In the shadow of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, a glacier trickles into a stream that begins the 1,400 kilometer flow of the greatest salmon river in the world: the Fraser River. Fraser River salmon are both a cultural icon and an indicator of a healthy connection between communities and their environment. While the Fraser River basin is home to 7 species of Pacific salmon that migrate their way to sea in numbers approaching 800 million annually, it is also home to almost 3 million people. Can we live together harmoniously?
Many salmon runs are already extinct or at risk in the Fraser Basin. Climate change and expanding development threaten to accelerate this decline. Over 130 species depend directly on salmon abundance for their survival. The mission of the Fraser Salmon & Watersheds Program (FSWP) is to inspire changes in human behaviour for the benefit of salmonids and the watersheds on which we all depend. By acting now to preserve the abundance and diversity of Pacific salmon, we can maintain the interdependent ecosystems that are vital to our well being.
"Human behaviour change is essential. Becoming responsible stewards of the salmon resource is economical compared to the cost of losing salmon. Working together to restore healthy, salmon-sustaining rivers is the key to making our communities thrive and establishing BC as a world leader in sustainable living."
John Woodward, Chair, Living Rivers Advisory Group