Community Economic Development Program

Project Description

The Community Economic Development Program was founded in 1977-78. The Program is intended to help restore depleted salmonid stocks in British Columbia and to improve the self-reliance, independence, and social and economic stability of aboriginal people in British Columbia. The Program operates via contracts in B.C. communities to meet aspirations of both the Department and the community. Currently, the Program supports 21 projects.

CEDP projects mainly involve hatcheries and/or counting fences and consist of one or more structures for fish culture and education activities (e.g., offices, hatchery building, raceways, aeration towers, etc.). Thirteen projects are operated by Aboriginal Bands and the rest by community organisations. The majority of the projects are located in remote or rural communities.

CEDP Projects are involved in five key activities:

Fish culture (including collecting broodstock, spawning and incubation, hatchery rearing of fry, operating sea pens, and fish culture support to other facilities);

Project operations (including administration, off-site maintenance such as fish way or fish ladder maintenance and on-site maintenance such as grounds keeping);

Habitat conservation (including fry salvage programs, riparian planting and management, water quality and temperature recording, habitat surveys and mapping, and habitat restoration);

Public stewardship (including hosting field trips on site, off-site field trips and educational programs, watershed planning processes, trade shows/education fairs/community events and local government planning processes); and

Assessment (including fry counting programs, fry density inventories, hydraulic sampling programs, sampling for biological traits, and adult counting fences).

Each CEDP project is involved in all five types of activities to various degrees. Overall, fish culture is the most dominant project activity.