Question Period Note: Wild Atlantic Salmon

• Wild Atlantic salmon are an iconic species for the people of Atlantic Canada and Quebec, including Indigenous communities for whom it holds food, social and ceremonial value.
• My Department is working with Indigenous Peoples, provinces, and stakeholders on implementing the newly launched Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Strategy, which supports the goal of “restoring and maintaining healthy wild Atlantic salmon populations.”
• The Strategy was published in March 2025 and responds to ‘what we heard’ during the engagement process. It is based on an extensive body of work dedicated to Atlantic salmon over the past decade.

Overview on Wild Atlantic Salmon mandate commitment
• The 2021 mandate letter calls for the Minister to work in close collaboration with provincial and territorial authorities, Indigenous partners, fishing and stewardship organizations, and implicated communities to make new investments and develop a conservation strategy to restore and rebuild wild Atlantic salmon populations and their habitats.
• Engagement has been described as an ongoing conversation with Indigenous Peoples, partners, and stakeholders. Since the summer of 2021, the Department has held over 60 discussions with participation from more than 80 organizations, and received 474 submissions through its online portal, “Let’s Talk Atlantic Salmon.” A ‘What we Heard’ report was published in September 2023.
• Partners and stakeholders are generally supportive of the direction of the Strategy; however, expectations are high that the Department will announce new investments in light of the commitment in the 2021 mandate letter, and given the significant funds awarded to Pacific salmon in Budget 2021.
• A draft Strategy was developed and refined based on ‘What we Heard’ and a final external engagement opportunity for review and comment by Indigenous peoples, provincial governments, partners, and stakeholders was completed on July 30, 2024.
• The final version of the Strategy, entitled “Canada’s national strategy to ensure the future of Atlantic salmon” was published on March 13, 2025.

Background on Atlantic salmon
• Atlantic salmon are a highly migratory species that spend one to three years in freshwater, followed by one or two (or more) years at sea before returning to spawn in the freshwater rivers in which they were born. Unlike Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon can return to sea after spawning to repeat the migration and spawning pattern several times.
• The causes of the widespread decline of Atlantic salmon are not well understood. A number of threats are generally recognized, including legal and illegal fisheries domestically (freshwater) and internationally (marine); commercial and industrial developments that impact habitat quantity and quality (e.g., hydroelectric dams, forestry, aquaculture); poor marine survival (not well understood); and climate change (e.g., warming freshwater and marine environments leading to shifts in food webs).
• Not only are there multiple threats, but the conservation landscape of salmon is complex, which impedes recovery success. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) shares the responsibility for the management of Atlantic salmon in freshwater with the provinces, and the management approach differs depending on the respective federal-provincial arrangement. Internationally, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization negotiates regulatory measures to strengthen the management of Canadian and U.S. salmon harvested in Greenland’s subsistence fishery.
• Food, social and ceremonial fisheries exist for Atlantic salmon by more than 40 First Nations and many Indigenous communities across eastern Canada. In central and coastal Labrador, Atlantic salmon is a key source for local community food fisheries.
• A Gardner-Pinfold study conducted in 2022 estimates the GDP value of the Atlantic salmon recreational fishery to be $218 million. However, the social-cultural value of Atlantic salmon far exceeds its economic and subsistence value—wherever people and salmon coexist, the connection is deep.
• There is currently one Atlantic salmon population listed under the Species at Risk Act (SARA)—the inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon Designatable Unit (DU), which was listed on Schedule 1 as endangered in 2003. Nine additional DUs of Atlantic salmon across Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia have been assessed as at-risk, and are under consideration for listing under SARA. Listing under SARA will trigger protections through prohibitions and rigorous permitting for endangered or threatened populations, requirements for recovery including the identification and protection of critical habitat for endangered or threatened populations, and management planning for species listed as special concern.

If pressed on new investments for Atlantic salmon conservation
• My Department actively supports Atlantic salmon conservation activities domestically and abroad.
• The Government has invested $6.1 million in projects to reinforce the early implementation of the Strategy by spurring collaboration with stakeholders, partners, provincial governments, and Indigenous organizations and announced an additional $1 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year to support new projects.
• A call for proposals will be launched in the coming months for projects specifically geared at conservation of Atlantic salmon.
If pressed on listing under the Species at Risk Act
• My Department is finalizing advice on whether or not to list several Atlantic salmon populations under the Species at Risk Act.
• We have consulted Indigenous communities, provinces, and key stakeholders.