Every year, Pacific salmon return from the ocean to the rivers and streams where they were born. These migrations nourish ecosystems, sustain Indigenous cultures and support fisheries that people across Western Canada rely on. Yet something essential has quietly eroded: Canada’s efforts to count wild salmon.
That loss of basic information matters. It becomes especially important at a time when major industrial decisions affecting salmon watersheds are being made more quickly, and with less ecological information than in the past.
Twenty years ago, Canada adopted its Wild Salmon Policy (WSP), a landmark commitment to conserve the genetic and geographic diversity of wild Pacific salmon. At its core was a simple promise: to regularly assess the health of distinct salmon populations so declines could be detected early, and recovery action taken when needed.
