The first-ever Salmon Recovery & Resilience Conference was held in Vancouver, December 2-4, 2024, hosted by the Pacific Salmon Foundation and partners from the First Nations Fisheries Council of BC, Province of British Columbia and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Coastal Nations Fisheries attended the conference, joining more than 400 other salmon fishers, decision makers and researchers from across the Pacific Coast. Attendees at the event identified the many important connections between salmon recovery and the revitalization of Indigenous systems, and also highlighted the importance of youth in ensuring healthy salmon populations into the future.
Trinity Mack, the Nuxalk Lead for the Fisheries Resources Reconciliation Agreement, spoke at the conference not only on behalf of her Nation, but for Indigenous youth as well. “I am a part of the younger generation of First Nations youth who have been unable to see the healthy, thriving and balanced ecosystem that once was,” she told the conference attendees. “It’s really important that we can create the space, awareness and understanding, for people and governments to work together in the time the salmon crisis.”
Mack went on to say that First Nations’ proposed solutions for the salmon crisis are based in the “same principles of stewardship we have always followed,” and have been in instilled through our spiritual connections over many generations. “This is where the priority belongs for everyone,” she said. “First Nations or non-First Nations, we are all born with a responsibility to take care of our planet, and all of the life that exists here.”
Mack’s talk on the first day of the conference was part of a “Kinship and Reciprocity” theme that focused on our relationship with salmon, and how collaborative action can lead to watershed-scale salmon recovery.
That first day was focused solely on Indigenous-driven solutions, and included a signing ceremony for a Commitment to Action memorandum between the First Nations Fisheries Council and Pacific Salmon Foundation. The signed commitment from both groups formalizes a partnership and pledge to implement collaborative, co-managed actions to support salmon recovery coast-wide, ensuring a decision-making role for First Nations in these efforts.
The next two days featured a series of breakout sessions, which focused on relevant topics, such as First Nations socio-cultural Values, Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, Data and Information Management, and Perspectives on Salmon Hatcheries.
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