March Newsletter 2017

Every March, our Board of Directors meets to review the several project funding recommendations provided by our six expert advisory committees. It’s been a busy period for staff and the advisory committees, each of which has carefully read and scored each of the nearly 100 proposals we received for 2017. The ASCF follows a collegial, yet rigorous, assessment and scoring method similar to that used by many post-secondary education funding entities. It’s a process that works quite well, and has resulted in hundreds of great projects yielding excellent conservation results.

2017 is a banner year for our Foundation. It’s our 10^th year of operation and our recipient groups will certainly be rolling-out more, very solid conservation projects. We will publish a full list of all the projects in late March, following our Board of Directors meeting, so please check our website: www.ascf-fcsa.ca

The March volunteer of the month is Brian Dempson whom we are fortunate to have as a member of both our Newfoundland & Labrador Committee and our Scientific Advisory Committee. Brian is a recently retired Scientist Emeritus with DFO, and far too valuable for salmon conservation to let slip off into retirement. We are delighted that he is willing to lend his expertise to helping guide our conservation and applied research priorities along with some of the world’s foremost wild Atlantic salmon experts on both advisory committees.

This month we are also recognizing the outstanding conservation work of the Miramichi River Environmental Assessment Committee (MREAC). Their 2016 project, “Implementing the Bartibogue River Recreational Fishing Management Plan” was carried-out in partnership with the Bartibogue Fish and Game Association. This joint effort centered on developing a plan to guide future conservation priorities for brook trout and for fall-run Atlantic salmon in this productive Miramichi River sub-watershed.

Yours in conservation,

Stephen Chase