The Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (PFRCC) has announced that it would sponsor a pilot project to start implementing the Salmon Stronghold approach to salmon habitat conservation in Canada. PFRCC informed that the pilot project was announced at a news conference where the Council released a report titled “Applying the Salmon Stronghold Concept in Canada.”
Mark Angelo, Chair of the PFRCC, explained that Salmon Strongholds focuses on the need to better care for key salmon habitats in crucial areas where science has proven it’s essential to maintain the abundance, productivity and diversity of wild Pacific salmon species and populations. He said that implementing the Salmon Stronghold concept in Canada would have significant benefits to the long-term viability of wild salmon and steelhead populations.
PFRCC states that it will also work closely with partners, such as the Rivers Institute at BCIT, the Chehalis First Nation, the Nature Trust of British Columbia, and is establishing an agreement with the Portland, Oregon-based Wild Salmon Center, that will focus on the exchange of technical information as well as provide mutual assistance.
Guido Rahr, President & Chief Executive of the Wild Salmon Center, opined that historically, salmon conservation has been driven by crisis management after watersheds are degraded and salmon populations are depleted, but we now know this approach must be complemented with a pro-active, preventative strategy to conserve healthy wild salmon ecosystems.
