Municipal Atlantic salmon education and leadership in habitat securement

In 2020-2021 SAM received its first ASCF grant, allowing SAM to directly engage for the first time, NL municipal councils in the conservation of Atlantic salmon habitat. A GIS analysis was conducted to detect and prioritize important salmon habitat within municipal planning boundaries. SAM was successful in facilitating the signing of the first ever agreement between the province and a municipality, protecting from future development 1465 acres of Atlantic salmon habitat. In this project SAM will utilize the GIS map product to target priority NL municipalities, seeking to sign agreements which will conserve at least 1000 acres. Each municipal agreement will be accompanied by a Habitat Conservation Plan. SAM will engage these new agreement signatories through educational outreach to bring to their attention their role in protecting Atlantic salmon, and promoting the awareness, and implementation, of their Habitat Conservation Plan.

Contact: Jonathan Sharpe, samcontactus@gmail.com