New funding supports expansion of the Pacific Salmon Explorer
October 11, 2017
On October 10, 2017, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard announced that the Pacific Salmon Foundation’ Salmon Watersheds Program will receive $1.2 million through the Coastal Restoration Fund to expand the Pacific Salmon Explorer to key salmon-bearing watersheds in British Columbia (BC)....
Read moreNew Data Visualization Tool – the Pacific Salmon Explorer!
June 15, 2016
We are excited to announce the launch of the Pacific Salmon Explorer!...
Read moreSalmon Habitat Report Cards for the Nass Area
June 2, 2016
The Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) is pleased to announce the release of The Nass Area: Cumulative Pressures on Salmon Habitat (Summary Report Cards).
Through direction from the Nisga’a Lisims Government, and in collaboration with the Gitanyow, Gitxsan, and Lax Kw'alaams First Nations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, BC Ministry of Environment, ESSA Technologies, and other local experts, the PSF coordinated an assessment of landscape-scale pressures and the resulting risks to salmon habitat in the Nass Area of northern British Columbia.
The “Nass Area” encompasses the Nass River watershed along with watersheds draining into Portland Canal and Observatory Inlet. This project assessed risk to salmon habitats posed by human and environmental pressures in the region. Using the best available data, a “report card” was generated for each geographically and genetically distinct Nass salmon populations (called Conservation Units under Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy).
This type of coarse-scale assessment is useful for building a common understanding of the pressures on freshwater salmon habitats and for informing land-use planning decisions and developing strategies that mitigate risks to freshwater salmon habitat.
More information about the project, as well as links to the full technical report, can be found here.
The Skeena River Estuary: A Snapshot of Current Status and Condition
December 8, 2015
The Pacific Salmon Foundation's Skeena Salmon Program is pleased to announce the release of The Skeena River Estuary – A Snapshot of Current Status and Condition.
The Skeena River estuary provides important nursery habitat for juvenile chinook, coho, pink, chum, and sockeye salmon from over fifty genetically and geographically distinct wild salmon populations. As juvenile salmon migrate out to sea, the estuary serves as a critical transition zone where salmon can grow rapidly as they adapt to their new saltwater environment.
Understanding how anticipated environmental and anthropogenic changes in the Skeena River estuary affect salmon populations is essential to the long-term conservation of wild salmon populations.
This report summarizes the results of our assessment, based on a suite of pressure and state indicators related to water quality, salmon habitat and food, and salmon populations. The methods and design for the assessment were guided by a Skeena Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), who provided valuable feedback, data and advice throughout the project's development. The results of this project provide a snapshot of our current understanding of the state of the Skeena River estuary, current pressures on estuary habitats, and critical information gaps and key monitoring needs required to evaluate changes in habitat status over time.
More information about the project, as well as links to the full technical report and data quality assessment supplemental, can be found here.
Skeena Salmon ‘Conservation Unit Snapshots’
April 9, 2014
The Pacific Salmon Foundation's Skeena Salmon Program is pleased to announce the results of a project to produce 'Conservation Unit Snapshots' for all salmon populations in the Skeena Watershed.
Conservation Unit (CU) Snapshots are short graphical reports that summarize key information about the state of a distinct salmon population (or CU) and its habitat. This project developed snapshots for every CU in the Skeena watershed. Snapshots include information on both biological status (e.g., abundance trends) and habitat status (e.g., development pressures).
Snapshots are intended to serve as reference documents to support discussions about the state of Skeena salmon and their habitat, as well as priorities and approaches for their conservation and management. More generally, the snapshots aim to make information on the state of Skeena salmon available to a broad audience.
The full results of this project, including snapshots for Chinook, sockeye, coho, pink and chum salmon, are available here.