Dr. Andrea Reid is a citizen of the Nisga’a Nation and an incoming Assistant Professor with the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (starting January 2021). There, she will lead the Indigenous Fisheries Research Unit, working to build a national and international hub for the study and protection of culturally significant fish and fisheries. Her research program adopts highly interdisciplinary and applied approaches to improving our understanding of the complex interrelationships between fish, people and place. Reid’s PhD in Biology (Carleton University ’20) centered on multiple stressor effects on Pacific salmon, using tools and insights from Western and Indigenous sciences in tandem. Reid is a cofounder of Riparia, a Canadian charity that connects diverse young women with science on the water to grow the next generation of water protectors. She is also a National Geographic Explorer (Grantee ’12,’15,’16,’19) and a Fellow of The Explorers Club (FI’19).

“Nisga’a Sim’oogit Hleek Dr. Joseph Arthur Gosnell CC OBC, a highly decorated chieftain in my Nation, once told me, “Salmon, the mainstay of our Nation. Not just the Nisga’a, but from Alaska to California. We’re salmon people, our diet has been salmon for thousands of years.” Recently, on August 18th, 2020, Chief Joe passed away – the same day that the First Nations Leadership Council declared the collapse of Pacific sockeye, one of the most sacred and valued of all fish. I grew up in a small oceanside community where fish figured prominently in all aspects of coastal life. As a direct result, I have dedicated my career and life to the study and protection of these remarkable creatures, which have underpinned the diets, ceremonies, ways of life and wellbeing of salmon people since time immemorial. Urgent action is needed now so salmon can continue doing so for generations to come.”

Abundant and sustainable Pacific salmon populations are critical culturally, ecologically, economically and politically to Canada. In fact, the last remaining large-scale Canadian fisheries targeting wild fish involve the five species of Pacific salmon. However, the future of these fish is being called into question as policy and management failings result in a lack of coordinated effort and attention, from a local to national scale.

Pacific salmon are an essential and sacred traditional food. They provide a leading source of nutrients and protein to First Nations throughout British Columbia (BC) [1] and have shaped Indigenous cultural practices, languages and even worldviews throughout their range and since time immemorial [2]. They are also a public icon and are designated as an official symbol of BC [3].

Salmon have long been recognized for their critical ecological role in supporting ocean and freshwater food webs, where adult salmon carcasses provide a fundamental source of nutrients to stream and riparian environments throughout coastal Pacific watersheds [4], [5].

Salmon fishing is also a significant economic sector in BC, supporting more than 8,000 jobs and creating over $200 million in tax revenues annually, with wholesale commercial fishery landings valued at $100 million each year and the recreational fishery generating nearly $1 billion in annual economic impact [6], [7].

In the political sphere, Pacific salmon fisheries are flashpoints for federal–provincial and federalIndigenous relations, as well as between the Canadian and United States governments. Recent First Nations treaties (e.g., Nisga’a) even involve a right to fish for salmon, with specific allocations for Food, Social and Ceremonial (FSC) fisheries based on the total return of salmon to Canada [8].

The incredible importance of these fish across systems and sectors can, simply, not be overstated. But their future is increasingly destabilized and uncertain as their populations appear in growing numbers in assessments performed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) [9].

In 2009, the Prime Minister of Canada called a judicial inquiry into the long-term declines of Pacific sockeye – the most valuable species harvested in the multi-sector fishery [7] and highly prized across many Indigenous Nations [2]. The ‘Cohen Commission’ investigated the complex science, policy and management issues possibly contributing to declining sockeye populations, putting forward 75 actionable recommendations to chart a new course for Pacific sockeye [10], but these unfortunately have yet to be taken up in any meaningful way over the last almost decade.

Tellingly, on August 18th, 2020, the First Nations Leadership Council declared the collapse of Pacific sockeye and stated that this collapse will ultimately threaten livelihoods and a way of life [11]. “First Nations leadership has been calling on the Federal Government to take real action to save Pacific salmon stocks for decades now,” stated Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit in the recent press release. “Fisheries and Oceans Canada has consistently failed to take our calls seriously. It is now time for their failure to be recognized.” [11].

Tellingly, on August 18th, 2020, the First Nations Leadership Council declared the collapse of Pacific sockeye and stated that this collapse will ultimately threaten livelihoods and a way of life [11]. “First Nations leadership has been calling on the Federal Government to take real action to save Pacific salmon stocks for decades now,” stated Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit in the recent press release. “Fisheries and Oceans Canada has consistently failed to take our calls seriously. It is now time for their failure to be recognized.” [11].

Until Canada and the department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is prepared to move the dial on the Cohen Commission recommendations, and to equitably include Indigenous Nations at the decisionmaking table and uphold our national responsibilities to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) [12], then we are likely to see the continuation of the status quo approach to salmon management, which is highly exclusionary and failing to meet the Wild Salmon Policy’s mandate of conserving Canada’s wild Pacific salmon and their habitats.

The recommendations below aim to strengthen this policy so these critical fish and fisheries can once again be made resilient.

The proposed actions below center on leveraging and enriching existing policy levers for improving the current state and future of wild Pacific salmon in Canada, ultimately helping to realize the Wild Salmon Policy’s main mandate of conserving salmon and protecting their critical habitats.

1) Fully implement the Wild Salmon Policy and Cohen Commission recommendations immediately

In 2005, the Wild Salmon Policy (WSP; formally known as “Canada’s Policy for Conservation of Wild Pacific Salmon”) was developed [13]. In 2012, recognizing the little ground that had been gained on the ambitious and innovative policies that constitute the WSP, the Cohen Commission put forward multiple recommendations pertaining to the implementation and transparent reporting on WSP progress. For instance, recommendations #5 through #7 deal specifically with the implementation, funding and reporting on, respectively, WSP progress [10]. Fast forward to today, and we have a five-year draft strategy wherein changes to the WSP are proposed and further discussions and deliberations are planned [14]. Meanwhile, salmon monitoring efforts continue to erode, and many salmon populations experience increasingly severe declines [15].

Immediate action, retaining all Strategies and Action steps contained in the original WSP, rather than continued contemplation in the midst of an ecological crisis, is needed if we are to make a positive impact on wild salmon populations before it is too late –– or in effect “Counting the books while the library burns” [16]. Indeed, “Further reviewing, re-examining, or reopening of the policy [WSP] would be a poor use of limited funds in the Pacific Region. The Wild Salmon Policy is more timely and important than ever and it should be fully implemented immediately” [17].

2) Reduce mixed-stock ocean fisheries & return to in-river fisheries targeting specific stocks

During this period of apparent inaction on WSP strategies and action steps, evidence suggests that severe salmon declines could have been avoided over this timeframe had specific Canadian fisheries been reduced [15]. Instead of fishing in river systems targeting known salmon populations as was the case for many Indigenous fisheries in the region pre-colonization, major commercial salmon fisheries now predominate in the marine realm where they capture mixed salmon populations as they co-migrate before segregating to their natal rivers and streams [18]. This inadvertently means that healthy populations that can sustain harvest are getting caught alongside smaller populations that simply cannot [19]. By shifting, or rather returning, to Indigenous fisheries approaches that target principally in-river populations, more selective fishing policies could be practiced in line with Canada’s Policy on Selective Fishing in Canada’s Pacific Fisheries [20].

This would require a restructuring of current management priorities, putting conservation and FSC f isheries ahead of commercial and financial interests, as is already prescribed by the Allocation Policy for Pacific Salmon [21], as well as legislated by the Canadian Constitution.

3) Create a strategy for equitable Indigenous inclusion in Pacific salmon management decisions

The full, equitable, and rightful inclusion of Indigenous peoples at the Pacific salmon management decision-making table is long overdue [11]. Rather than calling for the addition of WSP strategies and action steps or Cohen Commission recommendations specific to this key consideration, there needs to be a broad-scale application of equity, diversity, and inclusivity principles to all of the decisions made and actions taken under these essential salmon policy instruments.

While DFO affirms its commitment to “collaborative approaches and new ways of working together” and “working in partnership with Indigenous peoples,” the current draft strategy excludes any indication of how these collaborations will be built, maintained and evaluated [18]. A blueprint or plan must thus be put in place to both guide these efforts and provide a benchmark against which progress can be tracked and assessed.