The Government of Canada is working with partners to protect aquatic species at risk in British Columbia

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 25, 2020 /CNW/ - The health of our marine and freshwater environment and the wildlife it sustains are critical to our country's culture, well-being, and the economy. Yet some of the species that find their home in the waters, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and marshes in British Columbia are at risk due to climate change, habitat loss and other factors. The Government of Canada is taking action not only to protect these species, but to actively rebuild their populations.   

Today, on behalf of the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Member of Parliament for Burnaby North-Seymour and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister, Terry Beech, announced up to $10.9 million in funding under the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk for 13 projects in British Columbia, some of which are already underway.

Some of the projects will address physical and acoustic disturbance threats to marine species at risk, as well as threats resulting from fishing interactions along Canada's Pacific Coast. Others will tackle threats to the habitat of freshwater and salmonid species at risk in the Fraser and Columbia Watersheds. Work is underway for many of the projects, and will help the recovery of species such as Resident killer whales and Pacific populations of other whales, Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, Steelhead trout, White sturgeon, Yelloweye rockfish, and many other species.

Through this fund, established under the Nature Legacy initiative, the Government of Canada is helping to build a culture of conservation that empowers Canadian organizations to work together to protect our natural environments. This fund is taking an ecosystem approach to restoring and protecting aquatic species. Instead of targeting specific species, these projects aim to improve a priority place or a priority threat. This broader approach looks at improving the entire ecosystem ? from the specific species at risk, the habitat they call home, as well as other species in the area. 

The Government of Canada established the historic $1.3 billion Nature Legacy Initiative in Budget 2018. The five-year, $55 million Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk supports a new approach to the conservation of aquatic species through targeted federal investments in priority places and to address priority threats to aquatic species at risk. The Fund makes it possible to support protection and recovery efforts by all partners, and support Indigenous capacity to conserve aquatic ecosystems and species.

Quotes

"With nearly two million lakes, endless connected waterways, and the longest coastline in the world, Canada is home to countless marine and freshwater species and habitats that breath life into our environment. Our government is taking strong, consistent action to protect these species and revitalize the ecosystems they depend on ? because when nature thrives, our communities thrive. By making targeted investments through Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk, we are able to collaborate with Indigenous peoples and environmental organizations on projects that have the greatest potential to make a lasting impact on our natural environments." 

The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

"The Fraser and Columbia Watersheds are a critical part of our culture and economy on the Pacific Coast, but many species in this region are at risk. Through the Canada Nature Fund, our government is taking strong, consistent action to reverse these declines, by improving water quality and decreasing migration barriers. By partnering with organizations who are already leading conservation efforts on the ground, we are ensuring our investments will make a real difference in the areas that need it most."

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

"Our coastal waters and inland watersheds are special, natural aquatic environments and are home to numerous aquatic species at risk. Through the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk, the Government of Canada will work with partners in British Columbia, and across Canada, to protect and recover aquatic species at risk and their habitats."

Terry Beech, Member of Parliament for Burnaby-North Seymour

Quick Facts

• Projects funded under the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk focus on two marine priority threats and seven priority areas.
  
  
• The two marine priority threats are:
• Fishing interactions (includes entanglement and bycatch of aquatic species at risk)
• Physical and acoustic disturbance (includes vessel collisions and marine noise)
  
  
• The seven freshwater priority areas are:
• Fraser and Columbia Watersheds Priority Area (British Columbia)
• Rocky Mountains' Eastern Slopes Priority Area (Alberta)
• Southern Prairies Priority Area (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba)
• Lower Great Lakes Watershed Priority Area (Ontario)
• St. Lawrence Lowlands Priority Area (Quebec)
• Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Rivers Priority Area (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island)
• Bay of Fundy and Southern Uplands Watersheds Priority Area (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick)

Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk- British Columbia Projects

Backgrounder

Funded Projects

As part of the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is providing up to $10.9 million in funding to support to 13 projects in British Columbia. Recipients include Indigenous and conservation organizations, the Province of British Columbia, and other groups.

British Columbia

Fraser and Columbia Watersheds Priority Area

• The Fraser Valley Watershed Coalition will receive up to $452,180 over four years to address threats to aquatic species at risk and their associated habitats through conservation, watershed planning and restoration activities within the municipal boundaries of Chilliwack.
• The Canadian Wildlife Federation will receive up to $1,165,900 over four years to increase access to upstream spawning and rearing habitat for targeted fish species at risk by remediating multiple barriers in the Fraser and Columbia watersheds.
• The Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance will receive up to $476,000 over four years to improve fish habitat through a series of targeted restoration projects on three systems in the Nechako River watershed that have been subject to a variety of habitat-related threats.
• The Invasive Species Council of BC will receive up to $525,000 over four years to engage the public, industry and communities to adopt practices that prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species and protect species at risk and their key habitats in the Fraser and Columbia River systems.
• The Shuswap Indian Band will receive up to $1.7 million over four years to protect and restore habitat for all provincially and federally listed aquatic species at risk in the Upper Columbia watershed, build capacity, and conduct outreach, training and education.
• Living Lakes Canada will receive up to $1,095,000 over four years to improve information about foreshore health and species at risk habitat requirements for Upper Columbia Basin waterbodies, and to conserve and restore habitats of highest ecological value. This project uses outreach, collaboration, training, research, monitoring, foreshore mapping, evaluation, planning and regulations to conserve habitat and restore shorelines.
• The Fraser Basin Council will receive up to $356,309 over four years to restore salmon habitat in the Horsefly River Watershed, particularly the areas that have been subject to channel destruction and bank destabilization. Restoration activities conducted as part of this project include stream channel reconstruction, bank stabilization, riparian fencing and in-stream habitat enhancement in key tributaries and riparian areas affecting the Horsefly River.
• The BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy will receive up to $600,000 over four years to enable research, engagement, recovery actions, and monitoring to mitigate the impacts of invasive species on aquatic species at risk in the Fraser River and Columbia River Watersheds priority area. The project will focus on collaborative habitat restoration activities to address aquatic invasive species threats, develop species at risk decision support tools, and support population inventory work.

Fishing Interactions / Physical and Acoustic Disturbance Priority Threats

• The North Coast Cetacean Society will receive up to $1.8 million over four years to work on an integrated BC-wide hydrophone network for cetacean habitat monitoring and stewardship. The project will identify noise hot spots and high vessel strike risk for several marine mammal SARA-listed species on the Central and South Coast of British Columbia.
• World Wildlife Fund Canada will receive up to $1,362,983 over four years to advance leading-edge research on whale/vessel interactions, develop real time tracking tools for whales and ships, and collaboratively develop mitigation measures to reduce the impact of commercial shipping on four populations of at-risk whales in Gitga'at traditional territory on the North Coast of British Columbia.
• The Clayoquot Biosphere Trust will receive up to $388,052 over four years to increase awareness of the impact of human-made noise on important feeding habitats for at-risk marine mammals. Recommendations will be developed to guide the reduction of human noise disturbance in marine habitats and evaluate the effectiveness of an acoustic sanctuary in Sydney Inlet, a known feeding area for several species of at-risk marine mammals.
• The Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance will receive up to $626,378 over four years to expand on a research project aiming to address threats to Yelloweye and other rockfishes on the Central Coast of British Columbia.
• The Ocean Wise Conservation Association will receive up to $440,000 over four years to improve the WhaleReport Alert System and expand it north to the waters surrounding Haida Gwaii. The project will also expand studies to understand the impacts of fisheries on the Resident Killer Whales' declining food supply from Vancouver Island's northeastern coast to more northerly waters to Northern Haida Gwaii.

Associated Links

• Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk 
• Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk ? Priority Places and Threats
• Canada's Nature Legacy
• Canada Nature Fund
• Species at Risk Act

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SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region