• Government of Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Pacific Region

Oceans, Habitat and Enhancement Branch

Salmonid Enhancement Program

Community Involvement Program

 

Update October 19/09 – Outstanding requests highlighted.

 

The Salmon Enhancement and Habitat Advisory Board (SEHAB) is the voice of the Pacific Region’s volunteer stewards (www.sehab.org).

“Canadians must come to understand the complexity of this ecosystem. They do so by volunteering. This is a public trust.” (SEHAB Public forum, Victoria, BC. October 26/07) [i]

 

L to R: Don Lowen, Zo Ann Morten, Minister Shea, Jack Minard

Issue

In thirty years, the Community Involvement Program (CIP) has amassed a legion of twenty thousand committed, trained and experienced volunteer stewards, working with your Department’s Pacific Regional staff to restore salmon populations and habitat. This collective effort by a willing partner – a reported estimate of 200 restoration projects, 110 strategic enhancement facilities, 110 education/public awareness initiatives [ii] - weakens as the Department loses its ability to enforce the Fisheries Act and concurrently implement an effective recovery and management strategy.

The future of this principle-based relationship between government and community depends on a fundamental increase in the resources required to restore and protect salmon populations. The current level of resource allocation to the CIP and other agencies within DFO is not sufficient to maintain this partnership that currently stands against the extirpation of Pacific salmonids.

A budget increase of $1.25M over two years will maintain today’s partnership with community into the near future. Current cost is $3.25M.

 

Background

·This relationship, based on a client-driven process, constitutes an inexpensive and durable hedge against an economic and cultural disaster for the Pacific Region. Community-based initiatives return an average of $5 for every $1 received from government sources for habitat restoration.[iii] By involving Canadians in the solution, this model also trains and empowers us to incorporate sustainability and conservation into our everyday lives.

·“Pacific salmon stocks and habitat are under stress. While the Fisheries Act and Habitat Policy provide the necessary legislative base for the Department to manage Pacific salmon and their habitat for sustainability, results indicate that this is not being fully achieved.” [iv]

·{The Department} “has not yet finalized the Wild Salmon Policy to provide clear objectives and guiding principles and to bring together biological, economic, and social factors for fisheries and resource management; habitat protection; and salmon enhancement.……. Consultation and allocation issues remain in Pacific salmon fisheries. Shortcomings continue to exist in information on salmon stocks and habitat.” [v]

·“Salmon are important to Canadians, generating a wide range of economic, social, and cultural benefits. Maintaining biologically diverse and abundant salmon stocks is essential in preserving this unique part of Canada's heritage. Lack of prompt action may put weak salmon stocks and the long-term sustainability of fisheries at risk.” [vi]

·“Habitat Policy - In the 23 years since the Habitat Policy was adopted ….little information exists about the achievement of the Policy’s overall long-term objective of a net gain in productive fish habitat.” [vii]

·“Environmental Process Modernization Plan (EPMP) - We found that the Department … cannot demonstrate that projects that represent a risk to fish habitat have been adequately assessed and a consistent approach has been applied …. reduced its enforcement by half before implementing its new compliance approach….. rarely monitors whether project proponents actually comply with the Department’s conditions of approval or whether proponents’ actions effectively maintained the expected no net loss in habitat.” [viii]

 

Consultation

·At a 2007 SEHAB public forum, volunteer stewards stressed that “Regulatory agencies need the capacity required to protect habitat (Unanimous show of hands)… The CIP budget should be created via a process that creates stability in the future... Canadians must come to understand the complexity of this ecosystem. They do so by volunteering. This is a public trust.” [ix]

·For the past ten years, SEHAB has identified the following recurring issues coming to the Board from across the Pacific Region:

1.Communication – intra-Department and between levels of government;

2.Stock Assessment - Declining resources for salmon stock assessment, limiting data available for informed decision-making by the Department, and;

3.Enforcement – Lack of habitat protection, accumulating impacts, data collection inconsistencies, decrease in staffing [x]

 

Policy Changes

·Empower CA’s to manage their own budgets, consult Regionally, and answer to a Regional authority.

·The realization of National or Regional initiatives like the habitat compliance monitoring strategy, Environmental Process Modernization Plan, and Wild Salmon Policy require implementation budgets.

·Regulatory staff require a policy shift to facilitate enforcement of the Fisheries Act, with conservation as the priority over either access to fisheries or economic development.

 

Option - Entrench Community Involvement Model: A Principle-Based Decision to Increase Resources

1.By October/09, complete current audit of the Salmonid Enhancement Program, allowing;

2.By March/10, in consultation with partners, the completion of a current Regional assessment of the Community Involvement Program, toward the development and implementation of a job description for Community Advisors (CA’s), based on a client-driven model.

3.By April/10, increase each CA’s community involvement budget by 25% (Most of this is cutback recovery.)

4.By October/10, fully staff 18 positions and assign a Regional CIP director exclusively responsible to this Program;

5.By March/11, provide resources to fully implement habitat compliance monitoring strategy, Environmental Process Modernization Plan, and Wild Salmon Policy;

6.After March/11, through a well-staffed Community Involvement Program, and in partnership with other Regional departments:

a.Integrate the efforts and expertise of volunteer stewards into all implementation aspects of the Wild Salmon Policy and a comprehensive Regional stock assessment strategy;

b.Based on current successful designs, facilitate the proliferation of watershed or community roundtables that:

i.Increase communication between and among agencies, user groups and community organizations, and;

ii.Implement scientifically sound habitat/enhancement projects without duplication of effort and with full consideration.

Implications:

1.Membership in volunteer stewardship organizations will stop decreasing and begin to increase in 5 years.

2.The trend of a decrease in returning salmon populations will stop in 10 years and reverse.

3.The total area of viable spawning/rearing habitat will begin to increase in 5 years.

4.Initially, the number of habitat and fishery violations will increase.

 

Option - Do Nothing

1.Maintain CIP program delivery funding at present level.

2.Allow “low” risk development projects to complete without monitoring.

3.No increase in C&P staff.

4.No additional resources to implement Wild Salmon Policy.

Implications:

1.Most runs of Pacific salmon extirpated in 20-40 years.

2.Significant loss of community support, hope and trust.

3.Lawsuits by labour unions, First Nations and NGO’s.

 

Fiscal Requirements

To hire full complement of CA’s and increase project budget by 25%, and provide implementation resources for new Regional and National strategies, increase Community Involvement Program budget of $3.25M to $4.5M over two years.