Sixty local salmon conservation projects to advance thanks to $370k in grants

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The Pacific Salmon Foundation proudly announces $372,378 in grants to 60 grassroots Pacific salmon conservation projects. Across B.C. and the Yukon, 32 communities received funding as part of the Community Salmon Program’s fall grants, which support local salmon conservation and restoration efforts.

Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) funding empowers stewardship groups, volunteers, and Indigenous communities to conserve and rehabilitate Pacific salmon and their habitat while increasing awareness and public engagement on issues related to salmon.

Since 1989 when the program first launched, PSF has provided $24.3 million in grants to more than 2900 projects through the Community Salmon Program (CSP). Successful projects have included salmon habitat restoration efforts, aquatic monitoring and research, conservation hatcheries operations, educational programming and outreach, and citizen science initiatives. See below for two success stories.

“This past year proved especially challenging for salmon. Despite record-breaking heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, and floods, we continue to see people rallying together for salmon during these times. The Pacific Foundation is proud to support communities with consistent and reliable funding through the Community Salmon Program,” says Michael Meneer, CEO & President, Pacific Salmon Foundation. “More than ever, salmon need our help. We are incredibly thankful to local stewards, volunteers, and communities for their hard work, and we will continue to provide support for their grassroots salmon conservation efforts.”

PSF’s Community Salmon Program accepts new applications each spring and fall. It is primarily supported by the federal Salmon Conservation Stamp, a decal which anglers purchase with their fishing licence. All generated proceeds support PSF’s salmon restoration, stewardship, education, and enhancement efforts.

“Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, PSF predicts a decrease in available funds for this year’s CSP grants. We know there is a strong demand for more salmon conservation support from local communities, so we encourage you to purchase a Salmon Stamp this year even if you can’t go fishing or donate directly to the Pacific Salmon Foundation,” says Meneer.

Donate to the Pacific Salmon Foundation to support the Community Salmon Program.

 

Community Salmon Program Success Stories

 

On the Sunshine Coast, the B.C. Conservation Foundation (BCCF)’s Vital Kelp Project, which is creating a suspended kelp canopy refuge for salmon on a migratory pathway, received CSP funding in the fall 2021 callout.

Kelp forests provide important nearshore marine habitat when salmonids leave their native streams and rivers. Given that marine habitat for out-migrating salmonids has been identified as an “urgent priority” in advancing salmon recovery, kelp cultivation is a promising restoration and recovery tool for salmon and their prey.

“We want to bring back some of the iconic kelp we remember from decades ago along the Sunshine Coast,” says project lead Lee-Ann Ennis.

BCCF’s Vital Kelp Project has successfully seeded and planted several thousand metres of bull kelp and sugar kelp. Ennis has established a kelp nursery and is looking to scale up ongoing restoration capacity with “green gravel trials,” thanks in part to PSF funding.

Kus-kus-sum, another CSP-supported initiative, is a collaborative project between the K’ómoks First Nation, City of Courtenay, and the Comox Valley Project Watershed Society. The partners will restore a former industrial sawmill site in the heart of the salmon migratory corridor of the K’ómoks Estuary. Prior to its development, the site was a tidally-influenced, forested wetland and riparian area that continues to be an important site for the K’ómoks First Nation. The area provides shelter, foraging, and rearing habitat for fish and other wildlife. This project aims to restore natural tidal marsh and forest communities to the site, remove current infrastructure separating the site from the flood plain, create a climate mitigation asset for the community, and recover an important piece of land to its traditional stewards.

Applications for the Community Salmon Program’s spring intake are open now through February 15, 2022. Apply here.

Media inquiries: Photos are available upon request and interviews with Community Salmon Program recipients can be arranged. For more information, contact Braela at bkwan@psf.ca.

 

A full list of recipients for the fall 2021 Community Salmon Program funding round includes:

Location Applicant Project Title Funding Confirmed $ Project Value $
Vancouver ¿UUQINAK’UUH ELEMENTARY Salmonids in the Classroom 540 1,000
Surrey A Rocha Canada Riparian habitat enhancement in the TATALU (Little Campbell River) 2,500 23,532
Port Alberni Alberni Aquarium Association Storm Drain Marking Program 200 1,050
Maple Ridge Alouette River Management Society Alouette River Urban Stormwater Workshops 2022-2023 800 4,511
Maple Ridge Alouette River Management Society Alouette River Watershed Community Workshop Series 2022-2023 3,536 49,468
Surrey BC Wildlife Federation Fish Habitat Stewardship Workshops 13,162 66,840
Vancouver Be the Change Earth Alliance Society Youth for Community Rain Gardens 2,500 14,840
Surrey Bonaccord Elementary Stream of Dreams at Bonaccord Elementary 6,023 19,591
Sechelt BC Conservation Foundation Vital Kelp Project 5,000 80,030
Vancouver Carnarvon School Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 3,410
Vancouver Carnarvon School Stream of Dreams 3,686 11,893
Tofino Cedar Coast Field Station Society RPAS enumerations of chum salmon in Clayoquot Sound Rivers 2,400 53,900
Chilliwack Central Elementary Community School Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,730
Brackendale Cheakamus Foundation for Environmental Learning Cheakamus Teaching Hatchery Modernization 5,000 10,000
Hazelton Chicago Creek Community Environmental Enhancement Society Mission Creek Salmon Counting Fence 9,900 29,150
Courtney Comox Valley Project Watershed Society Glen Urquhart Creek Salmonid Spawning and Rearing Restoration 15,000 49,155
Courtney Comox Valley Project Watershed Society Kus-kus-sum: Field Sawmill Restoration in the K’ómoks Estuary 18,850 5,603,376
Cowichan Bay Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre Society Youth Riparian Habitat Restoration Program – Cowichan & Koksilah Watersheds 2,500 11,400
Cowichan Lake Cowichan Lake Salmonid Enhancement Society Hatchery Equipment Purchase 4,500 17,322
Duncan Cowichan Station Area Association Koksilah Stream Signage 2,475 4,975
Cumberland Cumberland Community Forest Society Perseverance Creek Stewardship Engagement Project 8,000 37,800
Deroche Deroche Elementary School Student Supply Kits for Watershed and Salmon Habitat Studies 1,400 3,000
Campbell River Discovery Passage Aquarium Society Beach seining equipment to support community projects 2,460 9,095
Vancouver École Anne-Hébert Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,775
Vancouver General Gordon Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,875
Vancouver General Wolfe Elementary Stream of Dreams at General Wolfe Elementary 4,248 13,807
Courtney Guardians of Mid Island Estuaries Society Eco-Cultural Restoration in the K’omoks Estuary 18,460 366,300
Hazelton Hazelton Secondary School Chicago Creek 1,500 5,600
Quesnel Horsefly River Roundtable Horsefly Streamkeepers Survey Equipment 2,500 15,280
Maple Ridge Kanaka Environmental & Educational Partnership Society Bell Irving Pump Shack Replacement 27,018 76,768
Ladysmith Ladysmith Sportsmen’s Club Brood stock equipment 2,500 7,200
Prince Rupert Lax Kw’alaams Band Skeena River Salmon Enhancement Program 18,400 278,289
Vancouver L’Ecole Bilingue Elementary School Salmonids in the Classroom 500 1,985
Madeira Park Loon Foundation Anderson Creek Watershed Salmonid Monitoring 2,441 15,121
Vancouver Lord Selkirk Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,785
Chilliwack McCammon Elementary School Stream of Dreams at McCammon Traditional Elementary School 3,429 10,970
Vancouver Moberly Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,950
Surrey Mountainview Montessori Elementary School Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,650
Nanaimo Nanaimo River Stewardship Society Nanaimo River Hatchery Upgrades 45,500 480,878
Burnaby Nelson Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,800
North Vancouver North Shore Streamkeepers Lynn Creek Off-Channel Habitat Rehabilitation 6,750 122,400
Vancouver Pear Tree Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,785
North Saanich Peninsula Streams Society Rain Gardens for Headwaters: Demonstration Projects 14,038 56,150
North Saanich Peninsula Streams Society Roberts Bay Beach Nourishment Pilot 26,063 125,000
Port Moody Pleasantside Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,845
Powell River Powell River Salmon Society Education Incubators Expansion 1,934 19,934
Powell River Powell River Salmon Society Lang Creek Hatchery Revitalization 18,005 55,420
Langley Rivershed Society of BC Foodlands Corridor Restoration Program on the sc̓e:ɬxʷəy̓əm1/Salmon River 16,250 548,600
Echo Bay Salmon Coast Field Station Society Boat Safety for Monitoring and Education 2,500 5,428
Surrey Serpentine Enhancement Society Oxygen Monitor and Pump 1,043 2,085
North Vancouver Seymour Heights Elementary School Stream of Dreams 3,275 10,452
North Vancouver Seymour Salmonid Society Ongoing Community Outreach and Hatchery Infrastructure Project 10,000 66,125
Smithers SkeenaWild Conservation Trust SkeenaWild Youth Conservation Leadership Program 2,500 12,500
North Vancouver St. Pius X School Stream of Dreams at St.Pius 2,731 8,922
Gibsons Sunshine Coast Conservation Association Friends of Gibsons and Charman Creeks 2,500 10,665
Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast Streamkeepers Society Salmonid Spawning Survey Equipment 2,486 4,972
Smithers Toboggan Creek Steelhead and Salmon Enhancement Society Toboggan Creek Riparian Fencing 1,800 3,960
Dawson City Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation Stream of Dreams at Robert Service School 3,920 8,506
Vancouver Tyee Elementary Salmonids in the Classroom 1,300 2,825
Chilliwack Unsworth Elementary School Stream of Dreams at Unsworth Elementary 5,355 17,189
372,378 8,483,864