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Proactive Disclosure

Proactive Disclosure

Wild Salmon Policy Definitions

As per Canada’s Policy for Conservation of Wild Salmon, 2005.

Term	Defintion
Anadromous	Fish that mature in seawater but migrate to fresh water to spawn.
Benchmark	A standard (quantified metric) against which habitat condition can be measured or judged, and by which status can be compared over time and space to determine the risk of adverse effects. Within Strategy 2 of the Wild Salmon Policy (WSP) benchmarks represent desired values for key indicators and will be used to assess habitat status and identify if, when and where status has changed significantly. Benchmarks within the WSP reflect DFO’s intent to take action to protect or restore habitat on a preventative basis, before salmon population abundance declines in response to degraded habitat (DFO 2005).
Biodiversity	The full range of variety and variability within and among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. Encompasses diversity at the ecosystem, community, species, and genetic levels and the interaction of these components.
Conservation	The protection, maintenance, and rehabilitation of genetic diversity, species, and ecosystems to sustain biodiversity and the continuance of evolutionary and natural production processes.
Conservation units (CU)	A group of wild salmon sufficiently isolated from other groups that, if extirpated, is very unlikely to re-colonize naturally within an acceptable timeframe, such as a human lifetime or a specified number of salmon generations. A CU will contain one or more populations (see definition below).
Ecosystem	A community of organisms and their physical environment interacting as an ecological unit.
Enhanced Pacific salmon	Salmon that originate directly from hatcheries and managed spawning channels.
Escapement	The number of mature salmon that pass through (or escape) fisheries and return to fresh water to spawn.
Genetic diversity	The variation at the level of individual genes, which provides a mechanism for populations to adapt to their ever‐changing environment. It refers to the differences in genetic make‐up between distinct species and to genetic variations within a single species.
Indicators	Characteristics of the environment that, when measured, describe habitat condition, magnitude of stress, degree of exposure to a stressor, or ecological response to exposure. Within Strategy 2 of the Wild Salmon Policy indicators are intended to provide quantified information on the current and potential state of freshwater habitats.
Population	A group of interbreeding salmon that is sufficiently isolated (i.e., reduced genetic exchange) from other populations such that persistent adaptations to the local habitat can develop over time. Local adaptations and genetic differences between populations are an essential part of the diversity needed for long-term viability of Pacific salmon.
Sustainable use	The use of biological resources in a way and at a rate that does not lead to their long term decline, thereby maintaining the potential for future generations to meet their needs and aspirations.
Wild Pacific salmon	Five species of Pacific salmon found in British Columbia and the Yukon include Oncorhynchus nerka (sockeye), O. kisutch (coho), O. tshawytscha (chinook), O. gorbuscha (pink), and O. keta (chum). Salmon are considered “wild” if they have spent their entire life cycle in the wild and originate from parents that were also produced by natural spawning and continuously lived in the wild.