Salmon stocks are influenced by many factors: the marine environment, climate and harvest rate. But their most fundamental need is for healthy and available..freshwater habita't .

Although salmon spend much of their lives in the ocean, they must have access to rivers, lakes and streams for much of their life cycle. Freshwater habitat is needed for spawning, the hatching of eggs and the development of fry, the feeding and growth of young salmon and the migration to and from the ocean. In short, it is vital to the,production and survival of fis stocks.

The health of this habitat is affected by the quality of the water and the encompassing watershed: the streamside vegetation and surrounding land.

The benefits of healthy aquatic habitat extend to other wildlife, who are provided with food and shelter, and to humans, who can reap an improved quality of life.

crJonsewation:

2

shat:intJ the benerjits an() t:esponsibitities A Message from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

My priority as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is the conservation of our precious marine resources. To realize

that priority, maintaining healthy habitat - the foundation of sustainable, productive fisheries - is an absolute

necessity. Without good habitat to provide a nurturing environment for all stages of a salmon's life, these fish

cannot be sustained.

Under the Constitution, the federal government has the lead responsibility for Canada's fisheries, which includes

authority under the Fisheries Act to protect habitat. This is a responsibility I treat with the utmost importance

because it is a crucial component of my conservation priority.

In the Pacific Region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFOI has an annual budget of $240 million and 2,300 staff,

and significant energy is directed at protecting, managing and restoring habitat. Complementing this are efforts to

enhance salmon stocks, improve water quality for fish and enforce compliance with habitat protection provisions

of the Fisheries Act. This work is part of my department's responsibilities for managing the fi sheries and the ocean

environment.

The federal government has a strong commitment to habitat, But, although DFO has the legislative and policy

tools to protect habitat. it cannot do the job alone. Our aquatic habitat is facing increasing pressures from human

activities and land uses in our watersheds. These challenges demand that industry. urban planners and

developers. local communities. Aboriginal groups, citizens and municipal and provincial governments work in

concert with DFO to safeguard habitat and enhance salmon stocks.

That is why DFO is developing partnerships with these groups. These partnerships also help to foster an ethic o f

caring for the resource among all those who

benefit from it. This stewardship ethic is vital to

long-term conservation.

Conservation is a responsibility that rests with

everyone of us - we all have a role to play. I

have had the pleasure of visiting many pro jects

to see the power of people working together in

the stewardship of our fisheries resou rce. I have

been impressed by the concern, vision and

spirit of cooperation exhibited by DFO's many

partners. Their efforts give me hope for the

future of our salmon.

,c---

David Anderson

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans David Anderson s"ares a lau9" wit" sludellts at Victoria's Uplallds &(1001. Photo courtesy of Da~tid Hurford

~ commitment to ~ish ana habitat DFO spends almost $33 million a year on day-to -day salmon

enhancement and habitat protection. DFO staff restore and

create habitat, enforce habitat protection laws, protect

habitat from damage, operate hatcheries and spawning

channels and promote habitat stewardship. All of these

efforts contribute to conservation of West Coast salmon

stocks.

Giving Nature a hand

Rebuilding Pacific salmon stocks and fisheries has been the

work of DFO's Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP) since

Releasing youllg salmoll into streams is olle way DFO alld volunteers enliance stocks. Photo courtesy of LEPS

1977. SEP has been

crucial to the

conservation of many

stocks, some of them

threatened.

SEP projects raise and

release about 600 million juvenile

salmon into streams

each year. This

accounts for about 10-

20 per cent of the

Canadian commercial

catch and 30-40 per

cent of the sport ca tch in the Strait of Georgia. Here's how

SEP enhances our salmon:

• Biologists and engineers restore and improve salmon

habitat as a way to boost fish survival and production.

Priority is given to projects that aid biod iversity and weak

species or stocks. Work includes bUilding side-channels,

improving water flows, stabilizing stream banks, rebuilding

estuary marshes, removing barriers to fish migration and

planting streamside vegetation. In some of these projects.

DFO teams up with industry, community groups,

landowners and other government agencies.

• The use of hatcheries and related technologies to bolster

fish production is an integral part of DFO's salmon

management strategy. The federal government operates 26

hatcheries, 60 spawning channels and 46 fishways, whose

production aims to meet biodiversity, conservation and

harvest needs. SEP also contracts 21 community groups,

13 of which are Aboriginal communities, to operate

hatcheries.

SEP augments the feed for young sockeye rearing in lakes

to increase the production of selected runs.

SEP marks fish at hatcheries and spawning channels with

fin clips andior coded-wire nose tags to estimate the

number of returning adult salmon and the catch in di fferent

fi sheries. This information helps develop sustainable

harvest plans.

Focus on protection

Fish habitat faces many potential

threats. Human activities such as

logging, farming, urban and industrial

development, mining, road and rail

construction, dams and sewage

discharges are examples. They can

introduce toxic pollutants and

sediments into streams, damage

streamside vegetation and alter natural

water flows and temperatures. These

are some ways DFO defends against

such damage:

DFO habitat

biologists review

development

proposals to

determine whether

a project could

harm fish and fish

habitat. To

mitigate or reduce

potential damage

to habitat, DFO

can call for the

relocation or

redesign of

Tlie federal ilabilal policy calls for a net gain ill productive fis" ilabital. Tlie first step loward lliis is conservation. guided by Iile prillciple of no net loss

offisli liabilal.

projects. Where A DFO biologist samples waler from a damage cannot be salmoll-bearillg urb." stream. avoided, DFO

requires compensation for any loss of habitat through

habitat restoration or creation .

3

• The Fisheries Act contains sections designed to protect

habitat. Ensuring compliance with the law is the job of

OFO fishery officers and habitat biologists. This is done by

inspecting activities, investigating suspected violations,

issuing warnings and pursuing court action. The Act

prohibits the "harmful alteration, disruption or destruction

of fish habitat" and the "deposit of a deleterious substance

in waters frequented by fi sh. " OFO also operates an

Observe, Record and Report (ORRI telephone line to which

the public can report habitat damage, pollution or illegal

fishing.

OFO is workillg wit Ii tI.e provillce of B.C.

to improve liabitat conservation. T(le Callada-B.C. Agreement 011 tlie Mallagemellt of Pacific Salmoll Fisliery Issues allows for closer cooperatioll ill liabitat restoration. developmellt project reviews alld liabitat enforcement.

• Preventing habitat damage is most

effective in the earli est stages of

planning and development. OFO works

to ensure the interests of fish and

habitat are addressed during land and

water-use planning forums. These range

from Official Community Plans

developed by municipalities, through

watershed plans to provincial land and

resource management plans.

• Good water quality is crucial for hea lthy

fish and habitat. The job of OFO's water

quality biologists is to identi fy where

and when pollution is harmful to fish

and to work wi th Environment Ca nada

and DFO's enforcement officers to

4

investigate Fis(leries Act violations. DFO

has the power to close and reopen shellfish harvesting in

coasta l waters based on contaminant monitoring.

• OFO needs information to protect habitat. It collects

extensive data on fish stocks and habitat, much of it

referenced to maps. Work is underway with the province to

create a fish and habitat inventory on an interactive

mapping system that allows users to access vital data for

selected lakes or streams.

Key to the future: a stewardship ethic

DFO recognizes

the pivota l role

citizens and local

communities play

in safeguarding

sa lmon and

habitat. For many

years, OFO has

involved the

DFO uses computer mappill9 to {.elp mallage and protect fisli liabitat.

public through its Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEPI,

education and stewa rdship initiatives. The federal

govern ment believes that the key to long-term conservation

is citizens, busi ness leaders and young people who are

sensitive to the value and needs of sa lmon and their habitat.

• DFO was a pioneer 20 years ago by actively involving the

public in SEf' OFO community advisors, based throughout

the Pacific Region, work hand-in-hand with 10,000

committed volunteers engaged in sa lmon en hancement.

They provide technical advice and financia l support to

about 300 community projects - from incubation boxes in

creeks to complex hatcheries. Volunteers are cred ited with

rebu itding sa lmon runs on many sma ll strea ms.

• Community advisors also support about 150 Streamkeeper

groups, working in partnership with the Pacific

Strea m keepers Federation. In this DFO-initiated program,

local sal mon stewards are moving beyond enhancement

projects to cleaning up strea ms, planting streamside trees,

monitoring water quality, assessing stream health and

raiSing awareness about watershed stewardship. DFO

published Tfle Sl reamkeepers Handbook to train participants in

these activities and helped develop a Streamkeepers

training program with Capilano College .

• OFO, through SEP, develops

and supports a range of

educational material to teach

schoolchildren - tomorrow's

decision-makers - a bout the

va lue o f sa lmon and habitat.

Salmo flids in the Classroom, endorsed by the B.C. Ministry

Tlie COlls.rvatiOI1 of fisli and liabitat depends Oil everyone,

of Education, has been studied by about one million

students throughout B.C. and the Yukon. DFO education

coordinators conduct teacher in-service sessions about the

department's education programs. They also provide

supplies and technical support to about 900 classroom

incubators that allow students to experience the thrill of

raising and releasing their own salmon.

• DFO is reaching out to target audiences to try to improve

their stewardship of salmon and habitat. These are audiences

that have a large potential impact, such as municipal

planners, land developers, farmers, ranchers and community

groups. DFO has co-produced practical guidelines for them in

the Stewardship Series and the Local Government Series on how to do business in a fish-friendly way.

cf}Jat:tnet:ships in action The federal Habitat Restoration and Salmon Enhancement

Program aims to conserve West Coast salmon stocks and

improve the quality and quantity of habitat available for fish.

Partnerships involving DFO and a diverse range of

community, fishing and Aboriginal groups are at the heart Qf

this $15 million, three-year program.

Dozens of communities along the coast and in the Fraser

Basin are feeling the long-term benefits. Projects funded

under the program are restoring fish habitat, monitoring

The projects involve one or more of t{lese eiemeJlts:

• Habitat restoration: Activities tliat repair or create Iresliwater alld estuary (wbitat for salmon spawJling and rearing.

• Salmon stock rebuilding: SliorHenn

incubat ion/rearing projects t(wt (!flp bolster weak stocks alld complemellt habitat restoration; projects tftat assist fisheries mallagemellt.

• Resource and watershed stewardship: Stream inventories, habitat mapping and cooperative resource managemellt that will lead to s"staillable salmOtI populations.

stock abundance, mapping

habitat to assist in

conservation cmd, where

possible, retraining and

creating jobs for fishers and

Aboriginal people. By

supporting this work, the

federal government recognizes

the vital contribution that

communities are making to

salmon conservation.

These are only some of the

many innovative projects that

DFO is proud to support

through the $15 million Habitat

Restoration and Salmon

Enhancement Program:

Campbell River

Around the "salmon .capital" of

Campbell River, about two

dozen stewardship groups and

the District of Campbell River

are hard at work on the

Discovery Coast Wetland

Restoration Project. The groups

are restoring

habitat on

streams facing

increaSing

pressures from

urban and

highway

development and

logging. Efforts on

Lower Haig~Brown

Kingfisher Creek

are trying to

realize the dream

of pioneer

conservationist

Roderick Haig­

Brown for a

thriving coho

creek running

through his

property. Other

work will improve

valuable intertidal

habitat in the Many partners know the value 01 Simms and Willow protecting streamside vegetation. creek estuaries. To

help protect habitat in future planning. citizens - including

retrained fishers - are mapping several local creeks such as

Mohun, Menzies, Casey and Nunns, and the Village Bay Lakes

system on Quadra Island.

On top of thiS, DFO biologists and engineers have worked with

the community, BC Hydro and the province to revive habitat

for juvenile salmon in the Campbell River estuary and improve

chinook spawning gravel in the upper Campbell River below

the John Hart Dam.

5

6

Southern Vancouver Island

A cooperative effort is restoring fragile habi tat on selected

Victoria-a rea strea ms - such as Kirby and Noble creeks­where rapid urbanization is taking its toll on coho

populations. The South Island Streams Community Fisheries

D evelopment Centre is stabili zing eroding strea m ba nks,

planting strea mside vegetation and removing blockages to

Retrained fisfters operate a cofto counting fence at tfte

",outft of Kirby Creek.

fi sh migration. The group trains displaced fishers and links up

with community groups, government agencies, First Nations

and businesses. It also worked with DFO, the World Fisheries

Trust and a private landowner to erect a fence - operated by retrained fi shers - at the mouth of Kirby Creek to count

sa lmon and help estimate the size of the area's coho runs.

Saltspring Island

On Sa ltspring Island, the close-knit community is mobilizing

to revive sensitive fi sh habitat feeling the pinch from human

settlement. The Island Stream and Salmon Enhancement

Association - comprising volunteers, retrained fishers (many

with Stream keepers skills). disadvantaged

youth and private landowners - are building

rea ring ponds and spawning beds and

improving water flows and fish access.

Streams include those in the Fulford Creek

watershed, which has an endangered coho

run, and others supporting coho and chum

salmon and cutthroat trout.

Mapping strea lll s in Langley ftelps to protect

aquatic habitat. Pitolo courtesy of LEI'S

Northern Vancouver Island

Efforts are underway to reverse the decline in sa lmon in

Ouatsino Sound on northwestern Va ncouver Island . The

Friends of the Marble River, based in Port McNei ll , is bu ilding

a rearing channel for up to one million chinook and coho fry

produced by the Marble River Hatchery. The goa l is to return

stocks to a level that would allow a sport fi shery to reopen.

The Northern Vancouver Island Sa lmon Enhancement

Association and Western Forest Products are active in the

pro ject, which brings together loggers, miners, commercial

and sport fishermen, big and small businesses and the

general public.

Langley

Severa l productive streams meandering th rough Langley­

such as the Salmon, Nicomekl, Yorkson and Bertrand - are

threatened by the dual effects of urbanization and farming. In

response, the community is pitching in to erect fences to

prevent farm animals from damaging stream habitat. planting

streamside vegetation and mapping watersheds to help

protect habitat in future development. Leading the charge is

the Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS). with the

United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union and retrained

fishers. LEPS includes the Township of Langley, DFO,

government agencies, private landowners and citizens.

Also on the Salmon River, retrained fishers with the Fraser

River Fishermen Society and DFO have built and are

operating a permanent coho salmon counting fence. The river

is a gauge of coho abundance in the lower Fraser system and

such data assists conservation and management.

The Interior

Efforts in the B.C. Interior focus on declining coho stocks,

whose habitat is being degraded by urban and recreational

development, farming and ranching. Tackling these

challenges in the Salmon Arm area is the Salmon River

Watershed Roundtable, a community watershed group that

DFO has supported for several years. It includes landowners,

1Ir_-=,,- ", "'.- ___ "'\... _ I ,, --- ' ,

~- ,-, -, (

First Nations, government agencies, industry and citizens.

The roundtable aims to rebuild coho on the Salmon River

through habitat restoration and public education. The

roundtable is also teaming up with DFO to upgrade habitat

on the Duteau , Adams, Raft, Bonaparte, Nicola and Fortune

systems - home to coho, sockeye and steelhead salmon.

In the Thompson River system, the Steelhead Society is

turning its concern for coho and steelhead stocks into a long~

term action plan to restore habitat on the Bonaparte River.

DFO, other government agencies and local landowners are

partners. And the Shuswap Nation Fisheries Commission is

collecting data on coho abundance in the Bissette and

Bonaparte systems to assist coho conservation.

Upper Fraser

To help salmon in the northern Fraser Basin - where logging,

ranching and increasing urban development are impacting

some streams - community and environmental groups are

renewing fish habitat in concert with DFO. On Baker Creek,

an urban stream that flows through Quesnel, the Baker Creek

Enhancement Society is building in-stream refuge areas for

fish and replanting trees and shrubs along the creek's banks

to shelter fish habitat.

As well , several upper Fraser t ri butaries - such as the

Narcoslie and Naver creeks - contain valuable ch inook

spawning habitat, but grazing cattle have trampled and

eroded the streambanks. So DFO and local ranchers are

erecting fences along these streams to keep cattle away from

streamside vegetation. Streamside trees will be planted as

necessary. On the Cottonwood River, former placer mining

ponds are being reconnected to the river channel to create

rearing habitat for salmon and trout.

Central and North Coast

An assessment of salmon abundance in several northern river

systems is vital to the management and conservation of

stocks that local recreational and commercial fishers depend

on. So the Rivers Inlet Restoration Society is collaborating

with DFO. The society and the Owikeno Nation is estimating

chinook salmon in the Chuckwalla and Kilbella rivers, and

sockeye and coho salmon in the Sheemahant River.

Meanwhile, the Sport Fishing Institute of B.C. is raising to

smolt stage a genetically diverse selection of chinook salmon

eggs taken from fish it has previously raised to maturity. The

smolts will be released to their rivers of origin, the

Chuckwalla and Kilbella, near Rivers Inlet, in an attempt to

restore wild chinook stocks. The Snootli Creek Hatchery is

boosting its production ca pacity to help raise the eggs for

this project .

Conservation concerns have partners monitoring stocks,

water quality and salmon hea lth in the Upper Bulkley River, a

big coho producer near Houston. The goal of the Community

Futures Development Corp. (CFDC) of Nadina and the

Toboggan Creek Salmon and Steelhead Enhancement Society

is to determine the abundance of coho stocks and estimate

wild and hatchery returns. With the Upper Bulkley

Streamkeepers and Houston Forest Products, CFDC is also

monitoring the impacts of agriculture and ranching on

the ri ver.

Queen Charlotte Islands

Coho salmon will be enjoying improved habitat on the Queen

Charlotte Islands. On Indian Cabin Creek and its tributaries,

the Hecate Strait

Streamkeepers

Society a re

improving fi sh

access to habitat

by removing

stream debris and

creating new

habitat. The

Northern Trollers

Association and

Steel head Society

of B.C. are

improving habitat

in streams where

beaver dams have

flooded spawning

areas and

prevented coho

salmon from

reaching habitat.

On the Tlell River,

located in a lush

rainforest and

home to one of

Hecate Strait Streall1 keepers place a log in Illdiall Cabill Creek to create "abita!. Pnolo

courtesy of Dave Davit'S.

the islands' largest populations of coho and steelhead

salmon, data is needed to assist resource management. So

the Tlell Watershed Society is filling this gap by monitoring

fish distribution and water quality and collecting habitat

information.

7

~ut:thet: t:eafhnfJ The Stewardship Series

The Stewardship Series comprises

publications describing st ewa rdship activities

for various B.C. audiences . The series is

funded by federal and provincial

governments in partnership with non­

government organizations. Copies can be

obta ined through,

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Habitat and Enhancement Branch

555 West Hastings

Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5G3

Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks

Habitat Conservation Trust Fund

p.o. Box 9354

Station Provincial Government

Victoria, B.C. V8W 9M I

Stream Stewardship: A Guide for Planners

and Developers

Watershed Stewardship, A Guide for

Agriculture

Hea/tfly fisfl flabilal includes clean gravel, slreal/lside vegelalion and fallen Iree Irll"llS.

Community Greenways: Linking Communities to Country,

and People to Nature

Stewardship Bylaws, A Guide for l<>cal Government

Access Near Aquatic Areas: A Guide to Sensitive

Planning, Design and Management

Stewardship Options: For Private Landowners in British

Columbia

The Streamkeepers Handbook, A Practical Guide to

Stream and Wetland Care

Other titles of interest:

Greening Your B.C. Golf Course: A Guide to Environmental

Management. Fisheries and Oceans Ca nada and

Environment Canada

Lost Streams of the Lower Fraser River. Fisheries and

Oceans Canada

8 ·+· Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Peches et Oceans Canada

Urban Stream Protection , Restoration and Stewardship in

the Pacific Northwest: Are We Achieving Desired Results?

Fisheries and Oceans Ca nada

The Watershed Works, A Learning Resource for the Study

of the Fraser River and its Basin. Fisheries and Oceans

Canada

Fringe Benefits: A Landowner's Guide to the Value and

Stewardship of Riparian Habitat. Environment Ca nada,

Fraser River Action Plan

Healthy Streams: Yours to Protect and Enjoy. Fisheries and

Oceans Canada

Web sites

DFO Paci fi c Region http.//www.pac.d fo.ca

DFO Nationa l httpJ/www.ncr.dfo.ca/home.htm

Canada 's Oceans http.//www.oceanscanada.com

Streamkeepers httpJhabitat. pac.dfo.ca/pskf/home.htm

Canada