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). This initiative 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, it is important that we 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 that support 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 cataloging 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 B.C.
• the Nicola River watershed in B.C.
• the Yukon River watershed in the Yukon

Thompson-Shuswap watersheds

Through IPSE, we have partnered with the Thompson Shuswap Salmon Collaborative (TSSC), which is 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 an Integrated Salmon Ecosystem Plan for the Thompson-Shuswap in collaboration with Indigenous communities and stakeholders.

The first Thompson-Shuswap IPSE workshop was hosted by the TSSC in Kamloops, BC on March 9th, 2023. This was the first of a series of workshops aimed at shaping a collaborative planning process and providing insight into the actions needed to support salmon and their habitats. We participated in this workshop along with First Nations and Indigenous Organizations, local government, academics and consultants, non-government organizations and the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. A follow-up webinar was held by the TSSC on March 4th, 2024 to update participants on planning and technical work, and to continue offering opportunities for participants to provide input on a forthcoming Thompson-Shuswap Integrated Salmon Ecosystem Plan.

The TSSC is developing a prioritization framework and continues to engage with the Thompson-Shuswap salmon community through What We Heard Reports, newsletters, Technical Working Groups and Secwépemc community engagement sessions. The TSSC is advancing three technical working groups (TWG) to action next steps identified by participants. These include innovative mapping and modelling of watersheds to support plan recommendations (Geospatial TWG), developing methods to assess and protect drought-prone streams and support overall ecosystem function (Hydrology TWG) and identifying conservation and restoration priorities and objectives for salmon habitat across the planning area (Salmon Ecology and Restoration TWG).

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 will support salmon ecosystem health in the Nicola through the development of a Nicola Watershed Integrated Salmon Ecosystem Strategy.

The SET hosted its first workshop in Merritt, BC on February 7th, 2024. We participated in this workshop along with SET members and other salmon habitat and restoration knowledge holders from local First Nation communities and organizations, the Province of BC and ENGOs. The intention of the workshop was for participants to discuss a shared vision for the SET and next steps for collaborative planning and development of a Nicola Watershed Integrated Salmon Ecosystem Strategy. The SET will continue to meet regularly to identify and advance actions needed to support salmon habitat recovery and resilience in the Nicola Watershed.

Yukon River watershed

Through IPSE, we are working in coordination 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.

On November 22 and 23, 2023, we participated in the Yukon River Chinook Salmon Rebuilding workshop hosted in Whitehorse. The workshop was coordinated by an impartial third-party, and brought together governments and organizations with salmon and salmon habitat management responsibilities in the Yukon to discuss co-development of a strategy for Chinook salmon rebuilding and ecosystem planning for the Canadian portion of the Yukon River Watershed. Workshop participants collectively developed objectives for the strategy and agreed that a collaborative approach to rebuilding is essential to success. Participants also identified a need to “act while planning”.

Following the workshop, coordinators shared next steps for co-developing a shared strategy by 2026. A follow up workshop took place on March 26 and 27, 2023 to discuss the issues facing Yukon River Chinook salmon and to identify and initiate immediate actions to help Yukon River Chinook. We are supporting these actions and the development of this strategy by providing technical support and participant capacity funding as well as funding a third-party impartial coordinator to ensure a truly collaborative process.

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