Record-low salmon monitoring earns federal government a failing grade for conservation efforts
Record-low salmon monitoring earns federal government a failing
grade for conservation efforts say SFU experts
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is not monitoring enough spawning
streams to accurately assess the health of Pacific salmon, according to a new study led by Simon
Fraser University researchers Michael Price and John Reynolds.
The study published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences reveals that the
DFO does not have enough data to determine the status of 50 per cent of all managed salmon
populations along B.C.’s north and central coasts.
Analysis of DFO's own data by the SFU researchers and researchers from other institutions
reveals that the annual number of streams the DFO monitored has steadily decreased to its
lowest level ever. This, despite a key commitment of Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy to assess the
health of salmon populations, and to increase the abundance of those populations deemed at risk.
One of the five key recommendations in the article calls for increased federal funding to ensure
that salmon are adequately monitored, which equates to <1% of the $1.4 billion in additional
funding recently allocated to DFO’s Pacific Region over the next 5 years.
Visits to spawning streams provide vital information on trends over time, and biological status
required to guide fisheries and conservation. Without such information, fisheries may continue to
catch diminished populations without the necessary warning bells being sounded.
“Our knowledge of salmon populations in B.C. is eroding rapidly,” says Price. “Without
increased support for annual spawning surveys, the rich legacy of population data available for
B.C.’s coast is at serious risk of becoming irrelevant for future assessments of management and
conservation status.”
Indeed, “you can't manage salmon populations if you don't know how they're doing” says
Reynolds, who is also the Tom Buell BC Leadership Chair in Aquatic Conservation.
Fast Facts:
• Annual counts of spawning streams have declined by 70 per cent since the 1980s.
• Today, the status of 50 per cent of all wild salmon populations on B.C.’s north and central
coasts cannot be assessed due to the lack of monitoring initiatives;
• The Fraser River sockeye commercial fishery closed in July due to lower than expected
returns;
• Low returns of Skeena River sockeye in 2017 prompted commercial, recreational, and
food-fishery closures for First Nation communities along the river;
• Diminished salmon returns negatively impact the B.C. salmon fishing industry
(commercial and recreational), which annually contributes $500 million and ~4,000 fulltime
jobs to the local economy.
Link to study: http://at.sfu.ca/aSFqMp
Link to research summary: http://at.sfu.ca/FfvBPn