Published: 2009
Total Pages: 175
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This document is a continuation of the assessment of the conservation status of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) which began with 'Species Information' in 'Conservation Status Report, Atlantic Salmon in Atlantic Canada and Quebec: Part I - Species Information' (DFO and MRNF 2008). It addresses the anthropogenic considerations relevant to the conservation of Atlantic salmon, i.e., threats, existing protection, potential conservation targets, and significance of Atlantic salmon in Canada, and was assembled from text drafted by DFO and Quebec Provincial Atlantic salmon fisheries and habitat managers, economists and personnel in Aboriginal fisheries. Most elements of the document were reviewed in the presence of contributors, and 'external' scientists during a workshop held in March of 2007 (DFO 2007a). Highlights include: [1] a general discussion of 16 categories of threats potentially limiting to Atlantic salmon in Eastern Canada and a first attempt at a semi-quantitative evaluation of the degree of harm by each threat in terms of salmon affected and spawners lost within each of 28 Conservation Units; [2] evidence that the most wide-ranging habitat threats to Atlantic salmon originate from transportation infrastructure, agriculture, forestry and mining operations, and Municipal waste water discharge, and that the Maritime Provinces are the most severely impacted; [3] summary recovery efforts in place for the unlisted (Species at Risk Act, SARA) but severely depleted populations of Atlantic salmon in the outer Bay of Fundy (NS) and Southern Upland (NS) as well as the SARA-listed inner Bay of Fundy populations; [4] summary proposals for species rebuilding and habitat restoration as embodied in: a draft policy for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon, an Atlantic salmon Endowment Fund, an Implementation Plan addressing Resolutions and Agreements of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO), and governance and regulatory reform for aquaculture management; and [5] evidence that more than 40,000 Aboriginal Peoples in more than 50 communities through Atlantic Canada and Quebec can be said to be dependent on the traditional values of the Atlantic salmon resource.