Integrated Planning for Salmon Ecosystems

Integrated Planning for Salmon Ecosystems (IPSE) is an initiative under the Conservation and Stewardship pillar of the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI). IPSE is piloting collaborative planning processes in key watersheds in British Columbia and the Yukon to help improve the health of Pacific salmon ecosystems.

Because the challenges affecting Pacific salmon are complex, and urgent action is needed to stem population declines, we must strengthen collaboration with our partners. IPSE brings together:

• Indigenous governments and communities
• the British Columbia and Yukon governments
• local government
• academia
• key stewardship groups

Our shared goal is to identify and prioritize actions in support of healthy salmon ecosystems.

Through IPSE, we are collaborating to create Integrated Salmon Ecosystem Plans. The plans will provide strategic recommendations and identify the work needed to prioritize and implement activities that benefit salmon while considering impacts from climate change and human uses. We will be supporting ongoing activity while we plan, including by:

• proactively and collaboratively identifying and cataloguing pressures affecting salmon habitats
• exploring opportunities for education and outreach
• targeting restoration priorities and projects
• considering habitat protection measures (including policy and regulatory tools)
• informing land and resource use practices to mitigate harm to salmon habitats
• identifying mechanisms for funding and implementing actions
• supporting climate vulnerability and adaptation assessments in salmon habitats

Pilot watersheds

We are piloting the IPSE initiative in 3 geographic areas:

• the Thompson-Shuswap watersheds in BC
• the Nicola River watershed in BC
• the Yukon River watershed in the Yukon

Thompson-Shuswap watersheds

Through IPSE, we have partnered with the Thompson Shuswap Salmon Collaborative (TSSC), a technical planning partnership we are participating in with the BC Ministry of Water Land and Resource Stewardship and the Secwépemc Fisheries Commission. The TSSC is co-developing the Thompson-Shuswap Salmon Ecosystem Action Plan (‘the Plan’) in collaboration with Secwépemc communities and stakeholders.

Engagement

The TSSC has hosted a series of workshops and online information sessions to shape the collaborative planning process and provide insight into the actions needed to support salmon and their habitats. Over 40 participants have attended each event, including First Nations and Indigenous organizations, local government, academics and consultants, non-government organizations, and the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.

The first Thompson-Shuswap workshop was held in March 2023, where participants collectively began to establish a shared vision for the Plan. In the March 2024 follow-up information session, the TSSC updated participants on the planning process and offered opportunities for participants to provide input to the Plan. The second information session in October 2024 included a progress update on the Plan, and the TSSC invited participants to help map salmon distribution and habitat features and identify potential actions using online tools developed in collaboration with the Pacific Salmon Foundation and Secwépemc Fisheries Commission.

The TSSC continues to engage with the Thompson-Shuswap salmon community through What We Heard Reports, newsletters, Technical Working Groups, and Secwépemc community engagement sessions.

Next steps

The TSSC continues to meet regularly to develop the Plan and identify actions in support of salmon habitat conservation and restoration. This includes:

• Completing an Action Prioritization Framework tailored to salmon habitat needs in the Thompson-Shuswap watershed
• Continued mapping and modelling of watersheds to support plan recommendations
• Confirming conservation and restoration priorities and objectives for salmon habitat across the planning area.

Nicola watershed

Through IPSE, we have partnered with Nicola First Nations, Scw’exmx Tribal Council, and the Province of BC Ministry of Water Land and Resource Stewardship to form the Salmon Ecosystem Table (SET). This is a technical table that is supporting salmon ecosystem health in the Nicola watershed by developing the Nicola Watershed Integrated Salmon Ecosystem Strategy (NWISES).

Engagement

The SET has hosted a series of workshops and online information sessions to identify and advance actions needed to support salmon habitat recovery and resilience in the Nicola watershed. Participants have included SET members, First Nations staff and community members, provincial and federal staff, academia, environmental non-governmental organizations, and other local knowledge holders.

In the first workshop, February 2024, participants discussed a shared vision for the SET and agreed to develop the NWISES together. The second workshop in October 2024 included a NWISES progress update with over 40 participants who worked together to prioritize salmon habitat pressures and outline goals and objectives for the Nicola watershed. In the January 2025 follow-up information session, the SET provided an overview of the NWISES process for those unable to join workshops to date. Over 35 participants identified opportunities to align work and share data and information to help develop the NWISES. A third workshop was held in March 2025 where over 40 participants defined and prioritized habitat-related conservation and restoration actions for the NWISES.

Next steps

The SET continues to meet regularly to develop the NWISES as well as identify and advance actions needed to support salmon habitat recovery and resilience in the Nicola watershed. This includes:

• Completing an Action Prioritization Framework tailored to salmon habitat needs in the Nicola watershed
• Continued mapping and modelling of the watershed to support plan recommendations
• Confirming conservation and restoration priorities and objectives for salmon habitat across the planning area

Yukon River watershed

Through IPSE, we are coordinating with other PSSI initiatives to deliver IPSE as one component of overall Chinook salmon stock rebuilding in the Canadian portion of the Yukon River Watershed. We are working with First Nations, Yukon Salmon Sub-committee, Yukon First Nations Salmon Stewardship Alliance, Government of Yukon, and others, to develop the Yukon River Chinook Salmon Rebuilding and Ecosystem Strategy (‘the Strategy’). We are supporting development of the Strategy by providing technical support and participant capacity funding, as well as funding a third-party impartial coordinator to enable a truly collaborative process.

Engagement

The third-party coordinator has hosted a series of workshops to bring together governments and organizations with salmon and salmon habitat management responsibilities in the Yukon to co-develop the Strategy. Each workshop has welcomed over 40 participants, bolstered meaningful connections, and provided space for crucial discussions among organizations and communities whose work is critical to salmon.

In the first workshop in November 2023, participants agreed that a collaborative approach to rebuilding is essential to success and collectively developed objectives for the Strategy. Participants also identified a need to continue taking urgent action while planning is underway (i.e., to “act while planning”). A second workshop was held in March 2024 where participants discussed the issues facing Yukon River Chinook salmon and identified immediate actions to help these Chinook populations. ‘Action While Planning’ working groups were established to start addressing priority actions and inform the development of the Strategy. In the third workshop in November 2024, participants worked together to identify Yukon River Chinook population and habitat rebuilding objectives. The fourth workshop was held in March 2025 and focused on confirming actions to support each objective and identifying potential timelines for their implementation.

Next steps

We continue to work with the third-party coordinator and rebuilding partners to co-develop the Strategy. This includes:

• Delivering a technical report on issues facing Canadian-origin Yukon River Chinook salmon
• Continuing to fill knowledge gaps and address priority actions
• Working with partners to draft content and refine actions for the Strategy

Outcomes and key deliverables

In addition to collaboratively developing Integrated Salmon Ecosystem Plans, IPSE’s key outcomes and deliverables include:

• Strengthening relationshipswith First Nations, the Province of BC, Government of Yukon, and other stakeholders. Through IPSE we are creating meaningful relationships with partners at sub-regional and watershed levels to mutually identify actions needed to improve the health of salmon ecosystems.
• Compiling information on salmon ecosystemsin watershed profiles to highlight salmon distribution, important habitat features, and known threats and pressures, including climate change. These documents will support biologists, restoration practitioners, land use planners, local stewards, and others who play a role in the salmon ecosystem when working in these watersheds.
• Sharing what we learn about collaborative ecosystem planningin a practitioner’s guide,to offer guidance and inspiration to other collaborative ecosystem planning initiatives.

Related links

• Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative
• Pacific Wild Salmon Policy
• State of the Pacific Salmon report
• BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund
• More information on Pacific salmon

Contact us

For general inquiries: DFO.PAC.IPSE-PIES.PAC.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca