The Runner – July 2021

THE RUNNER

Sq’eptset Syoyes Sth’o’th’eqwi

July 2021 • Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

Fishers working together

The Runner • July 2021

staff & contributors

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Murray Ned Executive Director Rosalie Hope Program Manager Vanessa Serroul Program Assistant Dionne Bunsha Aboriginal Knowledge Coordinator Aidan Fisher Staff Biologist Ian Hamilton Staff Biologist Ashlee Prevost Staff Biologist Janice Kwo Staff Biologist Eden Toth External Communications Gillian Fuss Emergency Planning Secretariat Coordinator Maggie Mazurkewich Emergency Planning Secretariat Outreach Assistant Leah Ballantyne RELAW Coordinator Donald B. Simpson LFE Inc. and LFE-LP, Economic Development Manager

EDITORIAL POLICY The Runner newsletter is produced quarterly by the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance. Our purpose is to inform readers about LFFA organization processes, developments and news.

We will gladly accept signed comments, questions and opinions about our newsletter and will consider withholding contributor’s name if desired.

Individual articles from The Runner may be reprinted, photocopied or redistributed with permission from The Runner provided the date of publication and source of the material is indicated. Please notify The Runner if you would like to reprint an article.

All community members are welcome to contribute thoughts, articles and letters to The Runner.

Submissions and letters should be send to: The Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance 3092 Sumas Mountain Road Abbotsford, BC V3G 2J2 Phone: 778.847.3323 Email: communications@lffa.ca Publication is not guaranteed.

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

in this issue 04 06 07 08 10 11 12 14 16

Message from the Executive Director 2021 Salmon Fishery Update Website update Relaw Eulachon Assessment Survey Matsqui Bank Stabilization Project Upper Pitt Restoration Project Habitat Restoration & Climate Adaptation Strategy Federal Standing Committee Report

In the old days there was a house on the top of Chilliwack Mountain facing down-river. The man who lived there had only one job; to watch for two silver bands on both sides of the river; millions of oolichan arriving. His job then was to run down the mountain to spread the word to other runners. People would come from near and far each year. The Runner endeavors to do this job once again, albeit electronically.

-Ken Malloway, LFFA Chair

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The Runner • July 2021

Message from the Executive Director The close of every fiscal year invites reflection, and 2020 is no different. Our business at LFFA has shifted from harvest-based coordination to using science, conservation, habitat restoration and Indigenous Knowledge to focus on the salmon crisis we're all facing now – and the changes to our team reflect that. The biology department continues to grow and our aspirations for a Lower Fraser Centre of Excellence feel more achievable as we move into the next decade of our organization's life.

With UNDRIP and DRIPA implementation just around the corner, it is imperative that Lower Fraser First Nations assume the responsibility of resource management within their territories so that other levels of government can begin to devolve both responsibility, resources and authority. This is true collaborative management.

Our recent growth in personnel has justified the need to secure additional office space and room for the biologists to "set up shop" and establish a laboratory to facilitate sampling and monitoring activities. We now have a complement of five biologists, two technicians and likely more coming with the recent acquisition of additional resourcing and projects.

I am elated with this area of development as the LFFA begins to support Nations with resource management, habitat restoration and conservation activities.

We will be securing the building north of the current office at Sumas First Nation and this should accommodate existing and incoming LFFA staff. Ideally, we would have moved to the new Kilgard Business Park but weren’t quite in a financial position to make that transition – all in due tim

The Tier 3 Lower Fraser Collaborative Table (LFCT) terms of reference was concluded in the spring, and the Tier 3 roundtable comprised of LFFA, Lower Fraser Recreational and Commercial Sectors has established the parameters for a working relationship. The one challenge is that resourcing has not been secured for 2021 but the groups are actively seeking funds from several agencies including DFO. A lot of interest has been expressed.

There will be continued engagement with FLNRORD and Provincial Ministries with aspirations of securing an MOU to clarify our relationship moving forward. LFFA has welcomed the Province’s recent investment in two Lower Fraser projects and in general more contribution to addressing the salmon crisis in BC. The LFFA has established routine meetings with MLA Fin Donnelly, Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture, and we are further impressed that B.C. has identified assigned a Parliamentary Secretary to lead fish and fishery matters.

“I am elated with this area of development as the LFFA begins to support Nations with resource management, habitat restoration and conservation activities.”

I continue to work with the First Nations Fisheries Council and Province representatives on a DRIPA Task Group who is contributing to the development of the provincial action plan in preparation for DRIPA implementation.

I'm also participating on an ad hoc, Tier 3, provincially-based Commercial Salmon Working Group where we are reviewing commercial options in the face of declining salmon returns,

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

changing demographics of the user groups, and very limited access to the few Pacific Salmon stocks that are abundant enough for harvest.

The new federal Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI) had immediate impacts on the commercial industry, with recent announcements reducing commercial access on the B.C. coast and for interior fisheries. The Recreational sector does not appear to have been subject to closures, but Government must recognize that much of the guiding industry is a commercial venture and should be considered as such.

During this period, DFO also introduced the Blue Economy Strategy, which is expected to contribute to sustainable oceans, drive investment in our ocean industries, and create jobs in coastal communities as Canada charts its economic recovery from COVID-19. My immediate response was: When will government introduce a Brown Economy Strategy? Brown as in "Fraser River" brown. A great deal of attention has already been paid to the ocean and marine environment through the Oceans Protection Plan – to the tune of $1.5 billion over 5 years. My editor will limit my ranting here, but this highlighted once again the need for Ottawa to understand and invest in all B.C. watersheds where salmon migrate, not just the ocean.

With Respect and In Unity,

Murray Ned | Kwilostintun Executive Director Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

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The Runner • July 2021

2021 Salmon Fishery Update Aidan Fisher, Staff Biologist Salmon fishing season is here, and as expected, the 2021 season has been restricted similar to 2020 and 2019. DFO continued the closure of all communal FSC chinook fisheries before July 15 and FSC fishery access for August will be limited by conservation concern for Summer 5.2 chinook and dependant on in-season information for sockeye in all management units.

The Fraser mainstem FSC fisheries will likely also be constrained to access during August to early September, late October and November. DFO is once again imposing an additional mainstem Fraser closure for Steelhead. The Fraser will be closed from early September until late October – this covers both the Interior Fraser Coho closure and the Interior Fraser Steelhead window closure.

Current pre-season expectations for chinook-directed FSC fisheries access is mid-August until the Interior Fraser Coho window closure in early September. Summer fisheries will be limited by the Summer 5.2 chinook management unit, which has a peak migration near the end of July to early August. The dominant management unit for directed harvest will be Summer 4.1, which typically return in larger run sizes than the other Fraser chinook management units.

DFO does not produce chinook forecasts that are usable for Fraser fishery planning.

Pre-season expectations for Fraser sockeye are highly uncertain. The pre-season midpoint estimate (p50) forecast for Fraser sockeye does not have provisions for sockeye-directed FSC fisheries. It should be noted that forecast estimates for Fraser sockeye have been consistently overestimating the in-season estimation for the past decade.

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

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LFFA Website Updates Vanessa Serroul, Program Assistant We have also observed some of the lowest returns ever for Fraser sockeye over the past cycle which have led to extreme management measures by DFO. There is potential for extreme restrictions to FSC fisheries to continue: limiting opening time, hotpick and complete sockeye non-retention clauses in summer FSC fisheries.

Over the past few years, some Lower Fraser communities have begun re-establishing tributary FSC fisheries. Some of these fisheries can be implemented during periods when mainstem Fraser FSC fisheries have been heavily restricted or closed. Access methods range from rod and reel, spiear and short gillnets. LFFA technical staff are actively supporting the Fishery Representatives when requested, and hope that more of these fisheries will be pursued

by Lower Fraser First Nations. Licencing has been negotiated bilaterally for these fisheries between community leadership and DFO.

A reminder that the LFFA website is active with weekly updates and we invite all Executive Committee Members and Delegates to check it out and register to receive the latest in news and events, fishing licences and other Tier 1 related information.

The “Initiatives tab” is where you will find updates on the latest LFFA projects.

To register, visit www.LFFA.ca, scroll down the page and click ‘create an account’.

If you have any questions regarding the LFFA website, or receiving regular updates, please contact Vanessa at: Vanessa.Serroul@lffa.ca

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The Runner • July 2021

Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air and Water (RELAW) Leah Ballantyne, RELAW Coordinator The Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air

and Water (RELAW) Program from West Coast Environmental Law began in 2016. Through

RELAW projects, lawyers from West Coast work collaboratively with Indigenous nations to apply their own teachings and laws to an environmental issue.

Guided by the Indigenous Law Research Unit

(ILRU) Methodology, RELAW amplifies the stories and the wisdom of elders to support in

developing written expressions of law and

strategies for implementation and enforcement.

The LFFA and RELAW team have been working together for two years to develop a full Legal Sythesis Report and Summary Report that describe the Indigenous laws related to

watershed management and fisheries governance in the Lower Fraser.

This seven volume document includes both

sxwōxwiyám / sxʷəxʷəyém – oral histories

describing the distant past – and sqwélqwel/ sqʷelqʷəl – true stories, true news, family

history or oral stories – as well as knowledge shared by Elders.

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

The first two volumes of the Legal

Synthetis Report are now available for viewing online. Interested readers can navitage to the LFFA website, look

under “Initiatives” in the menu bar, and select “RELAW” or go to

www.lffa.ca/initiatives/relaw to

download the volumes as they are released.

Each of the seven volumes have been beautifully illustrated by artist Shkweń, Ocean Hyland (səlilwətaʔɬ

Tsleil-Waututh / Xwchíyò:m Cheam).

The intention is for the legal principles in this Summary and the full Legal

Synthesis Report to inform processes

for developing an Indigenous-led Fish Habitat Restoration Plan and Climate Adaptation Strategy for the Lower

Fraser. The Strategy will be led by LFFA and its member nations, in collaboration with interested

stakeholders and allies (see Ian

Hamilton and Dionne Bunscha’s submissions in this publication).

Volume 1, Foundational Principles asks: • What are the sources of human rights and responsibilities to the natural world?

• What are the What are the sources of human rights and responsibilities to the natural world?

• What are the fundamental relationships between humans, other beings, and the natural world?

Volume 2, Legal Processes and Decision Making asks: • What are the decision-making roles and responsibilities?

• Who needs to be involved in the decision-making process?

• What are the legal processes?

Volumes coming soon...

Volume 3: Responsibilities Volume 4: Rights Volume 5: Standards Volume 6: Inter-Community and International Relations Volume 7: Consequences, Enforcement and Teaching

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TheRunner Runner••July January The 20212021

Eulachon Assessment Survey Ashlee Prevost, Staff Biologist Eulachon, the first fish to return to the Fraser after

were sampled. Drift net sets ranged from 2-8 sets per

Fraser First Nations since time immemorial.

total of 92 times over the four days and caught a

winter, have been culturally important to the lower

Today's Fraser-bound eulachon population has been

index site on a given day. Overall, we set the net a total of 75 fish.

returning in increasing numbers after decades of low

Immature fish are caught, biosamples taken, and

survey, eulachon abundance was 628t, which is the

fish for DFO (who funded this portion of the

returns. In DFO's post-season Spawning Stock Biomass highest recorded return since the inception of the

program. Our own Eulachon Assessment surveys also indicated large returns at 118t (note that the LFFA

estimate was based on 2019 surveys due to a pause in fieldwork during COVID-19).

Given the 2020 returns, the eulachon harvest level

permitted in DFO's Integrated Fisheries Management Plan increased from 10,538 to 15,486 pounds.

Despite numbers increasing, the 2021 fishery did not ramp up until late April and so catches among

Nations were low until the end of the run. Overall, Below Port Mann and Above Port Mann Nations

histological surveys performed. We also collected early program) for genetic analysis to determine if there is an early population of eulachon

The EAS were conducted from March 8th to May 9th and performed without pause throughout the entire season. LFFA staff biologists set the net 31 times.

Overall, we processed 2492 fish, 31% of which were released. A total of 241 bio-samples were retained

and most fish processed were sexed (728M, 698F).

We are currently performing the analysis for the final report, which will estimate the number of eulachon that could have returned in 2021.

harvested 8175 pounds and 2970 pounds,

The Eulachon Hydro-Acoustic Survey (EHS) entailed

remaining.

bank near the New Westminster index site for five

respectively, with 27% and 31% of the allocation

There have previously been calls to list eulachon

under the Species at Risk Act. The LFFA responded to

a call for information and indicated that updated data on eulachon populations need to be collected before a listing can be determined.

deploying our sonar ARIS Explorer 1800 along the

days, from the end of April to early May. We initiated this program to determine if eulachon can be identified by ARIS and to develop a new field

program that will serve as a comparison to our annual EAS program. During our surveys, we

successfully collected sonar footage of eulachon on all deployment days and so will be developing the

2021 field programs included Assessment (EAS) and

program further. This, with well as the comparative

hydroacoustic survey (EHS) for eulachon. The EES took

more robust estimate of annual abundance.

Exploratory (EES) surveys as well as a new pilot

place on four days in February, where four index sites from New Westminster to the George Massey Tunnel

analysis of the EAS and EHS will allow us to obtain a

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

Matsqui Dike Bank Stabilization Project Ashlee Prevost, Staff Biologist In partnership with Semath First Nation, the LFFA has conducted an ARIS hydro-acoustic

survey that aims to understand the impact of bank stabilization initiatives that have taken place along the Matsqui dike in recent years.

This important traditional fishing site of the Semath First Nation had been effectively

destroyed by work done by the City of Abbotsford to mitigate the erosion of the bank.

Local Nations were not consulted. To remedy this issue and avoid it in the future, the ARIS sonar surveys will collect data on the fish species in the area and will help to answer questions about the impact of construction.

LFFA technical staff will be surveying the area before, during and after construction.

We are currently preparing for the construction phase of the project, and have been

collecting field data for the surveys since October 2020. So far, we've obtained more than

20 days of footage. Several salmonid species, white sturgeon, and small resident fish species have been observed.

A random distribution of subset data files (50 of 405 files) was selected for preliminary

analysis to determine fish counts. Overall, we have captured footage of fish in 31 of the 50 files analyzed, with an average of 7 fish across files (range:1-99). The files range from 1 to 45 min of footage. The rest of the data will be analyzed over the summer.

The field data collection took a brief pause from Mid-March to Mid-May as we waited on funding to hire technicians. We have since hired two technicians for the project, Morgan

Martin and Georgia Westerveld, who have been trained to conduct the fieldwork and data management. With the support of two additional staff, we have been able to conduct

several field surveys and increase the survey time, as well as days of deployment per week.

Further updates will be provided as the stabilization project moves into the construction phase.

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The Runner • July 2021

Upper Pitt Restoration Project Ian Hamilton, Staff Biologist Led by Katzie First Nation, this habitat restoration work began in 2018 and aims to

improve habitat for chinook, sockeye and coho salmon in the Upper Pitt river system.

Thanks to funding provided by WWF-Canada, the DFO Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP), the Pacific Salmon Foundation Community Salmon Program, the Real Estate

Foundation of Brisith Columbia’s Healthy Watersheds Initiative and the W.C. Kitchen

Family Foundation, a brand-new sockeye spawning channel – named the Sθqəy channel – is nearing completion.

This new channel runs adjacent to the existing Alvin Patterson Channel, originally built by DFO in the late 1990s, and will effectively double the spawning and rearing habitat available for Upper Pitt sockeye and coho salmon in the Corbold Creek wetland.

Measured at approximately 700m, this new channel is the largest restoration construction project executed by the DFO in the lower Fraser River region.

The final component of the Upper Pitt restoration project will connect the new Sθqəy

channel to the existing Alvin Patterson Channel, using a road-crossing culvert and two holding ponds. Funding for this is DFO approval of a Teal-Jones Cedar offset proposal.

Ongoing monitoring of this new habitat will be done by the LFFA, KDLP (Katzie Development Limited Partnership) and Mike Pearson (Pearson Ecological) once restoration work is completed. Riparian planting and effectiveness monitoring, beginning in September 2021, will be tge

key to enhance the complexity of the habitat and begin a long-running dataset of water quality, fish abundance and spawner presence.

The completion estimate for all components is the end

of 2021, however, the most important thing is to ensure

that the entire channel is ready for the peak 4-year cycle run of Upper Pitt sockeye expected in Fall 2022.

Completed section of the new Sθqəy channel with groundwater flows and new gravel bed.

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

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The Runner • July 2021

First Nations-led Habitat Restoration and Climate Adaptation Strategy Ian Hamilton, Staff Biologist The First Nations-led Habitat Restoration and

Dionne Bunsha, Aboriginal Knowledge Coordinator

Climate Adaptation Strategy is now entering

The Climate Adapt project, which received

Funded by DFO’s Coastal Restoration Fund,

Northern Affairs Canada, has recently been

watersheds – Lower Fraser & Estuary,

the implementation of the LFFA Restoration and

its third and final year of development.

funding from Crown-Indigenous Relations and

a series of meetings held in the four

holding Watershed Working Group meetings for

Harrison, Chilliwack, and Fraser Canyon –

Climate Adaptation Strategy.

Nations delegates, community leaders and

The Strategy was prepared after a series of

consultant on this project, used this

staff. The report outlining the strategy will be

provide a functional framework for choose

recommended for restoration in the meetings are

gathered important feedback from First technicians. ESSA Technologies, our

workshops in 2020 with LFFA delegates and FN

feedback to finalize their analysis and

uploaded on the LFFA website soon. The sites

and prioritizing sites for future habitat

listed in the attached table.

restoration work.

Using the recommendations from the Strategy as

Initial outputs have been produced and will

a base, we will continue Watershed Working

discussion. An online habitat mapper tool

in order to bring these restoration projects to

provide an analytical basis for further

Group meetings with LFFA leaders and FN staff

and story map have been created in

reality.

Foundation, which will provide planning tools

LFFA staff will be sending out invitations to

Nations-led approach driving this project.

you will join us in planning for the

Each of the four watersheds will have a

adaptation projects in your watershed. First

out projects. The intention is for each

plans to have three meetings in each watershed

own site and species-specific plan for

may examine the possibility of in-person

Fraser River. The first meeting of the

on Zoom.

partnership with the Pacific Salmon

and a public platform to reinforce the First

Watershed Working Group meetings and hope implementation of restoration and climate

working group convened to begin planning

meetings are scheduled for August 2021, with

watershed working group to develop their

through the fiscal year (ending March 2022). We

salmon habitat restoration in the lower

meetings, though for now they will take place

Watershed Working Groups is tentatively scheduled for August 2021.

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

All the maps created for the Climate Adapt

website can be found at the website: https://climateadapt.lffamaps.ca

If LFFA delegates would like to view the maps

along with their Aboriginal Knowledge, they can login to the Aboriginal Knowledge website:

www.lffamaps.ca

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The Runner • July 2021

New Federal Report Makes 23 Recommendations on Salmon Eden Toth, External Communications Late in June, the federal Standing Committee on Fisheries and

Oceans presented a report to the House entitled: “Pacific Salmon: Ensuring the long-term health of wild populations and associated fisheries.”

Recommendation 9

That the Government of Canada recognize that the Minister of

They have made 32 recommendations to the Government of

Canada in this report, including several that reflect the priorities of LFFA members.

Fisheries, Oceans and the

Canadian Coast Guard cannot both protect wild salmon and promote the aquaculture

At this stage, these are only recommendations, but the committee report will be discussed in the House when in next sits. In the meantime, the full report can be found at:

www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/fopo

industry, and remove the

promotion of aquaculture from the mandate of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Recommendations worth highlighting include:

Recommendation 3

Recommendation 4

Recommendation 6

Canada, the Province of

Canada, the Province of British

depth of knowledge found in

That the Government of British Columbia, First Nations, and local

governments co-assess the cumulative impact of

residential, industrial and

agricultural developments in the lower Fraser River on wild salmon stocks and develop a strategy to

protect, preserve and restore those stocks, and develop a framework for the

assessment of proposed new developments that includes cumulative impacts.

That the Government of Columbia and, where

appropriate, First Nation

communities review the state of flood control/mitigation systems along the lower

Fraser River and their impact on wild salmon, and

co-develop a program to

update pumping stations and other components, as

necessary, to remove risks to wild salmon runs.

That, in recognition of the

local regions, Fisheries and

Oceans Canada move towards a collaborative regional

approach to assess priorities, develop and implement

management strategies for the long-term sustainability of habitats and wildlife, and

enable regional management

of local marine environments and individual watersheds.

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

Recommendation 30

That the Government of Canada set the

table for collaborative management with commercial, recreational, and Indigenous

fishers to build a common vision for the future of the fisheries.

Recommendation 21

That Fisheries and Oceans Canada implement the principles of free, prior, and informed

consent, consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous

Peoples, as a foundational component of the

consultation and accommodation process with Recommendation 31

regards to wild salmon.

That the Government of Canada develop an overarching plan to save wild salmon, not just pick and choose ideas that sound appealing without first assessing and

understanding the priorities of different needs and options; that this plan includes targets,

milestones, and accountability; and that this plan is coordinated between federal,

provincial, and First Nation governments.

Recommendation 23

That Fisheries and Oceans Canada recognize

decision-making authorities of First Nations and work with them on a nation-to-nation basis along with other governments to plan,

implement, monitor, and evaluate salmon

management from egg stage to spawning phase.

Recommendation 32

That the newly proposed Pacific Salmon Secretariat and Restoration Centre of

Expertise be mandated to ensure the

implementation of Canada's Policy for Conservation of Wild Pacific Salmon.

Recommendation 24

That Fisheries and Oceans Canada recognize

that First Nations are in a unique position to

lead efforts to rebuild salmon stocks, especially in very remote river systems and watersheds.

Recommendation 25

That the newly proposed Pacific Salmon Secretariat and Restoration Centre of Expertise and Fisheries

and Oceans Canada develop a thorough overview of completed and proposed initiatives focused on protecting, preserving and restoring wild salmon stocks, and present the Minister with a strategy to coordinate those initiatives, identify duplications and gaps, and recommend program changes and additions necessary to maximize the benefits of investments by governments and communities intended on improving the health and sustainability of those stocks.

Recommendation 26

That the Government of Canada develop the role of the Pacific Salmon Secretariat and Restoration Centre of Expertise in a government-to-government-to-government approach, ensuring that its

commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is honoured.

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