Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Saving Wild Atlantic Salmon Requires Effective Policy Backed By Bucks

For immediate release

St. Andrews… Canadians give conservation of endangered wild Atlantic salmon the highest priority, ahead of such important species as the Blue, North Atlantic Right, and North Pacific Right whales, Leatherback Turtle, and Striped Bass. This is according to preliminary results from a rigorously-designed statistical web survey carried out by Dr. Murray Rudd of Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Corner Brook NL, for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). It is the mandate of DFO to conserve wild Atlantic salmon and their environment, and to provide the necessary funding in the department’s annual budget to do so.

Salmon conservationists will go to the annual Atlantic Salmon Advisory Committee (ASAC) meeting, scheduled for May 25 in Halifax, buoyed by the support of the Canadian public for restoring wild Atlantic salmon populations. They hope that government officials will provide the needed leadership by producing the long-awaited Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Policy to guide restoration efforts throughout Atlantic Canada and Quebec, and an implementation plan specific to the inner Bay of Fundy salmon populations that are listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA).

The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and five Regional Councils throughout eastern Canada want the Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Policy to receive stakeholder input, be finalized and implemented as soon as possible with the appropriate resources to support effective implementation of the Policy. The Policy was first promised for consultation two years ago at the annual ASAC meeting held in Halifax. At a meeting in Ottawa on October 30, 2006, the Honorable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and senior bureaucrats indicated that a final draft Policy would be ready for distribution within a few months. A letter written April 23 to Minister Hearn requested that the draft Policy be distributed before the ASAC meeting. Nothing has been received…although the Policy is part of DFO’s agenda for the May 25th meeting.

On April 4, the Presidents of the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), the Nova Scotia Salmon Association (NSSA), and the New Brunswick Salmon Council (NBSC) wrote the Honorable Loyola Hearn, expressing their deep concern over the lack of meaningful progress in recovering endangered wild Atlantic salmon populations in 32 inner Bay of Fundy rivers. Carl Purcell, President of NSSA, said, “While a recovery group meets periodically, implementation of concrete recovery measures appears to be stymied.”

“DFO must take the restoration of these endangered populations as seriously as the public does,” continued Mr. Purcell, “and the department’s public opinion survey indicates that the public cares deeply.”

Overall, respondents from across Canada rated wild Atlantic salmon as the most important species to conserve and the species on which they were most willing to spend conservation dollars. Eighty-seven percent of Atlantic Canadians ranked conservation of wild Atlantic salmon at the highest level of priority. Eighty percent of Canadians west of the Atlantic Provinces ranked conservation of wild Atlantic salmon as a priority. Overall, nationally, 55% of Canadians gave wild Atlantic salmon the highest or second highest rating for conservation spending, ahead of the Atlantic cod and the blue whale.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation is an international, non-profit organization that promotes the conservation and wise management of wild Atlantic salmon and their environment. ASF has a network of seven regional councils (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Maine and Western New England. The regional councils cover the freshwater range of the Atlantic salmon in Canada and the United States.

Contacts: Atlantic Salmon Federation:

Muriel Ferguson: 506-529-1033 or 506 529-4581

Lewis Hinks 902 275-3407 (office) 902 275 -7494 (cell)

Nova Scotia Salmon Association:

Carl Purcell: (902)466-3024

Regarding particulars of survey:

Dr. Murray Rudd: (709)639-7595

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