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 Location  Funding confirmed $  Project Value $
A Rocha Canada Upper Bulkley Riparian Restoration Workshop Houston 8,400     17,250
AJ McLellan Elementary School Salmonids in the Classroom Surrey 1,650       3,550
Alouette River Management Society Salmonid Habitat Assessment and Restoration Maple Ridge 6,000     13,530
Alouette River Management Society ALLCO Fish Hatchery Predator Net Replacement Maple Ridge 2,500       5,066
Aubrey Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Burnaby 536       2,436
Baker Creek Enhancement Society Build-a-Whale Quesnel 6,000     14,183
BC Conservation Foundation Englishman River Claybank Assessment and Mitigation – Year 2 Parksville 9,500   105,050
BC Conservation Foundation Little Qualicum River Estuary Regional Conservation Area Planting Plan Qualicum Beach 4,930     19,450
Be the Change Earth Alliance Youth for Community Rain Gardens (YCRG) Delta 2,500     18,400
Berkshire Park Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Surrey 760       1,520
Bernard Elementary Stream of Dreams at Bernard Elementary Chilliwack 4,086     12,664
Blessed Sacrament School Salmonids in the Classroom Vancouver 600       2,460
Bonaccord Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Surrey 1,650       4,054
Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society Coho Spawning and Rearing Habitat Restoration at Birkdale Farm Comox 24,040     58,081
Cat Stream Stewards Cat Stream Pine Street Riparian Restoration Phase 2 Nanaimo 2,500       8,680
Children’s Development Centre SD63 Salmonids in the Classroom Saanich 1,650       3,550
Coho Society of the North Shore Coho Festival 2023 North Vancouver 10,000   121,000
Cougar Creek Streamkeepers Cory Drive Park Rain Garden Delta 2,000     11,600
Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre Society Restore Chum and Coho Rearing Habitat, Fish Gut Alley, Lower Cowichan River Cowichan Bay 2,500     35,400
Cowichan Lake Salmonid Enhancement Society Beaver Creek Habitat Restoration Cowichan Lake 4,000     47,720
Ecole Moody Middle School Stream of Dreams at Ecole Moody Middle Port Moody 4,825     15,718
Fanny Bay Salmon Enhancement Society Wilfred Creek Hatchery Tanks 2023 Fanny Bay 13,600     28,850
Fanny Bay Salmonid Enhancement Society River Never Sleeps Festival 2023 Fanny Bay 1,500       6,500
Fraser Valley Watersheds Coalition Silverdale Creek Wetlands-Stabilize Bank Erosion & Replace Failing Infrastructure Misson 81,500   172,070
Friends of French Creek Conservation Society French Creek Salmonid Habitat Restoration Coombs 8,900     23,200
Friends of the Marble River Hatchery Supplies Port McNeill 2,400       5,400
Galiano Conservancy Association Salmonids in the Classroom Galiano 1,800       8,104
Gillard Pass Fisheries Association Gillard Pass Fisheries upgrades Southgate River 20,943   234,193
Gitanyow Fisheries Authority Kitwanga River Salmon Enumeration Facility Trap Box Improvements Kitwanga 12,500     40,900
Grenfell Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Vancouver 1,650       3,550
Guardians of Mid Island Estuaries Society Eco-Cultural Restoration of Salish Sea Estuaries Van Island 27,700   255,350
Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society Cannery Kids Corner Richmond 1,400       2,900
Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department Real-time video monitoring of salmon escapement in the Koeye River Bella Bella 28,900   311,700
Horsefly River Roundtable Powerpacks Horsefly 2,300     52,800
Invasive Species Council of BC Preserving Salmon Habitat by Preventing Aquatic Invasive Species Semiahmoo Bay 12,000   107,625
Juan de Fuca Salmon Restoration Society Repair to Charters Side Channel Sooke 11,949     24,749
Kingfisher Interpretive Centre Society Salmon Conservation Through Education Enderby 7,460   120,460
Kitasoo Xai’Xais Stewardship Authority, Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation Weir-supported video enumeration of coho and sockeye populations in the Kwakwa Lakes Kwakwa Lakes 24,500     80,000
Kitsumkalum Band, Fish & Wildlife Kitsumkalum Band Fish Hatchery Terrace 13,445   189,445
Lakelse Watershed Stewards Society Watershed Water Quality Sampling Terrace 2,500     20,053
Lakelse Watershed Stewards Society Jackpine Wetland Interpretive Trail Terrace 5,000   129,100
Little River Enhancement Society Spawning Gravel Nourishment Comox 4,834     11,272
Little River Enhancement Society Little River Habitat Restoration; Removal of Debris Jams Comox 1,670       3,974
Loon Foundation Monitoring Salmon Indicators for the Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast 9,556     84,815
Lord Roberts Elementary Stream of Dreams at Lord Roberts Elementary Vancouver 8,548     26,849
Mainland Enhancement of Salmonoid Species Society Embley Creek Habitat Enhancement Simoom Sound 4,500     29,200
Margaret Jenkins Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Victoria 1,650       3,490
Miami River Streamkeepers Society Riparian Ferns Infill Harrison Hot Springs 625       2,750
Millard/Piercy Watershed Stewards Piercy Creek vegetation enhancement Comox 1,500       3,080
Nanaimo River Stewardship Society Nanaimo River Hatchery Upgrades Phase 3 Nanaimo 75,000   563,788
North Shore Streamkeepers Lynn Creek Off-Channel Habitat Restoration (Implementation) North Vancouver 9,753   216,250
North Shore Streamkeepers Lower Mosquito Creek Salmon Enhancement Project – Phase II North Vancouver 50,000   439,250
Oak and Orca Bioregional School Salmonids in the Classroom Victoria 1,650       3,550
Oyster River Enhancement Society ORES Dredging of Channels and Newbury Riffle Repairs Oyster River 30,000     65,828
Peach Arch Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Surrey 800       2,020
Peninsula Streams Society Rain Gardens for Headwaters Program (2023/24) Victoria 26,000     97,750
Peninsula Streams Society Portage Inlet Shoreline Restoration Victoria 15,800     67,800
Peninsula Streams Society Water Quality Monitoring and Stewardship Program Saanich 10,000     50,500
Peninsula Streams Society Swan Creek Enhancement Project Saanich 3,000     41,000
Peninsula Streams Society Beach Education and Conservation of Habitat (BEACH) Sooke 15,900     96,600
Peninsula Streams Society Millstream Stewardship and Restoration Langford 30,000     79,200
Peninsula Streams Society Colquitz Mainstem Restoration Project (Phase 4) Saanich 30,000   124,000
Peninsula Streams Society Tetayut (Sandhill) Creek Habitat Enhancement Project Saanich 8,000     35,300
Powell River Salmon Society PRSS Resiliency Project Powell River 33,900   155,649
Powell River Salmon Society Salmon Champions Project Powell River 2,500     45,000
Qayqayt Elementary School Salmonids in the Classroom New Westminster 1,650       3,790
Qualicum Beach Streamkeepers Beach Creek Gravel Beds Qualicum Beach 1,935       4,535
Raincoast Conservation Foundation Salmon Summer Initiative Pitt Meadows 4,000     16,400
Redd Fish Restoration Society Kelp and Salmon Conservation in the Barkley-Clayoquot Region Ucluelet 32,428   102,028
Renfrew Elementary Stream of Dreams at Renfrew Elementary Vancouver 6,061     19,063
Rivers to Ridges Salmon in the Schools Yukon Whitehorse/Yukon 10,000     64,993
Salmon Coast Field Station Boat motor safety upgrade for education and training Broughton Archipelago 2,500       5,360
Second Street Community School Salmonids in the Classroom Burnaby 1,650       3,550
Semiahmoo Fish and Game Club – Little Campbell Hatchery Hatchery support equipment Surrey 67,450   141,450
Serpentine Enhancement Society Incubation Room Upgrade Surrey 7,850     15,700
Seymour Salmonid Society Ongoing Hatchery Infrastructure & Equipment Project North Vancouver 16,000     32,200
Sir Wilfred Grenfell Elementary School School Bus for Gently Down Seymour field trip Vancouver 1,000       2,030
Skeena Fisheries Commission Safety Upgrades for Northern Lake Studies Meziadin Lake 14,128     29,378
Skeena Knowledge Trust LakeKeepers Training Course Smithers 2,500       9,060
Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society Parrot’s Feather Control Program in Somenos Creek Duncan 2,500       7,866
Spruce City Wildlife Association Cottonwood Island Park Assessment Prince George 15,500     34,600
Spruce City Wildlife Association Touch Tank Display Set Up Prince George 2,200       6,000
Squamish River Watershed Society Elaho River Chinook Salmon Enhancement Project Squamish 23,000     50,000
Still Moon Arts Society Road Salt, Salmon, and Benthic Invertebrates Vancouver 8,150     30,730
Stream of Dreams Murals Society Stream of Dreams at Ecole Whitehorse Elementary and Elijah Smith Elementary Whitehorse/Yukon 17,804     35,613
Suncrest Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Burnaby 650       2,650
Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society Intake Shut off Valve Sechelt 10,000     25,000
Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society Pipe project Sechelt 2,000       4,100
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary Inflow Habitat Restoration Project Victoria 2,500       6,230
Toboggan Creek Salmon & Steelhead Enhancement society Field trip funding Smithers 2,200       4,840
Tsolum River Restoration Society Invasive fish species removal Courtenay 5,275     16,175
Ucluelet Aquarium Salmon Trail Tofino 3,000     13,855
Unsworth Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Salmonids in the Classroom 600 1,560
Westridge Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom Salmonids in the Classroom 600 2,500
Wildcoast Ecological Society MacKay Estuary Simoom Sound 2,500     10,635
Williams Lake Field Naturalists/Scout Island Nature Centre Intertidal Tank Refresh Williams Lake 1,500       3,200
World Fisheries Trust Craigflower Creek Stewardship and Restoration Victoria 8,750     46,763
World Fisheries Trust Salmonids population recovery – Stream to Sea Salmon tank refrigeration Victoria 5,750     45,750