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Atlantic Salmon Endowment Fund Saturday, November 18, 2006
Fredericton…The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) welcomes a one-time expenditure of $30 million announced by the Honourable Loyola Hearn, Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Fredericton that will benefit wild Atlantic salmon populations in the four Atlantic Provinces and Quebec.
Bill Taylor, President of ASF, said, “We are indebted to the Honourable Loyola Hearn, who was instrumental in securing the endowment fund as part of the Parliamentary Fisheries Committee, and is vigilantly steering the fund through the final approval process; and to Greg Thompson, MP for New Brunswick Southwest, where ASF’s headquarters are located, for his constant support.”
“It’s important to get the funding invested quickly,” said Mr. Taylor, “so that accumulated interest will be available to river associations and watershed committees, hopefully, by the 2007 salmon season.”
Volunteers in 125 river organizations that are part of ASF’s Regional Council network expend thousands of hours and more than $10 million dollars annually in salmon conservation activities. Mr. Taylor continued, “The fund will greatly assist these efforts and the sustainability of our wild salmon populations by strengthening and expanding habitat restoration, education, research, and conservation programs.”
“Economic benefits flow from healthy salmon runs,” said Mr. Taylor. “The Atlantic salmon recreational fishery is worth about $200 million to Atlantic Canadian and Quebec communities, and this will grow as more runs are restored.”
The funding comes at an opportune time, when there is a trend towards better salmon runs to Canadian rivers as a result of a conservation agreement with Greenland fishermen, sponsored by ASF and the North Atlantic Salmon Fund. The agreement has suspended the commercial salmon fishery at Greenland that killed North American salmon on their winter feeding grounds for five years now. At the beginning of the 5-year agreement, Canadian Atlantic salmon populations had plunged to an all-time low of 418, 000 and, since then, the number has trended upwards to 701,000 in 2005. “Now the endowment fund gives us an opportunity to better ensure that the salmon that escape the Greenland nets return to healthy rivers in Atlantic Canada and Quebec,” continued Mr. Taylor.
“We are pleased that Fisheries and Oceans Canada is in the process of setting up a Board of Directors to administer the fund,” concluded Mr. Taylor. Since the Fund first appeared in a federal budget in early 2005, ASF has worked in partnership with DFO to prepare an administrative framework to guide the delivery of the funding.
On Saturday, November 18, 2006, in Fredericton, NB, the Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (centre) announced a one-time $30 Million Atlantic Salmon Endowment Fund for Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces, and a $100,000 contribution for SALSEA, an international cooperative program for tracking wild Atlantic salmon at sea. Bill Taylor, President of the Atlantic Salmon Federation (left) and Bud Bird, official Canadian delegate to SALSEA (right), believe these federal commitments are important initiatives in restoring wild Atlantic salmon runs in eastern Canada. (photo Tom Moffatt/Atlantic Salmon Federation)
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