Countless volunteers and nearly 100 salmon conservation projects across B.C. granted $1M

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PSF funds 98 local salmon projects, leveraging $5.3 million in total value for communities.

The Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) has granted just over $1,000,000 to 98 community-led salmon conservation, enhancement, and habitat restoration projects across British Columbia. These projects represent over $5.3 million in total value of salmon stewardship work.

The Community Salmon Program, launched by PSF in 1989, empowers volunteers, local streamkeepers, Indigenous communities, and schools to help conserve and restore Pacific salmon and their habitats.

In the 33 years since its inception, PSF’s Community Salmon Program has awarded $26.8 million in grants to nearly 3,100 projects across B.C. and the Yukon and engaged roughly 30,000 volunteers.  Successful projects have included salmon habitat restoration, aquatic monitoring and research, emergency flood initiatives, hatcheries, and educational programming and outreach.

The Community Salmon Program accepts new applications each fall and spring. The federal Salmon Conservation Stamp, a decal which anglers purchase with their saltwater fishing licence that allows them to retain any species of wild salmon, is the primary funding source for the program. PSF proudly stewards 100 per cent of the proceeds from the Salmon Conservation Stamp on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to advance hundreds of local salmon conservation projects each year.

Rapid Ascent by artist Valerie Rogers will appear on the 2023/2024 Salmon Conservation Stamp.

 

An annual Salmon Conservation Stamp, valid between April 1 and March 31 of each fishing season, can be purchased online or through an Independent Access Provider.

“The Community Salmon Program has been an essential component of the Pacific Salmon Foundation since day one,” says Michael Meneer, CEO and president of PSF. “With about half of B.C. salmon populations in a state of decline, streamkeepers and volunteers across the province are working hard with funding from the program to safeguard these salmon populations and their habitats. If you’d like to support these individuals and the salmon protection efforts in their communities, you can make a tax-deductible donation to PSF.”

If you’d like to support the Community Salmon Program, donate online.

One of the fortunate recipients in this round of funding was habitat restoration partner Peninsula Streams and Shorelines. Founded in 2002, the society restores and protects aquatic ecosystems and watersheds throughout Greater Victoria. The society depends on more than 175 active volunteers and 400 members to conserve and rehabilitate healthy aquatic habitats.

The society received eight grants in this round of funding for a total of $138,700 to continue its BEACH Initiative and Swan Creek restoration project, ongoing for more than a dozen years.

See below to learn how other Community Salmon Program grantees are making a difference for salmon.

Community Salmon Program dollars in action

Monitoring kelp on the West Coast of Vancouver Island

(Graeme Owsianski)

Healthy kelp forests are essential to the well-being of Pacific salmon in B.C. Young salmon depend on kelp in nearshore habitats for refuge from predators and for food sources as they grow and prepare for life in the open ocean.

Redd Fish Restoration Society has developed a multi-year kelp monitoring project with the goal of determining the baseline for kelp forest distribution and abundance, how healthy these ecosystems are, and how Pacific salmon are interacting with kelp forests in the Barkley-Clayoquot region.

The findings will offer a new, comprehensive baseline of the state of kelp forest ecosystems from which future surveys can be compared to.

“As climate change accelerates, the health of nearshore ecosystems may shift dramatically,” says Emily Fulton, the marine coordinator for Redd Fish. “This long-term project will enable us to monitor kelp forests, understand trends in changing habitats, inform future restoration efforts, and fill data gaps around the survival of Pacific salmon and other coastal species.”

Investigating the impacts of road salts on salmon in the Lower Mainland

Every winter, road salts contaminate urban creeks across the Lower Mainland. Those same streams are sensitive freshwater habitat for Pacific salmon. The impacts of road salt pollution on salmon – either directly or indirectly by affecting their primary food source, benthic invertebrates – are poorly understood.

Still Moon Arts Society, a local group that works at the intersection of art and stewardship, is partnering with nine local stewardship groups to better understand and raise awareness of the impacts of road salt on salmon and their food web. This project aims to support the Road Salt and Salmon Success Project, which is a five-year research initiative involving UBC, SFU, BCIT, and 13 stewardship groups in the Lower Mainland.

This project will involve sampling for benthic invertebrates twice a year in creeks in East Vancouver, Burnaby, Maple Ridge, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Langley, and Chilliwack. Project partners will collect data from sections of the creeks that are both impacted and unimpacted by road salts to assess the effect(s) of road salts on the salmon food web.

“Data from the project will be used to educate local residents on the importance of benthic invertebrates to the success of salmon populations and how contaminated stormwater runoff affects creeks and the species living in them,” says Adrian Avendaño, the stewardship programs manager for Still Moon Arts Society.

Additionally, ‘Road Salt and Salmon Education Toolkits’ will be developed as part of this project that will be offered to teachers and Indigenous groups who want to teach their students about the importance of benthic invertebrates for salmon and the challenges fish navigate in urban streams.

The Community Salmon Program will accept applications in early September for its fall round of funding. Details here.

The Community Salmon Program also benefits from corporations with sustainability goals. Trans Mountain, Mosaic Forest Management, BC Hydro, Methanex, Seaspan, Paper Excellence, Secure Energy, Neptune Terminals, ENCORP PACIFIC, Sutherland Foundation Inc., and Pembina Pipeline support the program. Interested businesses can contact PSF’s Senior Business Development Manager Cory Matheson at cmatheson@psf.ca.

 

A full list of recipients for the spring 2023 Community Salmon Program funding cohort includes:

Applicant Project Title Funding confirmed $   Project Value $ 
A Rocha Canada Upper Bulkley Riparian Restoration Workshop 8,400    17,250
AJ McLellan Elementary School Salmonids in the Classroom 1,650      3,550
Alouette River Management Society Salmonid Habitat Assessment and Restoration 6,000    13,530
Alouette River Management Society ALLCO Fish Hatchery Predator Net Replacement 2,500      5,066
Aubrey Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 536      2,436
Baker Creek Enhancement Society Build-a-Whale      6,000    14,183
BC Conservation Foundation Englishman River Claybank Assessment and Mitigation – Year 2 9,500  105,050
BC Conservation Foundation Little Qualicum River Estuary Regional Conservation Area Planting Plan 4,930    19,450
Be the Change Earth Alliance Youth for Community Rain Gardens (YCRG) 2,500    18,400
Berkshire Park Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 760      1,520
Bernard Elementary Stream of Dreams at Bernard Elementary 4,086    12,664
Blessed Sacrament School Salmonids in the Classroom 600    99,940
Bonaccord Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,650      2,460
Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society Coho Spawning and Rearing Habitat Restoration at Birkdale Farm 24,040      4,054
Cat Stream Stewards Cat Stream Pine Street Riparian Restoration Phase 2 2,500    58,081
Children’s Development Centre SD63 Salmonids in the Classroom 1,650      8,680
Coho Society of the North Shore Coho Festival 2023    10,000      3,550
Cougar Creek Streamkeepers Cory Drive Park Rain Garden 2,000  121,000
Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre Society Restore Chum and Coho Rearing Habitat, Fish Gut Alley, Lower Cowichan River 2,500    11,600
Cowichan Lake Salmonid Enhancement Society Beaver Creek Habitat Restoration 4,000    35,400
Ecole Moody Middle School Stream of Dreams at Ecole Moody Middle 4,825    47,720
Fanny Bay Salmon Enhancement Society Wilfred Creek Hatchery Tanks 2023 13,600    15,718
Fanny Bay Salmonid Enhancement Society River Never Sleeps Festival 2023 1,500    28,850
Fraser Valley Watersheds Coalition Silverdale Creek Wetlands-Stabilize Bank Erosion & Replace Failing Infrastructure 81,500      6,500
Friends of French Creek Conservation Society French Creek Salmonid Habitat Restoration 8,900  172,070
Friends of the Marble River Hatchery Supplies 2,400    23,200
Galiano Conservancy Association Salmonids in the Classroom 1,800      5,400
Gillard Pass Fisheries Association Gillard Pass Fisheries upgrades 20,943      8,104
Gitanyow Fisheries Authority Kitwanga River Salmon Enumeration Facility Trap Box Improvements 12,500  505,250
Grenfell Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,650  234,193
Guardians of Mid Island Estuaries Society Eco-Cultural Restoration of Salish Sea Estuaries 27,700    40,900
Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society Cannery Kids Corner 1,400      3,550
Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department Real-time video monitoring of salmon escapement in the Koeye River 28,900  255,350
Horsefly River Roundtable Powerpacks 2,300      1,900
Invasive Species Council of BC Preserving Salmon Habitat by Preventing Aquatic Invasive Species 12,000  311,700
Juan de Fuca Salmon Restoration Society Repair to Charters Side Channel 11,949    52,800
Kingfisher Interpretive Centre Society Salmon Conservation Through Education 7,460  107,625
Kitasoo Xai’Xais Stewardship Authority, Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation Weir-supported video enumeration of coho and sockeye populations in the Kwakwa Lakes 24,500    24,749
Kitsumkalum Band, Fish & Wildlife Kitsumkalum Band Fish Hatchery 13,445  120,460
Lakelse Watershed Stewards Society Watershed Water Quality Sampling 2,500    80,000
Lakelse Watershed Stewards Society Jackpine Wetland Interpretive Trail 5,000  189,445
Little River Enhancement Society Spawning Gravel Nourishment 4,834    20,053
Little River Enhancement Society Little River Habitat Restoration; Removal of Debris Jams 1,670  129,100
Loon Foundation Monitoring Salmon Indicators for the Sunshine Coast 9,556    11,272
Lord Roberts Elementary Stream of Dreams at Lord Roberts Elementary 8,548      3,974
Mainland Enhancement of Salmonoid Species Society Embley Creek Habitat Enhancement 4,500    84,815
Margaret Jenkins Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,650    26,849
Miami River Streamkeepers Society Riparian Ferns Infill 625    29,200
Millard/Piercy Watershed Stewards Piercy Creek vegetation enhancement 1,500      3,490
Nanaimo River Stewardship Society Nanaimo River Hatchery Upgrades Phase 3    75,000      2,750
North Shore Streamkeepers Lynn Creek Off-Channel Habitat Restoration (Implementation) 9,753      3,080
North Shore Streamkeepers Lower Mosquito Creek Salmon Enhancement Project – Phase II 50,000  563,788
Oak and Orca Bioregional School Salmonids in the Classroom 1,650  216,250
Oyster River Enhancement Society ORES Dredging of Channels and Newbury Riffle Repairs 30,000  439,250
Peach Arch Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 800      3,550
Peninsula Streams Society Rain Gardens for Headwaters Program (2023/24) 26,000    65,828
Peninsula Streams Society Portage Inlet Shoreline Restoration    15,800      2,020
Peninsula Streams Society Water Quality Monitoring and Stewardship Program 10,000    97,750
Peninsula Streams Society Swan Creek Enhancement Project 3,000    67,800
Peninsula Streams Society Beach Education and Conservation of Habitat (BEACH)    15,900    50,500
Peninsula Streams Society Millstream Stewardship and Restoration 30,000    41,000
Peninsula Streams Society Colquitz Mainstem Restoration Project (Phase 4) 30,000    96,600
Peninsula Streams Society Tetayut (Sandhill) Creek Habitat Enhancement Project 8,000    79,200
Powell River Salmon Society PRSS Resiliency Project    33,900  124,000
Powell River Salmon Society Salmon Champions Project 2,500    35,300
Qayqayt Elementary School Salmonids in the Classroom 1,650  155,649
Qualicum Beach Streamkeepers Beach Creek Gravel Beds 1,935    45,000
Raincoast Conservation Foundation Salmon Summer Initiative 4,000      3,790
Redd Fish Restoration Society Kelp and Salmon Conservation in the Barkley-Clayoquot Region    32,428      4,535
Renfrew Elementary Stream of Dreams at Renfrew Elementary 6,061    16,400
Rivers to Ridges Salmon in the Schools Yukon 10,000  102,028
Salmon Coast Field Station Boat motor safety upgrade for education and training 2,500    19,063
Second Street Community School Salmonids in the Classroom 1,650    14,160
Semiahmoo Fish and Game Club – Little Campbell Hatchery Hatchery support equipment 67,450      5,360
Serpentine Enhancement Society Incubation Room Upgrade 7,850      1,736
Seymour Salmonid Society Ongoing Hatchery Infrastructure & Equipment Project 16,000      3,550
Sir Wilfred Grenfell Elementary School School Bus for Gently Down Seymour field trip 1,000  141,450
Skeena Fisheries Commission Safety Upgrades for Northern Lake Studies 14,128    15,700
Skeena Knowledge Trust LakeKeepers Training Course 2,500    32,200
Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society Parrot’s Feather Control Program in Somenos Creek 2,500      2,030
Spruce City Wildlife Association Cottonwood Island Park Assessment 15,500    29,378
Spruce City Wildlife Association Touch Tank Display Set Up 2,200      9,060
Squamish River Watershed Society Elaho River Chinook Salmon Enhancement Project 23,000      7,866
Still Moon Arts Society Road Salt, Salmon, and Benthic Invertebrates 8,150    34,600
Stream of Dreams Murals Society Stream of Dreams at Ecole Whitehorse Elementary and Elijah Smith Elementary 17,804      6,000
Suncrest Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 650    50,000
Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society Intake Shut off Valve 10,000    30,730
Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society Pipe project 2,000    35,613
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary Inflow Habitat Restoration Project 2,500      2,650
Toboggan Creek Salmon & Steelhead Enhancement society Field trip funding 2,200    25,000
Tsolum River Restoration Society Invasive fish species removal 5,275      4,100
Ucluelet Aquarium Salmon Trail 3,000      6,230
Unsworth Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 600      4,840
Westridge Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 600    16,175
Wildcoast Ecological Society MacKay Estuary 2,500    13,855
Williams Lake Field Naturalists/Scout Island Nature Centre Intertidal Tank Refresh 1,500 1,560
World Fisheries Trust Craigflower Creek Stewardship and Restoration 8,750 2,500
World Fisheries Trust Salmonids population recovery – Stream to Sea Salmon tank refrigeration 5,750    10,635