June 23 – 24, 2009
The Coast Canadian Inn,
Colonnade Room,
339 St. Paul,
Kamloops, BC
June 23, 7-9:00 pm
June 24, 8:30-4:30 pm
Sponsors:
•Centre for Coastal Studies,
Simon Fraser University
•The Consortium for Genomic
Research on All Salmonids
Project (SFU)
•Watershed Watch Salmon
Society
•Fisheries and Oceans Canada
•Think Salmon:
Pacific Salmon Foundation
Fraser Basin Council
working with the provincial
Living Rivers and federal
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Steering Committee:
•Patricia Gallaugher, Director,
Centre for Coastal Studies,
Simon Fraser University
•Craig Orr, Executive
Director, Watershed Watch
Salmon Society
•John Reynolds, Tom Buell
Chair in Salmon
Conservation, Simon Fraser
University
•Brian Riddell, President and
CEO, Pacific Salmon
Foundation
Dialogue Facilitator:
Bob Brown, former Dean of
Arts and Professor of
Geography, Simon Fraser
University
Spotlight on legislation and policy protecting
wild salmon biodiversity in BC
A Case Study: Interior Fraser coho salmon
A COMMUNITY DIALOGUE OF THE SPEAKING FOR THE SALMON SERIES
Preamble:
This community dialogue, hosted by the Centre for Coastal Studies at Simon Fraser
University (SFU), will explore the legislation and policy protecting wild salmon
biodiversity in BC by examining the case study of the Interior Fraser coho salmon.
The sessions are free and open to the public but registration is recommended to
guarantee a seat and to assist with catering.
See recommended reading list below.
PROGRAM
June 23, 2009
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Reception and Special Presentation
Science, Policy and Species at Risk in Canada
Guest speaker: Dr. Arne Mooers, Biological Sciences, SFU
The six-year-old Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) is now being reviewed for
the first time by Parliament. Though it is still too early to tell how well it is helping
to conserve endangered wildlife on the ground, here are a couple of facts. Of the
176 threatened or endangered species legally listed in 2003, only one (a snail) has
an official plan to help it, and fewer than 20 have their critical habitat designated.
When species are recommended for listing but are refused, they are most often
edible fish (or mammals that live up north). We believe two issues need to be
tackled. One is the clear and transparent separation of information and policy, and
the other is the type of information created. The public and the policymakers need
to be given the same unpoliticized information, at the same time, about which
species are at risk, why, and what is needed to ensure their conservation. The
public and policymakers also need to know what the true costs and benefits of
recovery and non-recovery are. Not every species will be worth investing in
equally, but well-done, independent, publicly-available, expert analyses must feed
into such decisions.
Arne Mooers, for the Scientific Committee on Species at Risk*
*Doak, D.F., Findlay, C.S., Green, D.W., Grouios, C., Manne, L.L., Mooers, A.O.,
Rashvand, A., Rudd, M.A., Whitton, J.
Dialogue in Plenary
Questions:
• The first time socio-economics comes into play with SARA is the Regulatory
Impact Assessment Statement. What is it, and how does it work?
• Is there an argument to be made for changing the process so that either (i) more
socio-economic analysis gets done earlier in the process, or (ii) listing happens
without socio-economic analysis but with fewer provisions (e.g. on incidental
take?), and recovery strategies and plans are created hand in hand with socioeconomic analyses?
• Is there an argument for ranking species for conservation?
• How does COSEWIC work now?
• Why are scientists so worried about transparency, peer review and independence?
• Why are fish and northern species denied listing? Is this justifiable?
June 24, 2009
8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Refreshments
Colonnade Room, Coast Canadian Inn
9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Part I - Is the COSEWIC and SARA legislation process protecting
Interior Fraser coho?
Brief review of early conservation concerns
Review of 2002 listing by COSEWIC
Review of 2006 Recovery Plan
Current status under COSEWIC/SARA
Dialogue
11:00 - 11:15 a.m.
Break
11:15 – 4:00 p.m.
Part II Protection of Interior Fraser coho under the Wild Salmon Policy
11:15 - 12:30
Description of Conservation Units
Progress with Habitat Indicators
Progress with Ecological Indicators
Dialogue
• How much diversity is enough (per CU)?
• Are the designated CUs adequate for the task?
• Do the indicators incorporate local and traditional knowledge?
• What are the appropriate habitat and ecological indicators to monitor?
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch
Part II continued
1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Applying the Wild Salmon Policy Strategy 4 to Interior Fraser Coho
Details of recovery strategy
Defining the lower and upper benchmarks for conservation and sustainability
Perspectives on collaborative decision making from:
• First Nations
• Government
Dialogue
• How do we set benchmarks to conserve weak stocks and biodiversity?
• Is the WSP adequate for the job?
• Do we have adequate resources for enacting the monitoring plans? To implement
the WSP?
• How do citizens become involved in strengthening the WSP?
• What is the role of enhancement in the WSP?
• What is the role of the Province in the WSP?
3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Final session: Focus on recovery of Interior Fraser coho –
Progress in meeting the target
Background Materials:
Recommended Reading List – available under “news and events” at: http://www.sfu.ca/cstudies/science/
Recovery Assessment Report for Interior Fraser Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region, Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Science Advisory
Report 2005/061
The successful completion of scientific public policy: lessons learned while developing Canada’s
Wild Salmon Policy. Environmental Science and Policy, 12, November 2008, 140-148, James R. Irvine,
Fisheries and Oceans Canada. www.elsevier.com/locate/envsci
Conservation Strategy for Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), interior Fraser River Populations
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Interior Fraser Coho Recovery Team, October 2006
COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch, interior
Fraser River population, in Canada
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), 2002
Canada's Species at Risk Act: An Opportunity to Protect "Endangered" Salmon
www.fisheries.org Fisheries, December 2005 11-19