Water Stewardship Information Sources
| Citation | Labelle, M. 2009. Status of salmon resources in southern British Columbia and the Fraser River Basin. Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. |
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| Organization | Pacific Fisheries Conservation Council |
| URL | http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/347488.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | During 2002, the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (PFRCC) published a report on the abundance and diversity of Pacific salmon resources in southern British Columbia (PFRCC 2002). It represented the Council’s first step in synthesizing data on the state of these populations, and the available knowledge on the dynamics of this aquatic resource. Other PFRCC reports were published on the state of populations in central and northern British Columbia (BC), up to the Nass River and the Portland Canal (PFRCC 2004) and the trans-boundary rivers of northern BC and the Yukon River (PFRCC 2008). The present report updates the information contained in the 2002 report on southern BC stocks to include recent information provided by field surveys and analyses. Thousands of streams support Pacific salmon populations in BC and the Yukon. The Council’s challenge has been to summarize the available material into informative text that can be used by stakeholders, fisheries managers, interest groups and the public for reference purposes. In developing these reports, the Council has attempted to present a balance of comments and observations that include the details of the resource base, the state of populations today compared to past years, and the management and monitoring of these populations. Public attention is frequently focused on the activities having negative impacts on the salmon resources. Salmon are indeed threatened by continued economic development, climate change, and human population growth. However, the wild salmon resource still constitutes a diverse, highly dynamic, and resilient group of species. An overly narrow focus on the negative impacts is unlikely to benefit the conservation of salmon or fisheries. An objective review of the salmon resource should consider the full breadth of information and present a long-term perspective on their status while also identifying any immediate problems. Historical trends in commercial catches of Pacific salmon since 1828 indicate that salmon production was fairly stable from about 1910 to 1990 (Argue and Shepard 2005). Unfortunately, human and environmental impacts have increased in the last 50+ years, with substantial repercussions on the state and prospects of wild salmon populations. The information in this report is largely based on relatively recent records compiled and distributed by Fisheries & Oceans Canada (usually referred to as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or DFO from here onwards). The report focuses mainly on trends in salmon spawning levels, as documented in reports reviewed and accepted by the Pacific Scientific Advice Review Committee (PSARC1 ), or published in peer-reviewed journals. The Council expects that this and other stock status reports will be evolving documents that incorporate new information and identify conservation issues as they develop. The Council’s website (www.fish.bc.ca) provides the medium for maintaining and updating these reports. |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Province |
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| Project status | complete |
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