Protecting Salmon Habitat From Aliens

The “Protecting Salmon and Habitat from Aliens” project aimed to reduce the impacts of aquatic invasive plants on salmon habitat in key watersheds in BC as has been separated into two phases: Phase 1 – information gathering and resource development (completed) and Phase 2 – on-the-ground delivery (pending funding). The overall objectives of this project are to improve the health of watersheds important to salmon through increased awareness and stewardship actions. The IPCBC Aquatic Advisory Committee “Think Tank” provided key guidance in the development of this project. The current phase of this initiative is to identify high priority communities and sites that can be targeted for education (workshops and distribution of educational materials) and restoration activities (including inventories or hand pulls). With guidance from the Aquatic Advisory Committee, IPCBC staff completed the following steps for Phase 1 of “Protecting Salmon Habitat from Aliens”:

1) Identified which aquatic invasive plants impact salmon habitat based on the species included in the draft Aquatic Invasive Plant Action Plan. Additional species were included, as required.

2) Determined a process for selecting priority communities and sites that can be targeted for education activities (questionnaire development).

3) Solicited input from regional invasive plant coordinators via questionnaire (available upon request), and jointly identified areas around the Province for future stewardship and/or education activities.

Results of Phase 1 are presented in “Salmon&Aliens_questionnaire_10March2010.xls”.