Funding announced for new salmon hatcheries across north and central B.C.

The Federal Government, in partnership with local First Nations, has announced funding for three new pacific salmon hatcheries throughout northern and central British Columbia.

One of these new hatcheries will be located in Prince George along the Nechako River, another will be located on the Kitwanga River in the northwest, and the final hatchery will be located east of Williams Lake. 

“Pacific salmon are under pressure. Our climate is changing, habitat is changing, salmon are facing new challenges at every stage of their cycle, and this highlights the importance of ongoing conservation and stewardship efforts,” said Minister of Fisheries Joanne Thompson, speaking today (Tuesday) at the Prince George site.

In Prince George, Thompson and the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation announced IDL Projects Inc. has been awarded the construction contract to build the Upper Fraser River Salmon Conservation Hatchery along the Nechako River. The contract has a value of more than $38 million.

“Today is about much more than a new facility, it’s about our collective responsibility to the salmon,” said Lheidli T’enneh First Nation Chief Dolleen Logan. “To the rivers that sustain them, and to the generations who will follow us. For Indigenous peoples, salmon are not simply a resource, salmon are relatives. They are part of our culture, our identity, our laws, our responsibilities. The health of the salmon reflects the health of the land, water, and our communities.”

The facility will have the initial capacity to raise 400,000 juvenile Chinook salmon annually, with potential to expand or support the enhancement of other species.

On the Kitwanga River, Progressive Ventures Construction has been awarded the construction contract, valued at more than $7.5 million, marking the next phase of development for the Wilp’Ho Dix Hatchery.

“The things that have been happening in our fisheries have been depleting for the past 20, 30 years, and I see that the future is coming to a brighter future for each and every one of us,” said Gitanyow Chief Harry Daniels.

This facility will be built by the Government of Canada and operated in partnership with the Gitanyow Nation, and will have the capacity to raise 300,000 juvenile Kitwanga River salmon with the potential to expand in the future.

In the Cariboo, the contract valued at $7.5 million was awarded to Industra Construction to formally initiate construction of a new Pacific salmon conservation hatchery in the upper Fraser River watershed, located near Hanceville, about 90 kilometres west of Williams Lake.

“Salmon are not just a resource for our people; they are food security, intergenerational knowledge sharing, connection to the land and waters, our culture, and who we are as Tŝilhqot’in, the River People,” said Tŝideldel First Nation Chief Otis Guichon St., Tribal Chief of the Tŝilhqot’in National Government.

The hatchery will be built by the Government of Canada and operated by the Tŝilhqot’in National Government, and will be used to rebuild Chinook salmon populations in the Chilcotin River watershed and surrounding area.

These hatcheries are funded through the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI). In March, the federal government announced an investment of $412.9 million for the PSSI for the next five years.