The managed decline of British Columbia's commercial salmon fishery

Walters, Carl J.; English, Karl K.; Korman, Josh; Hilborn, Ray

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2018.12.014

Cited by 36 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Our simulations attributed this to a higher relative bias in percentile benchmarks, as found for south-coast chum salmon under high-productivity scenarios (Holt et al 2018). Pessimistic misclassifications may lead to overly conservative management actions, consistent with the Precautionary Principle (Foster et al 2000), but may also result in foregone harvest and adverse socio-economic consequences (Walters et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the consequences of common assumptions in run reconstructions on Pacific-salmon biological status assessments

Peacock

Hertz²,

Holt

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Information on biological status is essential for designing, implementing, and evaluating management strategies and recovery plans for threatened or exploited species. However, the data required to quantify status are often limited, and it is important to understand how assessments of status may be biased by assumptions in data analysis. For Pacific salmon, biological status assessments based on spawner abundances and spawner-recruitment (SR) analyses often involve “run reconstructions” that impute missing spawner data, expand observed spawner abundance to account for unmonitored streams, assign catch to individual stocks, and quantify age-at-return. Using a stochastic simulation approach, we quantified how common assumptions in run reconstructions biased assessments of biological status based on spawner abundance. We found that status assessments were robust to most common assumptions in run reconstructions, even in the face of declining monitoring coverage, but that overestimating catch tended to increase rates of status misclassification. Our results lend confidence to biological status assessments based on spawner abundances and SR analyses, even in the face of incomplete data.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the consequences of common assumptions in run reconstructions on Pacific-salmon biological status assessments

Peacock

Hertz²,

Holt

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Many populations are diminished or have declined dramatically in recent decades (Governor's Salmon Recovery Office, 2018; Gustafson et al., 2007; Malick & Cox, 2016; Price, English, Rosenberger, MacDuffee, & Reynolds, 2017). This has led to curtailed fisheries (Ogden et al, 2014; Walters, English, Korman, & Hilborn, 2019), loss of livelihoods, erosion of the cultural identities of Indigenous communities (Garibaldi & Turner, 2004) and potential adverse impacts on coastal ecosystems (Levi et al., 2012). National policies, such as Canada's Wild Salmon Policy (WSP; Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2005, 2018), recognize the need for a strategic prioritization of management actions (Nelitz, Murray, & Wieckowski, 2008), however, there currently is no strategic framework in Canada for determining how and where to invest limited resources across multiple threats to maximize the probability of recovering salmon populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prioritizing conservation actions for Pacific salmon in Canada

Walsh

Connors

Hertz

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Current investment in conservation is insufficient to adequately protect and recover all ecosystems and species. The challenge of allocating limited funds is acute for Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. in Canada, which lack a strategic approach to ensure that resources are spent on actions most likely to cost‐effectively recover diminished populations. We applied the Priority Threat Management framework to prioritize strategies most likely to maximize the number of thriving Pacific salmon populations on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada. These included 79 genetically, ecologically and spatially distinct population groups called conservation units (CUs) for five salmon species. This region has high salmon biodiversity and spans the territories of four First Nations: the Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, Kitasoo/Xai'xais and Wuikinuxv. Using structured expert elicitation of Indigenous and other experts, we quantified the estimated benefits, costs and feasibility of implementing 10 strategies. Under a business‐as‐usual scenario (i.e. no additional investments in salmon conservation or management), experts predicted that only one in four CUs would have >50% chance of achieving a thriving status within 20 years. Limiting future industrial development in salmon habitats, which was predicted to safeguard CUs from future declines, was identified as the most cost‐effective strategy. Investment in three strategies: (a) removal of artificial barriers to fish migration, (b) watershed protection and (c) stream restoration—at 11.3M CAD per year—was predicted to result in nearly half (34 of 79) of the CUs having a >60% chance of meeting the conservation objective. If all conservation strategies were implemented, experts estimated a >50% probability of achieving a thriving status for 78 of 79 CUs, at an annual cost of 17.3M CAD. However, even with the implementation of all strategies, most sockeye salmon CUs were unlikely to achieve higher probability targets of reaching the objective. Policy implications. We illustrate how Priority Threat Management can incorporate the perspectives and expertise of Indigenous peoples and other experts to prioritize conservation strategies based on their cost, benefit and feasibility. Implementation of this framework can help safeguard and recover Pacific salmon in Canada, and could also be used to prioritize actions for other conservation issues globally.

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“…These species maintain important ecological roles (e.g., nutrient transfer; Willson and Halupka 1995) and have a pronounced impact on human culture and economy (Barlow et al 2008; Baran and Myschowoda 2009). Despite their human value, migratory fish, which use freshwater at some point during their life, have become increasingly at‐risk to human disturbance in the current Anthropocene era (Dugan et al 2010; Hardesty‐Moore et al 2018; Walters et al 2019), and have seen a 41% decline in abundance between 1970–2012 (Living Planet Index; WWF 2016). Most of these declines are a direct result of damming approximately half of global river volume (Grill 2015), putting at risk some of the world’s most biodiverse fish communities (Winemiller et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

World Fish Migration Day Connects Fish, Rivers, and People – From a One‐Day Event to a Broader Social Movement

Twardek

Wanningen²,

Garrido³

et al. 2020

Fisheries

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Widespread declines in migratory fish highlight the need for increased global efforts to raise awareness of their value and abate threats they face. World Fish Migration Day (WFMD), coordinated by the World Fish Migration Foundation, is a biennial global celebration of open rivers and migratory fish achieved through locally organized events with the common theme of connecting fish, rivers, and people. Since 2014, over 1,200 events have been organized in 80 different countries across all inhabited continents. Here we provide an overview of the WFMD social movement, highlighting its ability to raise awareness surrounding the plight of migratory fish. We provide pertinent case studies to illustrate the creative events held throughout the world intended to build the public and political will to enable protection and restoration of migratory fish populations. From a coordination perspective, there are several key principles that underlay the success of WFMD, including taking an optimistic approach, identifying change-makers in the community, and carefully timing the growth of the movement. By reflecting on the approach and growth of WFMD, we feel this perspective piece will prove useful to other groups and organizations considering using the power of social movements to achieve common goals related to environmental conservation.

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The managed decline of British Columbia's commercial salmon fishery

Cited by 36 publications

References 15 publications

Evaluating the consequences of common assumptions in run reconstructions on Pacific-salmon biological status assessments

Evaluating the consequences of common assumptions in run reconstructions on Pacific-salmon biological status assessments

Prioritizing conservation actions for Pacific salmon in Canada

World Fish Migration Day Connects Fish, Rivers, and People – From a One‐Day Event to a Broader Social Movement

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