Fisheries and Oceans Canada, BC government to award CA$7.9 million grants to seven aquaculture research projects

Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the British Columbia provincial government have confirmed that approximately CA$7.9 million (US$6.3 million) in grant funding will be awarded to seven projects that are focused on sustainable salmon research and aquaculture science.

The grants will be awarded under the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF).

The selected recipients include the following:

• Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) will develop a climate action priorities framework under a three-year program. Activities will include 1) assessing potential impediments along the Fraser River that have led to the late return of salmon spawners and removing or alleviating them, 2) developing best practices to prioritise the needs of salmon when carrying out landscape recovery following major fires, and 3) conducting research to improve genetic baseline data to better understand differences between distinct salmon populations than those currently used to identify conservation units.
• The Lake Babine First Nation will conduct surveys to collect information on the total number of sockeye harvested by sport fishermen, harvest per unit effort, and angler origins, to contribute to in-season management decisions.
• The Kingfisher Interpretive Centre Society will work to repair the water intake system for its hatchery in Cooke Creek, which suffered major damage in 2014, improving its efforts to enhance local Chinook salmon stocks.
• The BC Shellfish Growers’ Association will enable industry members to adopt new shellfish processing and handling, environmental stewardship, and traceability technologies.
• Seed Science will investigate a more energy-efficient method to produce higher-quality algae as food for cultured bivalves, that, if successful, will contribute to improved health and resilience for the bivalves once introduced into the marine environment.
• The We Wai Kai First Nation will undertake fish habitat surveys to investigate the business potential and potential environmental impacts of sablefish aquaculture operations.
• The Gwabalis Fisheries Society will undertake an area-wide aquaculture survey to identify, assess and report on sustainable aquaculture opportunities within the respective traditional territories of the society’s member nations.

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