Tuesday, January 27, 2004

The Halifax Herald Limited

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Federal budget must net funds for Atlantic salmon

By Bill Taylor

WITH THE throne speech looming, those of us involved in conserving wild Atlantic salmon are hopeful that leadership and financial support to help government and river organizations conserve and protect wild salmon will appear in the first budget of Paul Martin's government.

Government began dismantling the core funding for Atlantic salmon research, restoration and stewardship programs in 1995. Since then, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, our five Eastern Canadian provincial councils and 125 affiliated groups have had numerous meetings, written hundreds of letters and raised the profile of the status of the beleaguered salmon. We've worked hard to convince members of Parliament and a successiion of fisheries ministers that the recreational salmon fishery is a significant industry that sustains good jobs and substantial economic contributions to Atlantic Canada and Quebec, and that leadership and funding are needed to maintain it.

Despite the fact that the wild Atlantic salmon supports the economies of Canada's five most eastern provinces to the tune of more than $200 million annually, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has not provided money to sustain the species that sustains the sport fishing industry. Much of the $200 million flows into rural communities, where jobs are scarce and hard to replace. We cannot allow viable, traditional industries to wither while we search for new-age economic engines to come to Atlantic Canada.

Governments don't have to do this alone. But we do need government help to rally support and to help us take action at the community level. There is lots of government policy supporting community involvement, but insufficient funding to implement them - at least in Eastern Canada. An endowment program to conserve and restore Pacific salmon has been in place in British Columbia and is working well. We hope that, under the leadership of the new Nova Scotia-based fisheries minister, Geoff Regan, the same can be done for Atlantic salmon. The people of Atlantic Canada and Quebec consider the wild Atlantic salmon to be just as valuable to their economies, culture and heritage as the Pacific salmon is to the economy and people of the Pacific Northwest.

We've laid the groundwork. Presentations to the House of Commons and the Senate standing committees on fisheries and oceans have resulted in strong recommendations from these committees for adequate funding of habitat and stewardship programs. We anticipate that Atlantic Canada fisheries and aquaculture ministers will agree to put community stewardship on their agenda for a meeting in March where they will hopefully endorse it.

Not only does the wild Atlantic salmon sustain economic, social and cultural benefits for Canadians, it is an indicator of healthy, productive fresh-water, estuarine and marine environments. This federal budget must be the one that recognizes that the protection of wild Atlantic salmon and its habitat lies at the heart of DFO's responsibilities.

I urge Prime Minister Martin and Fisheries Minister Regan to recognize the business case we have presented, act on our proposals, and give wild Atlantic salmon recovery a chance. We'll be hanging on to every word of the throne speech, and the budget that follows.

Bill Taylor is president, Atlantic Salmon Federation.

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