Wild Salmon Policy 2018 to 2022 Implementation Plan:
2018 to 2019 annual report

On this page

• Executive summary
• Introduction and context
• Overall Progress on WSP Implementation
• 2018-19 Activity Highlights
• Key Performance Indicators
• WSP Moving Forward: 2019-20
• Conclusion
• Annex A: Wild Salmon Policy Implementation Resources and Acronyms
• Annex B: WSP Implementation Tracker

Executive summary

On October 11, 2018, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard, released the Wild Salmon Policy 2018-2022 Implementation Plan (the Plan). This document outlines 9 overarching approaches and 48 actions the Department is committed to undertaking and leading on over the next five years in order to implement Canada’s Policy for Conservation of Wild Pacific Salmon – also known as the Wild Salmon Policy (WSP). In the spirit of ‘what gets measured, gets done’, and in line with the Government of Canada’s commitment to openness and transparency, the Plan includes DFO’s commitment to performance review, including annual public reporting on the status and progress of key actions. While annual review of work plans and post-season operations happens as a normal course of business, the public reporting on the status of activities in the Plan keeps partners and the public informed of progress in a timely manner, provides early warning of challenges that need to be addressed, and reflects on lessons learned.

Over 2018-19, the Department has completed or made progress on all the overarching approaches and a number of key activities in the Plan that advance monitoring of wild salmon stocks, habitat and ecosystem assessment and monitoring, integrated strategic planning, program delivery, and continued collaboration with the Province of BC, First Nations, and other stakeholders.

This Annual Report highlights an overview of progress on activities, introduces performance indicators, and provides the status of each activity, including information to provide context and mitigation strategies for activities that are off-track.

Introduction and context

Background

Wild Pacific salmon are an iconic part of the life and culture of west coast Canada. They hold tremendous value for natural ecosystems, cultural and spiritual practices, recreational enjoyment and jobs along the coast and inland watersheds of the Pacific Region. Pacific salmon are keystone species in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. Many species of fauna and flora – from Resident Killer Whales to black bears to Douglas Fir – depend on migrating Pacific salmon for their survival. Salmon are also inextricably linked to Indigenous communities in BC and Yukon, not only as a traditional food source, but also as a vital component of nutritional, spiritual, cultural, social and economic well-being. Finally, wild Pacific salmon support commercial and recreational fisheries that are a foundational part of the socio-economic fabric of the Pacific region. The business stemming from fishing activities – including fish processing, fish guiding, tackle shops, hotels, ecotourism, and restaurants, to name a few – ripple through the economy, creating additional jobs and income.

When it was released in fall 2018, the Plan ^{Footnote 1} outlined the overarching approaches and activities the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) was committed to undertaking over the next five years, including how it is using DFO’s scientific and management expertise to meet its responsibilities for the conservation of wild Pacific salmon. This work builds on thirteen years of work already undertaken by the Department, and focuses on developing common guidance and standardized methods.

International context

2019 is a particularly important year for salmon internationally, as it has been declared by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization as the International Year of the Salmon or IYS ^{Footnote 2}. The IYS is an international framework for collaborative outreach and research to raise awareness of what humans can do to better ensure salmon and their varied habitats are conserved and restored against the backdrop of increasing environmental variability. The overall IYS theme is ‘salmon and people in a changing world‘, and the Plan is helping to contribute to other multi-national collaborative initiatives to protect and celebrate salmon including raising awareness of what humans can do to better ensure salmon and their varied habitats are conserved and restored against the backdrop of increasing environmental variability. The Department will continue to leverage its relationships, coast-wide geographic jurisdiction and clear mandate to use focused science advice to deliver good salmon management and transparent accountability.

Importance of collaboration

Healthy Pacific salmon populations today and in the future depend on work being done by many important regulators, First Nations, communities and organizations. Accordingly, Federal, provincial/territorial, local and Indigenous partnerships are essential components of an integrated approach to Pacific salmon management. The jurisdictional framework for Pacific salmon includes separate legislated authorities for habitat management, integrated resource management, and land protection, as well as local management plans and zoning. Given this complex landscape, the Department works with different partners depending on the implicated authorities and the spatial scale of the activity being undertaken.

DFO’s work with partners on Pacific salmon and salmon habitat is guided by the Government of Canada’s commitment to a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous peoples, and by several key policies including, among others, the Precautionary Approach and the Wild Salmon Policy. The principles of the Wild Salmon Policy – focusing on conservation, working with First Nations, making decisions that ensure sustainable use, and making decisions in an open and transparent process – guide the work the Department undertakes. The Plan focuses on a myriad of activities across the Department and the implementation of activities are often decentralized with accountabilities across multiple branches, programs and teams. This can present challenges as people look to the Department for guidance at a local level. In an effort to address this challenge, the Department continues to seek improvements in supporting staff at all levels and geographic areas for effective engagement with partners on Wild Salmon Policy related activities, at the same time that guidance tools are being developed.

While this report showcases progress on actions that the Department is taking or leading, DFO recognizes that partners across BC and Yukon are actively contributing towards the Wild Salmon Policy goal to maintain and restore wild salmon populations.

Collaborative work on BC Southern Chinook

DFO staff have been working alongside some of these partners to deliver on a number of salmon initiatives at various scales across the region. One example is the collaborative work around the Integrated Strategic Plan for Southern BC Chinook, which the Department has been co-developing with First Nations and stakeholder over the last five years.

Many Chinook salmon stocks in southern BC have shown decreases in abundance, repeatedly low escapements, and/or declines in fishery catches, especially over the last fifteen years. These populations are facing a number of potential challenges including: depressed and/or declining spawner abundance; reduced and variable freshwater and marine survival rates; high uncertainty about future production; pressures on freshwater habitat; total mortalities associated with harvest; increased predation; and ecosystem effects from climate changes. Although there are some exceptions to the general patterns, the decline of many southern BC Chinook populations has been highlighted as a significant concern for First Nations, the Canadian public, commercial and recreational fishers, and conservation groups. In addition, this initiative is linked to DFO’s priority on enhancing efforts to increase Chinook salmon populations, as they are the preferred prey of Resident Killer Whales. Given these issues, the Strategic Plan is intended to take on the challenge of applying existing knowledge and tools to find the most effective, acceptable strategies to recovering and protecting Chinook stocks in southern BC, while recognizing the realities and constraints on implementing such strategies.

While the Integrated Strategic Plan for Southern BC Chinook is not a specific activity listed in the Plan, the document and its collaborative process contribute to Action Step 4.2 in the WSP to design and implement a fully integrated strategic planning process for salmon conservation. The co-development process involved scientific analysis, technical review, consultations, and a technical working group of scientific and technical experts from DFO, First Nations, and other collaborators. The intent for the Integrated Strategic Plan for Southern BC Chinook is to present a range of strategies that can be considered to address threats to BC southern Chinook from the collective perspective of a diverse group of First Nations and interested parties. Parties are discussing publishing the final Integrated Strategic Plan for Southern BC Chinook, in collaboration with First Nations partners.

Overall progress on WSP implementation

Over the last year, a lot of work has been done to initiate activities, and overall progress on implementing the 9 overarching approaches and 48 activities in the Plan has been positive. Overall, 100% of the overarching approaches and 81% of the activities are either completed or on-track for 2018-19. This represents a significant effort by the Department and signals DFO’s ongoing commitment to meeting the goal of the WSP to restore and maintain healthy and diverse salmon populations and their habitat.

For the 26 activities with a defined target completion date, 73% are completed or on-track to be completed by their target date, with 27% delayed. For the 22 activities that will be ongoing, 91% are on-track and are being routinely delivered as planned. Only 9% of ongoing a ctivities are facing delivery challenges.

For detailed information on the overarching approaches and progress on individual WSP activities, including additional context and mitigation strategies, please see the annex at the end of this report.

2018-19 Activity highlights

While the Annex at the end of this report outlines the status of each activity, including many ongoing activities that have made progress this year, this section provides snapshots on WSP implementation for the five activities targeted for completion this fiscal year (April 2018 - March 2019), as well as an activity that has been completed in advance of its targeted completion year and new initiatives announced.

Progress on plan activities with a target completion date by March 31, 2019

Activity ID 1: Maintain an authoritative database of conservation unit (CU) descriptions, including biological and geographical attributes, and make it available to the public via the Government of Canada’s Open Data portal

Completed: The Department maintains an extensive system of publically available data for CUs that includes biological and geographical components via the Open Government Data Portal ^{Footnote 3} . This database is updated as new information becomes available, and all current CU descriptions are posted on the Open Government Data Portal. This activity has been completed and delivered in full, and the Department is committed to ensuring that updated data is available to the public in an easy to use and accessible format.

Activity ID 16: Publish report on Risk Assessment Method for Salmon (RAMS) to assess potential for disturbance events or regimes in freshwater & marine ecosystems to control CU status and trend patterns

Delayed: The Risk Assessment Method for Salmon (RAMS) process helps identify management interventions to conserve, restore or enhance salmon CUs of interest within a broader ecosystem or applied Management Unit context. While this activity has a targeted completion date of March 31, 2019, the RAMS methodology and process is in the final stages of publication and is anticipated to be released shortly in spring 2019. Completion of this activity marks a significant achievement for the Department and is a positive step forward in advancing scientific, collaborative and community involved salmon conservation efforts.

Pilot testing of RAMS in several workshops has allowed DFO to provide an evidence-based diagnosis of factors driving state changes for populations or CUs of interest, as well as to identify management intervention actions that may be effective in avoiding, stabilizing or (less commonly), reversing a decline. RAMS testing in “hands-on” workshops has been far more extensive than originally envisaged, largely because of the quick recognition that when used correctly, it fills an important agency-to-community knowledge exchange function that other procedures less easily achieve. Over the past three years, seven “hands-on” RAMS workshops have been successfully held - Nootka, Clayoquot, Barkley sound salmon, Cowichan (2 separate workshops), Sakinaw, and the Salmon River.

The RAMS methodology can be applied at whatever scale (CU, group of CUs, streams, watershed, river basins, or eco-regions) wild salmon populations warrant by their underlying genetic and eco-typic structure. The availability of a tiered RAMS application helps remove the WSP implementation reality of dealing with available information at multiple scales. The next application of RAMS will likely involve a workshop to integrate information on Chinook CUs from most of the west coast of Vancouver Island as input for understanding rebuilding opportunities.

Activity ID 24: Support ongoing national and provincial initiatives and increase interagency communication on cumulative effects assessment and management issues pertaining to shared aquatic ecosystem values

Completed: This activity has been completed and delivered in full. However, continued efforts to improve inter and intra agency communication are an ongoing priority for the Department. For example, the Department has spent significant time facilitating dialogue amongst regional staff in Environment and Climate Change Canada, Transport Canada (particularly relating to the Oceans Protection Plan), and with provincial and territorial governmental staff on issues pertaining to salmon, salmon habitat conservation and cumulative impact assessment.

Several meetings were held throughout 2018-19 on aquatic ecosystem values, many including significant interest from the BC government. The Department has reached out to the BC government on habitat issues and to national colleagues on rebuilding plan discussions in advance of anticipated regulatory changes from Bill C-68. In particular, the public interest in understanding cumulative effects for SARA listings, rebuilding plans and Chinook measures remains very high, and the Department is working to support the communication of advances on these important issues.

Activity ID 29: Map CUs, freshwater and marine ecosystems, Fishery Management Units, and Outlook Units to clarify connections and nesting

Delayed: Significant progress has been made on this activity, despite it being listed as delayed. The initial mapping of CUs, freshwater and marine ecosystems, Fishery Management Units, and Outlook Units has been completed. The complexity in the terminology surrounding classifications can be difficult to communicate and plan around, so an agreement has been reached to simplify the terminology and align the above listed units with evolving management needs. Anticipated new regulatory requirements under Bill C-68 have created further uncertainty in how a ‘stock management unit’ for salmon is defined, and is the primary driver behind this activity’s status listing as delayed. The Department is working to further understand and clarify the impact of these anticipated regulatory changes to the delivery of WSP activities. At the same time, work will continue on the development of species management and assessment frameworks.

Activity ID 41: Assess the value of annual lake stock assessments and monitoring programs for fall fry populations in the Fraser Basin with the goal of increasing work from two to four lakes annually

Completed: DFO staff have planned and are currently implementing the expansion of field work to include four fry productivity lake assessments in any given year as part of a larger rotational scheme that targets dominant sockeye years. Additional scientific work to explain the results of surveys is being considered on an ongoing basis.

Progress on activity completed before its target completion year

Activity ID 2: Develop a framework for reviewing and approving revisions to CU descriptions

Completed: While this activity is not targeted for completion until March 31, 2020, it has been completed and delivered in full. As part of the Departments scientific process, a framework for reviewing and approving revisions to CU descriptions has been developed and undergone a full Canadian Scientific Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) review. This framework is published and is available. ^{Footnote 4}

New salmon initiatives announced in 2018-19

This year has been an exciting year for wild salmon in BC, with several new initiatives announced related to Pacific salmon and salmon habitat conservation. These initiatives will provide opportunities and funding for First Nations, communities, non-government organizations (NGOs), academia and industry. By supporting projects outside the Department that benefit salmon, these initiatives complement work being done by the Department to restore and maintain healthy salmon populations and their habitats for the benefit of all Canadians.

BC salmon restoration and innovation fund

The BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund is a new initiative jointly funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the province of British Columbia. DFO and the Province of BC are working together to deliver the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, which will provide $142.85M over five years to external partners to better protect the health and sustainability of Pacific salmon and other fish stocks, while modernizing the wild fisheries and aquaculture sectors in BC.

Funding will be available to BC-based commercial and non-commercial organizations, including Indigenous groups, commercial enterprises, universities and academics, and stewardship organizations.

Canada nature fund for aquatic species at risk

The Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk is part of Canada’s Nature Initiative, launched in May 2018.^{Footnote 5} Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk will provide $55 million over five years to support projects that address priority threats and contribute to the protection and recovery of at-risk aquatic species in priority places. Specifically, the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk will fund projects that address the priority threats to aquatic species at risk in the marine environment, and that address threats to help aquatic species at risk to recover in freshwater priority places.

From a salmon conservation perspective, the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk has identified the Fraser and Columbia Watersheds together as one of the freshwater priority places. The Fraser and Columbia Watersheds are home to critical spawning, rearing and migration grounds for salmon. This renewed priority focus on projects that aim to restore these critical watersheds will assist the Department in meeting the overall goal of the Wild Salmon Policy.

Bill C-68 – Amendments to the Fisheries Act

Through the 2018 Fall Economic Statement, the Department received $107.4 million over five years to support the implementation of Fisheries Act amendments related to fish stock rebuilding. Through this funding, the Department is committed to enabling more science work, such as investment in stock assessment, for fish species across Canada including wild Pacific salmon. As Bill C-68 continues to be considered by Parliament, DFO is working to develop regulations and policies in consultation with Indigenous groups, provinces, and stakeholders to support the implementation of amendments ^{Footnote 6}.

Key performance indicators

In order to understand if the activities committed to in the Plan were leading to improved conditions for salmon populations and their habitats, DFO committed to reporting on key performance indicators in the annual report. Quantitative performance indicators are intended to complement qualitative and narrative data. The combined data can provide a more holistic picture of what the Department has achieved, areas requiring improvement, and the way forward.

As part of DFO’s suite of programs contributing to wild salmon conservation, the Department has already identified and reports on a number of performance indicators on an ongoing basis. These indicators support a greater understanding of the Department’s overall efforts on assessment and monitoring, as well as integrated strategic planning to support the restoration and maintenance of healthy salmon populations and their habitats. This information is included in the key performance indicator table below. Over the next year, DFO will continue to refine these key performance indicators, and develop new indicators as required to better articulate progress.

WSP moving forward: 2019-20

2019-20 will be another exciting year, as many activities due for completion in 2019-20 build on current achievements. The activities below are a snapshot of the work that the Department will undertake. By continuing to deliver on these activities, the Department will be well-placed to support the sustainability of wild Pacific salmon to 2022 and for generations to come.

Activities targeted for completion in 2019-20

Assessment

Next year’s activities under this theme are largely focused on the identification, assessment and monitoring of CUs to inform larger management plans.

Maintaining and rebuilding stocks

The WSP recognizes that restoring and maintaining healthy and diverse salmon populations and habitats requires a coordinated focus on planning for these stocks – from fisheries management decisions, enhancement actions, to habitat considerations. Next year’s activities under this theme focus on strategic planning work for salmon conservation, in conjunction with the planning and implementation of annual enhancement activities. With the WSP guiding the delivery of these activities, the Department will continue to integrate and align work across sectors to deliver on these activities and work towards the overall goal of maintaining and restoring wild salmon populations.

Accountability

New language has been introduced in Parliament for the Fisheries Act which would modernize safeguards to reflect the evolving nature of fish and habitat management. If adopted, the proposed amendments would precipitate regulatory, policy, and program changes which could impact salmon and salmon habitat management. In addition to publishing an annual report, the Department will be working over the course of 2020 to incorporate additional activities in the Plan stemming from any related changes to the Fisheries Act.

Meeting the goal of the Wild Salmon Policy is complex and the broader themes of Assessment, Maintaining and Rebuilding Stocks, and Accountability demonstrate that individual strategies are not autonomous. Successful integration of work under all themes is necessary to ensure the success. In addition to delivering on the targeted date activities listed above, DFO will continue to meet the nine overarching approaches and twenty-two ongoing activities.

Conclusion

The first year of the Plan has been a success, and many steps have been put in place to continue this momentum. From publishing data on conservation units and developing a risk assessment approach for salmon, to working collaboratively with the Province of BC, First Nations, and other stakeholders, DFO is moving forward to protect wild salmon populations. This work, along with the work being done by so many others in BC and Yukon are important steps towards reaching the evergreen goal of restoring and maintaining diverse salmon populations for the benefit of the people and ecosystems of Canada in perpetuity.

The Department continues to recognize that the goal of the WSP cannot be achieved by DFO alone, and new initiatives and funds announced over the last year will help groups with an interest in wild Pacific salmon continue to undertake work to help Canada meet the goal.

Annex A: wild salmon policy implementation resources and acronyms

Resources

• Wild Salmon Policy
• Wild Salmon Policy 2018-2022 Implementation Plan
• Wild Salmon Policy Implementation Plan Highlights, 2005-2017
• International Year of the Salmon
• Government of Canada Open Data Portal
• Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk
• Framework for reviewing and approving revisions to CU descriptions
• Bill C-68
• Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat
• CSAS Science Advisory Reports
  • Fraser River Sockeye
  • Southern BC Chinook
  • Interior Fraser River Coho
• Fisheries Act for the Future

Abbreviations

• BC: British Columbia
• CSAS: Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat
• CU: Conservation Unit
• DFO: Department of Fisheries and Oceans / Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• IYS: International Year of the Salmon
• NGO: Non-Government Organization
• RAMS: Risk Assessment Method for Salmon
• SARA: Species At Risk Act
• WCVI: West Coast Vancouver Island
• NuSEDS: New Salmon Escapement Database Systems
• PSF: Pacific Salmon Foundation
• WSP: Wild Salmon Policy
• The Plan: Wild Salmon Policy 2018-2022 Implementation Plan

Annex B: WSP implementation tracker

This is the detailed companion document that outlines specific activity status and key work to date. Additionally, the below table will outline any challenges faced by activities and explains any mitigation strategy in place to restore activities that are ‘delayed’ or ‘facing challenges’ back to ‘on-track’ status.

Activity Tracker