Significant resource

There is more proof that the salmon is an important part of the Exploits Valley.

A recent case study shows the Exploits River has been the most successful enhancement program of any North American river.

Gardner Pinfold Consulting Economists Limited conducted a study for the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) on the economic value of wild Atlantic salmon, and some key items came out of that report, according to the ASF.

“Wild Atlantic salmon are extremely valuable economically and culturally according to this report,” said Don Ivany, program director, Newfoundland and Labrador, for the Atlantic Salmon Federation. “The report was done for the four Atlantic provinces and Quebec and what the report concluded was that wild Atlantic salmon are valued at $255 million.”

The resource also employed 3,872 full-time equivalent jobs in eastern Canada in 2010, he added.

According to the report, a random survey of 995 people in Atlantic Canada and Quebec gathered information about public understanding of the issues surrounding salmon, preferences for a long-term wild salmon program, and willingness to invest in salmon restoration.

The report states that when asked about several wild Atlantic salmon topics, 61-72 per cent of the people surveyed were either not at all familiar or not very familiar.

“The key thing is that wild Atlantic salmon is a very important industry within itself,” Ivany said. “Far too often people think of wild salmon and recreation fishing as a leisure activity. But in actual fact, it is a major green industry that’s renewable each year and it can create some meaningful employment opportunities in rural parts of the province, like Newfoundland, where employment is a bit hard to come by, especially in areas like the Exploits, for example, where you have had the downturn with the mill closing and things like that. Wild Atlantic salmon stocks and recreational fishing industries and tourism and so forth represents a growth opportunity if governments were to invest in the stocks.”

However, there is clear public support, the report says, with over 80 per cent supporting investments in salmon restoration.

“What the public is saying is they are prepared to invest in the resource because the consultant confirms that if they do so, there is a big return when they do,” Ivany said.

He added the study shows Canadians are concerns about the wild Atlantic salmon stocks.

“And they are prepared to invest in restoration efforts to ensure that salmon stocks are well managed in the future so that we can maximize the economic and social benefits associated with the resource,” Ivany said. “In fact, the study showed that Canadian are prepared to invest up to $105 million a year in addition to what is being spent now, to protect salmon stocks.

“The report and our organization is suggesting that at the very least, the federal government should increase their budgets by about $15 million, and the report says if they do that, they should see a return on their investment within six years.”

The Exploits River was one of the four case-study rivers, the other’s being the Margaree-Lake Ainslie River System in Nova Scotia, the Miramichi in New Brunswick, and the Grand Cascapedia in Quebec. The study shows that the Exploits River has been the most successful enhancement program of any North American river.

The report states that in the late 1970s, the returning salmon run was about 1,500, and now the run is self-sustaining at approximately 40,000 fish.

“It generates about $3 million a year, brings in about $2.2 million in revenue and salaries and that sort of thing, and creates 73 full-time equivalent employment positions,” Ivany said.

The report also states the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value for wild Atlantic salmon was $32.6 million in 2010, with the GDP value of the recreational Atlantic salmon fishery alone being $24.5 million.

It goes on to state the importance of the wild Atlantic salmon to the province is shown by the provincial government GDP value of $2.4 million, the largest amount for any Canadian provincial government.

“There are a lot of rivers, unfortunately, in the province of Newfoundland, that have not seen the level of enhancements and restoration that the Exploits has seen,” Ivany said. “So when you look at the Exploits, it is a model example of the kinds of things that could be done in the province on many other rivers if the federal government, and also provincial government and local economic development boards, etc., were to work together with the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) like ERMA and others to pull their resources and do what they can to rebuild and restore and develop those resources.”

So, why did the ASF think the survey was important?

“One of the key reasons why we did it is we felt that it would fill an information gap that was currently lacking,” Ivany said. “If you look at governments today, both provincially and federally, there is a lot of competition for funding and money talks so to speak. Governments are much more likely to invest in areas where they can see that there is going to be an economic return on their investments.”

He added they didn’t have a detailed study like this one to show exactly how much the resource is worth and how much it can generate in terms of economic opportunity.

“One of the highlights of this reports is wild Atlantic salmon supports a very viable industry and it is something that is very worthwhile investing in because there is a lot of payback by doing so,” Ivany said. “I think you only have to look at the Exploits River as an example of how that can occur.”