48 SAl MDMl) I NUANflMI NI 



The tolUming year the federal Cabinet authuri/ed the 

 expenditure ot $6 n\ilhi.)n over two years to develop a 

 comprehensive enhancement plan, and alst) authorized 

 the minister resp«.)nsible (or fisheries to enter into an 

 agreement with the Province of British Columbia to 

 implement cix>pcrative planning. I^ter in l'^'75, the fed- 

 eral Minister of Kishenes and the llnvironment and the 

 provincial Minister of {environment signed a Memoran- 

 dum of Understanding dealing with arrangements for 

 ctxiperation in formulating an enhancement program. 



in 1977 the federal Minister of Fisheries announced a 

 two-phase Salmonid linhancement Prt>gram aimed at 

 doubling the stocks of salmon and anadromous trout to 

 their former levels of abundance, implying an increase in 

 annual prcxluction of 150 million pounds. From the 

 beginning, the second phase was to be dependent upon 

 the success of the first. The formal agreement between 

 the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans for Canada and the 

 Minister of Environment for British Columbia was signed 

 on March I, 1979.-' 



Program Objectives 



The agreement is designed to facilitate cooperation 

 between the federal and provincial governments in the 

 planning and implementation of the program. It states 

 that 



. . .Canada and British Columbia agree that 

 the Salmonid Enhancement Program must be 

 so designed as to be capable of achieving 

 specified economic, social and environmental 

 goals: taking into account and fully respect- 

 ing the legitimate interests of other natural- 

 resource users; . . .- 



Thus, while the puipose of the program is "to preserve, 

 rehabilitate and enhance natural salmonid stocks," this is 

 considered to be a means of achieving certain specific 

 economic and social objectives, namely — 



i) To augment national and provincial income. 



ii) To create employment opportunities for Canadians. 



iii) To improve economic opportunities for Native Peo- 

 ples. 



iv) To foster development of economically disadvan- 

 taged communities and regions. 



v) To increase and improve recreational opportunities. 



The agreement also calls for a high degree of public 

 involvement and a "vigorous program" to foster public 

 awareness of the need to conserve salmonid resources 

 and their habitats. The ultimate goals of the program are 

 thus clearly specified. 



The governments agreed that the program would be 

 carried out in two phases. Phase I was originally planned 

 as a five-year program nanning from 1977 to 1982, but 



was subsequently extended by two years to I9K4. lor this 

 phase, the federal government committed $150 million 

 and the province $7.5 million, "subject to funds being 

 made available by the Parliament of Canada and the 

 Legislature of British Columbia." 



The prcxluction target for Phase ! is to increase the 

 catch of .salmon by 50 million pounds annually. To 

 achieve this, a wide range of techniques provide for 

 restoring freshwater habitat, including stream rehabilita- 

 tion and removal of obstructions; fishways to assist 

 migrating fish past barriers to upstream spawning areas, 

 artificial spawning channels to provide optimum condi- 

 tions for reproduction, hatcheries and other incubation 

 systems to increase the productivity of spawning fi.sh, and 

 lake enrichment to increa.se the reanng capacity of 

 natural lakes for young salmon. 



Two other provisions of the agreement are particularly 

 important: the provision that both governments could 

 recoup their expenditures on the program through levies 

 on users of the resource (the federal government commit- 

 ted itself to do so, the provincial government did not); 

 and the provision that the two governments will restrain 

 further investment in the fisheries to ensure that the 

 potential economic gains from increased fish production 

 are not dissipated in higher costs. 



Organization 



The joint agreement provided for the Salmonid 

 Enhancement Board, which gives advice to the federal 

 and provincial Ministers on the general direction and 

 management of the enhancement program, and on 

 annual budget allocations. The board consists of three 

 federal and two provincial senior officials, and seven non- 

 governmental members. With the exception of provincial 

 members, all are appointed by the Mimster of Fisheries 

 and Oceans. The nongovernment members are chosen 

 for their special expertise in resource management and 

 are not intended to be delegates of any particular interest 

 group. 



The board receives advice regarding the program's 

 general direction from the Salmonid Enhancement Task 

 Group, which consists of 27 members and represents var- 

 ious interest groups and regions in British Columbia. 

 Sport fishermen, native Indians, commercial fishermen 

 and processors, other resource industries and tourist 

 groups are among those represented. It is funded by the 

 Salmonid Enhancement Program and maintains an 

 elected executive committee and an executive secretary. 

 The chairman is a member of the Salmonid Enhance- 

 ment Board and thus provides an avenue of communica- 

 tion between the two bodies. 



The enhancement program is administered by an exec- 

 utive director, who reports jointly to an Assistant Deputy 



