| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
This brief paper provides an initial appraisal of the potential to establish a Taku Salmon Stronghold. It presents information and opinions about the transboundary Taku watershed that straddles Alaska and British Columbia. It puts forward an exploratory review of the Taku watershed’s salmon values in relation to the scientific criteria and other qualifications established by the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership. The development of this paper was sponsored by RiversWithout Borders and the Rivers Institute at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. For Rivers Without Borders, this initiative is part of its ongoing effort to protect intact watersheds, promote wild salmon conservation, maintain biological diversity, and safeguard unique cultural values of the northwest British Columbia and southeast Alaska transboundary region. The Taku is exceptional in many respects, including its fully intact state, its biological diversity and its breath-taking natural beauty. It has served as a vital waterway and food source for aboriginal communities for centuries and a reliable source of salmon for commercial and sport fisheries for decades. Its relative isolation from industrial development and resource extraction has enabled the Taku to maintain extraordinary, virtually pristine natural environmental conditions and remarkably high salmon productivity. This paper provides an explanation of the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership, an initiative that identifies and reinforces the “best of the best” in wild Pacific salmon habitat. It explains the salmon habitat characteristics of the Taku River systemin relation to the benchmarks of natural spawning, viability, and diversity that are hallmarks of the exceptional salmon river systems represented in the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership. It sets the stage for a future scientific assessment of the Taku international watershed with a rigorous application of Salmon Stronghold criteria. Many rivers and basin areas across the Pacific coastal and interior regions can demonstrate their value for wild salmon productivity. However, the Salmon Stronghold assessment process uses a thorough scientificmethodology tomeasure and rank those attributes, and it provides validation for themost crucial Pacific salmon habitat. Consequently, rivers such as the Taku can be independently assessed and proven to have extraordinary importance for wild salmon conservation. The Taku would qualify to join the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership in every respect. As even the cursory review undertaken for this report illustrates, it possesses all of the characteristics of the core centers of wild salmon abundance and diversity identified around the Pacific Rim. It also exceeds the recent refinements of the Salmon Stronghold science assessment processes and additional criteria that introduce regional scale comparisons and high-productivity area factors. Formal recognition through the Salmon Stronghold program, coupled with effective resource management and monitoring, can ensure that the environmental values and integrity of the Taku watershed are sustained. |
