More than $80 million in government funding will support 58 projects including a Richmond association to help protect the salmon population in B.C.
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Diane Lebouthillier was joined by B.C. Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen in Richmond on Thursday morning to announce the project recipients at Steveston Harbour.
Richmond's Wild Canadian Sablefish will receive $257,400 of the total funding of $86,119,340 for projects to not only aim to protect salmon habitats but also the long-term environmental and economic sustainability of the fish and seafood sector.
Wild Canadian Sablefish will use the funding to improve sustainable fishing practices for bottom contact fisheries by using deep-water cameras, sensors and other technology. Its project focuses on collecting observations for deep-sea habitats and "bottom-contact from fishing gear."
The projects are jointly funded through Canada's Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative and the Province of B.C. through the second phase of the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF).
Other projects benefiting from the funding include:
- The Scw'exmx Tribal Council, which is receiving $5.30 million for the post-flood support for fish and habitat recovery in the Nicola Watershed project
- UBC, which is getting $1.8 million to assess stormwater contaminants in salmon-bearing streams
- The Pacific Salmon Foundation, which will receive $2.4 million for the salmon recovery-advancing, planning and action project
"The project recipients being highlighted today are making significant progress in preserving and restoring salmon habitat while also providing long-term, sustainable fisheries," said Lebouthillier.
"The British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund continues to be a successful contribution program that utilizes innovative techniques to safeguard the future of Pacific salmon and other priority fish stocks for years to come.”
Since 2019, the BCSRIF has provided funds to 155 projects to rebuild the wild Pacific salmon stocks and help the province's fish and seafood sector.
The BCSRIF is a 70 per cent federal and 30 per cent provincial cost-shared program.
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