steve Newton as Director of Salmon Stewardship, and Brigid Payne as Director of Salmon Enhancement.

The Stewardship Directorate’s focus is on habitat restoration and salmon rebuilding work grounded in climate adaptation, collaborative action and resilience (the ability to persist through change). DFO sees expanding our partnerships as an essential ingredient to success on this front, and the directorate will support and further the stewardship work already happening at the local and watershed level. We are also working with Indigenous partners to find the best means of better integrating traditional knowledge into salmon conservation planning and rebuilding efforts. On the Enhancement side, hatchery planning and operation will be guided by DFO’s broader objectives of sustainability and conservation of Pacific salmon, with community hatchery and other stewardship projects continuing to evolve under the Community Involvement Program.

Engagement

First Nations partners and stakeholders, along with our own Pacific regional staff have now been briefed on the overarching elements of the PSSI. A second round of discussions have since begun across the board, with a view to taking a deeper dive into each of the 4 pillars (Conservation and Stewardship, Salmon Enhancement, Harvest Transformation, and Integration and Collaboration) to better convey the interdependency and work planning challenges of the PSSI.

International Year of the Salmon

11 people standing in front of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir John Franklin

From L-R: Jason Hwang (PSF), Andrew Thomson (DFO), Vladimir Radchenko (NPAFC), Evgeny Pakhomov (UBC), Nicholas Ens (UVic), Jackie King (DFO), Cynthia Wright (DFO), Wes Shoemaker (DFO), Myron Roth (BC), Derek Moss (CCG), Mark Saunders (IYS). Click to enlarge.

The 2022 International Year of the Salmon (IYS) is a 5-year initiative intended to ascertain the conditions needed to ensure the resilience of salmon and people throughout the Northern Hemisphere. A team of scientists from DFO departed on February 18 for a 5-week expedition in the North Pacific Ocean aboard the research ship CCGS Sir John Franklin, in an unprecedented cooperative survey of the North Pacific. The expedition is the first pan-Pacific survey and a major effort to fill the gaps in our understanding of Pacific salmon distribution, productivity, and survival in coastal and high seas environments because of changing global climate conditions.

The CCGS Sir John Franklin, one of two Canadian vessels that participated in this historic mission, served as the backdrop for an event to welcome the safe return of the ship, crew and research scientists on March 25th. The findings from this mission (which received funding from the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund) will help to fill the gaps in our knowledge about the changing climate cycle and provide key insights for the work of the PSSI.

Response to 2021 floods in British Columbia

Significant floods in southern British Columbia in November 2021 had a considerable impact both on residents and the local environment. This unprecedented "atmospheric river" event affected the Squamish River Watershed, the Lower Fraser River Watershed, and the Thompson and Nicola Rivers near Merritt, along with rivers and streams on Vancouver Island.

We have co-initiated flood recovery planning tables with partners like the Pacific Salmon Foundation in the lower Fraser River area, and the Fraser Basin Council in the Thompson region. These forums include our Provincial counterparts, First Nations, academia and NGOs. We are actively engaged at those tables where much of the focus is on identifying joint priorities. Planning for assessment and restoration work is under way for work that will begin both immediately and following the spring freshet.

We are actively engaged with provincial authorities, local municipalities, and property owners with impacted infrastructure, to provide advice and regulatory approvals where appropriate, to support timely repair activities in order to avoid or reduce impacts to fish and fish habitat. Internally, we are consulting various DFO subject matter experts through a Flood Response Task Team to effectively coordinate flood related activities and support flood recovery planning work.

Given the multi-year life cycle of Pacific salmon species, we may not be able to assess the effect of the flooding on fish populations for 2 to 5 years. Impacts on fish habitat will become more evident following spring freshet (i.e., following high spring flows from snowmelt), when the structure and function of river and stream channels will begin to stabilize. By working alongside partners to determine effective immediate, medium- and long-term actions, we are working to promote recovery of fish and fish habitat.

Our goal isn’t just to build back better, but also to build for resilience. We are working with all our partners to promote approaches which will serve to not only benefit fish, but also create resilient communities. A dedicated page has been established to keep the public and interested parties up to date on our ongoing flood response efforts.

Because you asked

Over the past 6 months, departmental staff have met virtually with hundreds of partners, stakeholders, First Nations, and others to explain the broad strokes of the PSSI and to seek support for and participation in this important initiative.

An undertaking of the magnitude of the PSSI necessarily demands significant start-up work, and we have been busy putting in place governance structures and terms of reference for this pan-departmental initiative to ensure that our efforts are most effective.

Coming soon

With the central coordinating and support hub of the PSSI Secretariat now up, and directors at the helm of the 2 SEP directorates, the work of establishing a Habitat Restoration Centre of Expertise and retrofitting and building hatcheries has begun.

We’re also set to circulate the mass marking/ mark selective fishery paper to stakeholders for feedback in the coming weeks.

As promised, we are also working on the details of a Salmon Licence Retirement Program and an Indigenous Communal Commercial Licence Alternation Program. Discussions with affected harvesters have already begun.

We will be featuring a calendar on the PSSI web page very soon that reflects upcoming consultation sessions and dates.

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