Local Journalism Initiative
Radha Agarwal, Local Journalism Initiative, The Northern View
The Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) has awarded $97,500 to Indigenous, community-led efforts to protect and restore salmon in Haida Gwaii.
The non-profit environmental foundation distributed its record-breaking $1.8 million Community Salmon Program this year, supporting grassroots restoration, stewardship, and education projects across B.C. and the Yukon.
“The state of salmon calls on our collective support. We’re seeing record demand and increasingly ambitious, large-scale, and collaborative projects through the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Community Salmon Program.”
PSF President and CEO Michael Meneer
On June 10, PSF granted $50,000 to the Haida Fisheries Program on Moresby Island and $47,500 to the Tlell Watershed Society.
“The state of salmon calls on our collective support. We’re seeing record demand and increasingly ambitious, large-scale, and collaborative projects through the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Community Salmon Program,” said Michael Meneer, PSF president and CEO.
Chloë Fraser, PSF’s communications coordinator, said the Haida Fisheries Program will benefit from the grant by installing a solar-powered, waterproof camera system into the Copper River aluminum weir to improve fish counting efforts. The Program is a department within the Council of the Haida Nation developed in 2023.
The project will occur on Moresby Island in Copper River, which flows into Copper Bay south of Sandspit.
Fraser noted the existing Copper River weir infrastructure has been in operation since 1992 and will now be fitted with a new camera system mounted on removable panels.
The camera footage will be analyzed by an AI tool that leverages computer vision models to count coho and pink salmon returns automatically. This will address the critical challenge of monitoring wild salmon and collecting real-time, in-season data to inform fisheries and conservation management.
“Notably, this will allow for the first-ever coho escapement estimate on the river.”
PSF’s Communications Coordinator Chloë Fraser
“Notably, this will allow for the first-ever coho escapement estimate on the river,” said Fraser.
This is the count of adult coho salmon that survive the journey to sea and return to the river to spawn, which is an essential indicator for measuring the health of a salmon population.
The Haida Fisheries Program is leading this work in collaboration with scientists at the Wild Salmon Centre, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, and several local partners.
On the other hand, the Tlell Watershed Society will use its funds to upgrade its fish fence. Since 1999, the fence wall has been monitoring annual returns of coho and pink salmon in the salmon-bearing Tlell River.
“We now have one of the longest-running contemporary fish fence datasets in northern B.C., especially for wild stocks. Longer data records are more valuable. Two data points don’t tell you much. But 25? That tells you quite a bit more.”
Marine Biologist and Tlell Watershed Society Director Leandre Vigneault
In addition to reducing stream impacts and improving crew safety, the upgrade will help extend the monitoring season during low-flow years.
“We now have one of the longest-running contemporary fish fence datasets in northern B.C., especially for wild stocks. Longer data records are more valuable. Two data points don’t tell you much. But 25? That tells you quite a bit more,” said marine biologist and Tlell Watershed Society Director Leandre Vigneault.
Fraser emphasized that long-term datasets like this are increasingly valuable for effective conservation with climate change driving greater variability to river flows, water temperatures, and ocean conditions.
Both Haida Fisheries and the Tlell Watershed Society expect to complete their initiatives by late fall 2025. The final stage will involve wrapping up monitoring and taking down parts of the camera system from the river at the end of the salmon spawning season.
The Community Salmon Program receives generous support from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Key contributors include AltaGas, Enbridge, Methanex, Mosaic Forest Management, Seaspan, Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee, Trans Mountain, and The Wolrige Foundation.
