SkeenaWild Conservation Trust

SkeenaWild Conservation Trust is a regional initiative working to make the Skeena watershed a global model of ecological and economic sustainability.

The Skeena watershed in northwest British Columbia is one of the last remaining large, intact wild salmon ecosystems in the world that is also inhabited by a large human population.

For millennia, First Nations people successfully co-existed with the Skeena Watershed and its resources. Since contact, wild salmon have declined significantly, with fewer benefits flowing to local communities.

Skeena wild salmon face a myriad of threats: climate change, over-harvesting of weak stocks and oil and gas development. Yet despite these threats, there remains a solid foundation of diverse salmon populations in the Skeena.

Currently, government agencies responsible for wild salmon are under enormous pressure from a wide range of interests. Dissatisfaction exists among First Nations, commercial fishers, commercial angling guides, recreational fishermen and other citizens, all of whom are struggling with declining wild salmon runs.

In response to these threatened salmon, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust was formed in 2007 with one goal: to make the Skeena Watershed a global model of ecological and economic sustainability.