March Newsletter 2016

It’s March and spring is certainly in the air (at least in Atlantic Canada)! March is the month in which our Board of Directors meets to carry-out regular business and to review the several project recommendations coming forward from our expert advisory committees. For 2016 we will again be announcing a record number of exceptional wild Atlantic salmon conservation projects, including many large and significant undertakings.

This year we will be investing close to $1.1 million in supporting many excellent conservation projects. The quality of the funding proposals we receive has increased significantly over the years, and now that we are into our tenth year (yes, 10 years!), the quality of funding proposals is the highest ever. It’s a competitive process, and the rigorous task of reviewing proposals is ever more challenging. We will be happy, next month, to tell you which projects will be funded this year.

As I have said before, our Foundation is able to respond to roughly 40 percent of the reasonable demand for funding. With the quality of that demand increasing, it has become ever more challenging to determine which projects should be funded, while leaving other worthy initiative unfunded. That’s why we are hopeful that the Government will respond favourably to the recommendations of the Minister’s Advisory Committee to invest more in supporting community groups and in strategically supporting more applied scientific research initiatives.

Our volunteer of the month is Dr. Jeff Hutchings,a member of our Scientific Advisory Committee, and a professor at Dalhousie University. Jeff is an important contributor to the ASCF. He has an extensive background in salmon science and in serving on national scientific bodies. We are very happy that Jeff is helping guide the ASCF in supporting good projects and first class scientific research.

Speaking of top quality science, for March, we are proud to highlight the excellent research activity taking place under the direction of Dr. Kurt Samways of The Canadian Rivers Institute and University of New Brunswick. Kurt’s project is assessing ecosystem health of Inner Bay of Fundy rivers inFundy National Park, together with studying the fitnessof marine sea cage reared Atlantic salmon introduced into those rivers. This is ground breaking research, supported by excellent partnerships. Just the kind of project we like to help succeed!

Yours in conservation,

Stephen Chase