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 * Salmon - A BC Resource**
 * Where can salmon be found? Is it a local or global resource? **

B.C. salmon can be found locally because the rivers and streams is where the salmon are found. The salmon are caught in the oceans. There are salmon found in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Therefore, salmon is found //locally// and //globally//.

**How is salmon transformed into everyday items? **
====Salmon are caught for eating and selling. After salmon are caught (see Gill Netting, Seine Fishing, Rod and Reel Fishing, and Trolling) they are taken straight to the docks of the cannery. At the cannery, fish are cleaned, cut and then vaccum packed or shoved into cans then steamed and then the salmon that was vaccum packed is now flash frozen and then all the salmon is loaded into a truck. When the salmon is in the truck it is taken to store such as Save-On Foods, Safeway, Superstore, Cosco, Thrifty foods and Walmart. The first nations people caught fish with spears made from carved wood and stone. They then smoked, salted and dried the salmon to preserve it so they would have enough food for the harsh winter season. ====


 * What can people do to conserve salmon for future generations? **

The First Nations People took only the salmon types and amounts they needed from the ocean so they would not disturb the runs and amounts of salmon in the area. The common day fishing methods are gillnetting, seine netting, trolling and sports fishing. With seine netting sometimes too many fish are being caught and sometimes they catch so many that they can not even get the load of fish into the boat and do not know what type of fish they catch. With gillnetting they can not choose the type of fish they want to catch so sometimes they catch rare or highly endangered runs or species of salmon and by the time they figure that out the fish are already dead. Trolling is slightly Better than Gill Netting of Seine Netting because they can only catch a certain amount of fish but still they cant really choose what kind of fish they want. Ant then there's sports fishing. Sports Fishing is the most sustainable form of fishing because you can only catch one fish at a time on a rod and each angler with a license can have as many lines as they like out but if there are two people on a boat and one does not have a license the other angler with a license can only have one rod out because the other angler is unlicensed. You can always choose what type of salmon you want just by changing your bait/ lure or trolling speed. There are several ways First Nations are often issued Quota, one is FSC (Food, Social and Ceremonial fishing). This enables them to feed family and Potlach and feed the community. Quite often the community will pay the First Nations commercial fisherman to fish for the community. I saw this first hand last August when I was in Haida Gwaii. Trucks delivered big blue tubs of salmon to each house in the community of Skidigate and all the family helped clean and prepare the fish for canning in jars, smoking, freezing and wind drying. This feeds them throughout the Fall, Winter and Spring. Another way they distribute their Quota is by selling it to the commercial Fisherman, many First Nation people are also Commercial fisherman they have to abide by the same rules and as other commercial fishermen when fishing commercially. Sports Fishermen or the recreational angler have a quota of four salmon per day of which only two can be chinook salmon for a total of eight per trip. They need to have purchased a tidal water fishing license and they must record all chinook, area and date they caught it in. This license also requires that they purchase a conservation stamp which is affixed to the license. The six dollar fee for the stamp goes directly towards salmon conservation initiatives. The way to conserve salmon is by practicing smart and efficient commercial harvesting and as a sport angler making sure that you always record your catches and practice catch and release. Quota for salmon is set every year and it is now done in an integrated fisheries management plan which is developed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) each Spring. They have an Aggrigated Abundance Based Management (AABM) where they estimate how many salmon are on the coast between Canada, USA (Washington state, Oregon, California) and Alaska. Those three areas have a treaty which allows them to split the available catch. This is monitored by the Pacific Salmon Commission and they tell Canada how much they can catch overall annually. The Quotas are then set by the DFO who divide the Quota and give priority access as follows. First priority access is the First Nations people, Second priority access is the Sport and Recreational Angler and Third is the Commercial Fishermen.

** Explain what would happen if we no longer had the natural resource in the future? **
If we no longer had Salmon as a Natural Resource we could still continue to harvest farm raised Salmon much like we harvest and farm raise the chicken we eat today. Who has heard of a wild chicken??? If we no longer had Wild Salmon as a Natural Resource we would have a complete cultural breakdown of all Coastal First Nations People. Animals such as Bears, Eagles and Whales would need to find an alternate food source. Salmon are rich in protein, fat and oils and they are the primary food source for bears allowing them to fill up full of salmon before they go into hibernation. There are three types of Killer Whales, Offshore which feed on Sleeper Sharks, Transient which feed on salmon and other animals including Moose, Deer and other animals that normally swim across the inlets of BC, lastly the Resident Killer Whales that feed almost exclusively on Chinook salmon. Trout live off of Salmon eggs and Fry as well as the Mergansa Duck that feeds exclusively on Salmon Fry, these species would become extinct.