Monday, June 14, 2004

INTERNATIONAL MEETING OFFERS HOPE FOR WILD SALMON

For Immediate Release June 14, 2004

St. Andrews…The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) welcome an agreement reached at a pivotal meeting of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) held last week in Iceland that could produce a dynamic new direction for conserving wild Atlantic salmon. To achieve this goal, NASCO will establish a Working Group and embark on a consultative process towards recommendations that could prevent both the immediate extirpation of wild Atlantic salmon in specific areas and eventual loss throughout its range in North America.

NASCO’s action was stimulated by the report NASCO’s Future: A Vision Statement, which urged the organization to better position itself to save the species. Authored by four fisheries experts and sponsored by ASF and WWF, it was unanimously supported by all participating non governmental organizations (NGOs). The report by fisheries experts Wilfred Carter (Canada), Andy Rosenberg (U.S.), Bjornulf Kristianson (Norway) and Chris Poupard (United Kingdom) recommends that NASCO strengthen its mandate to effectively address growing threats to the survival of wild Atlantic salmon, such as mortality at sea, loss of freshwater habitat, and interactions with farmed Atlantic salmon.

The authors also recommended that NASCO work more closely with the many NGOs and others who have on-the-ground salmon conservation expertise and can help to raise awareness about this important issue.

“We are pleased that NASCO agreed with the authors’ proposal that a Working Group be created to consult among governments, NGOs and other stakeholders, and to report to NASCO at its meeting in June, 2005,” said Bill Taylor, ASF President. “ASF and WWF are anxious to provide input to the discussion.”

“It is essential,” Mr. Taylor continued, “for NASCO to look beyond simply making changes to its organization and structure to actually strengthening its mandate. The organization must be enabled

to act more decisively, so that it can deal quickly and directly with threats to wild Atlantic salmon. NASCO must also be more transparent to the general public whom member governments and NGOs represent.”

“Despite NASCO’s efforts, salmon numbers have continued to decline,” said Kim Davis, deputy director of WWF’s Marine Conservation Program. “The challenge of saving wild Atlantic salmon requires a fact-based and hard look at options for moving ahead. We are very pleased that NASCO is undertaking this important review and that it will include external consultation and critique.”

A recently-released report by the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Status of North American Wild Atlantic Salmon, reveals sobering figures from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). It projects poor runs of the important large spawning salmon, which have just begun to return to North American rivers this 2004 season. This report is available at www.asf.ca

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