The SALMON Conservation "Great Canadian Rivers"

Ferris Wheels for Fish
Fishwheels allow fishers to separate endangered salmon from commercially targeted salmon, allowing them to return to the river to spawn. Fishwheels consist of 3 or 4 baskets attached to an axle. The axle is connected to pontoons. As the river current flows, it catches the cross-braces and netting of the wheel¨s baskets and moves them through the water. As one basket breaks the surface, the underwater baskets propel it forward. If a salmon is caught in the emerging basket, it begins to tumble out as the basket nears its vertical position. The fish falls down a slide into a river holding pen, where it can be removed using a dip net.

Salmon Hatcheries Helping or Hindering?
Are salmon hatcheries contributing to the decline of wild salmon stocks?

The question remains controversial, as dozens of fish-breeding stations continue to release several hundred million smolts a year to surrounding waters.

Hatchery-produced salmon stocks are intended to supplement wild salmon stocks and boost the commercial fishery. But several decades of hatchery programs have achieved mixed results. In some areas, commercial catches are at record lows, and historic salmon runs continue to disappear.

Genetic Dilution and Limits to Growth: Critics are concerned that interbreeding of hatchery fish with wild stocks will weaken the gene pool of wild salmon, leading to increased susceptibility to disease. They also argue that hatchery fish compete with wild stocks for food and spawning beds, further threatening reproduction and survival rates of wild fish. Some maintain that declining stocks suggest that ocean feeding grounds may simply not be capable of sustaining an infinite number of salmon.

Managing and Monitoring: Hatchery supporters challenge genetic concerns, and point out that careful regulation of hatchery numbers and releases can complement, not replace, wild salmon stocks. They view hatcheries as just one of many stock management tools, in an enhancement approach that includes stream restoration, fish ladders and selective harvest.

Growing Salmon from Seed
The Hatchery Process

Breeding: Eggs and sperm from captured wild salmon are mixed together in a sterilized bucket. Fertilized eggs are placed on "Heath" trays for incubation.

Incubation: Egg trays are placed in incubators for 50 to 100 days. The eggs grow into "alevins," exhausting their yolk sacs and becoming "fry."

Growth Stage: Fry are placed in holding tanks and fed vitamin-rich, high-protein diets derived from fish, animal, plant and bone meal.

Smolt Release: Within approximately 15 months, when the young salmon reach an average of 15 centimetres in length, the ìsmoltsî are released to the river, to begin their migration to the sea and their eventual return to freshwater.

Live Release: The Benefits of Selective Fishing

Natural ebbs and flows, commercial harvesting, varying environmental impacts and uneven hatchery results have created a checkerboard of salmon strengths and weaknesses on the Pacific Coast. On some waterways, populations of sockeye, pinks and chum are still robust, while Coho face decline.

The concept of selective fishing encourages the harvesting of abundant species and the live release of those that are endangered. While nets or traps capture many species of salmon at once, care is taken to return threatened species to the waterways.

Selective fishing is now a cornerstone of federal government fisheries policy. It gained support in the mid 1990¨s, when joint Canadian and US fisheries committees began to recommend discriminating fishing patterns that separate and protect depleted species.

Selective fishing isn't new to First Nation's fishers. But when coastal canning monopolies persuaded government to outlaw aboriginal weirs, traps and dip nets in favour of gillnets, mixed-stock interception became the rule. Now First Nation's fishers on rivers such as the Fraser and the Skeena are reviving selective fishing, using both traditional and modern methods, including fishwheels, traditional dip nets, beach seines and weirs.

Conservation Organizations at Work

Stamping Out Salmon Threats In an innovative partnership between art and conservation, British Columbia anglers are required to purchase an artist-designed Salmon Conservation Stamp each year as part of their tidal water license. Produced by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Conservation Stamp features the winning image from the annual art competition organized by the Pacific Salmon Foundation. Revenue from the Conservation Stamp, and from a series of limited edition art prints, is used to fund salmon restoration projects supported by the Foundation.

A Fisherman¨s Legacy Organized labourer¨s contribution to Pacific salmon conservation is the T. Buck Suzuki Foundation, named for Tatsuro "Buck" Suzuki, a Fraser River fisher and early environmental activist who began salmon fishing with his father on the Fraser in the 1920¨s. The United Fishermen and Allied Workers¨ Union administers the Foundation, mounting campaigns to stop pollution, poor logging practices, destruction of marsh lands, dam projects and other kinds of developments that have an impact on fish and their habitat.

Sustainable Funding for Sustainable Salmon In early 2001, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada established the $30 million Pacific Endowment Fund, dedicated to conserving and rebuilding salmon stocks in British Columbia and the Yukon. Led by well-known community leader Rick Hansen, the Fund¨s team includes scientists, technical advisors and federal and provincial government representatives.

Protectors of the Wild The Steelhead Society of BC is a watershed conservation organization working on behalf of wild fish in wild rivers. The Society brings together interest groups, governments, first nations, multinational corporations, unions, foundations, small business, communities and individuals in a joint effort to protect, restore and fight for the wild fish, forests and rivers of British Columbia.

Atlantic Advocate The Atlantic Salmon Federation is an international nonprofit organization which promotes the conservation and wise management of the wild Atlantic salmon and its environment. The ASF spearheads research on the interactions between wild and farmed salmon, using New Brunswick¨s Magaguadavic River as the index. The Federation also operates the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Centre in Chamcook, near St. Andrews-by-the-Sea in New Brunswick.

East Coast Enhancement The Salmonid Association of Eastern Newfoundland (SAEN) is dedicated to the preservation of the province of Newfoundland's¨ trout and salmon resources. Since 1979 the group has carried out conservation, research, education, and enhancement projects worth over $5 million. The group¨s objectives are to educate Newfoundlanders about the need for conservation, protect remaining freshwater fish species, provide technical advice to industry and government, and rebuild native stock. SAEN is affiliated with the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

Global Perspective The North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF), led by Icelander Orri Vigfusson, works for the worldwide restoration of the wild Atlantic salmon. The group targets ocean over-fishing on the high seas as the major contributor to the decline of freshwater spawning runs, and attempts to reduce ocean harvests by buying out key high seas fisheries off Greenland and the Faroes.