Hatcheries & Stocking

Understanding wild Atlantic salmon conservation through hatcheries and stocking programs in the Maritimes

Tilling Wild Waters

Why understand salmon hatcheries and stocking?

In the Maritime provinces, Atlantic salmon conservation has been practiced through hatchery and stocking programs operated by the federal government, provincial governments, NGOs, and Indigenous communities. Currently, there is no comprehensive federal stocking policy or strategy to assess their work, nor a clear understanding of what compels communities and organizations to pursue hatchery and stocking work for wild salmon.

Tilling Wild Waters is a 2-year project that aims to improve scholarly, policymaker, and stake and Rightsholder understanding of the current state of conservation hatchery and stocking in the Maritimes while supporting the integration of human dimensions data into future Canadian wild Atlantic salmon stocking policy.

In doing so, we hope to help illuminate the perspectives of stake and Rightsholders around the Maritime Region who share a passion for salmon and (sometimes) contested views over how to conserve them.

Project Outcomes

  1. Advanced Understanding & Research

    Using case studies, the project will allow for improved scientific understanding of why and how hatchery and stocking programs are (or are not) being used to pursue salmon conservation.

  2. Development of Critical Knowledge & Information Sharing

    In collaboration with Indigenous groups, hatchery practitioners, government agencies, and researchers, this project provides an opportunity to address knowledge gaps in policy coordination and support peer-to-peer learning for hatchery and stocking use.

  3. Enriched Public Discourse & Enhanced Policy

    Project outputs will work to increase public awareness and knowledge of current practices of salmon hatchery and stocking programs in the Maritimes. Human dimensions data will be used to develop key policy recommendations to inform decision-making for future wild Atlantic salmon stocking.

This project is made possible through collaboration and partnership with:

Fort Folly First Nation
Abegweit First Nation
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
Parks Canada - Fundy National Park
Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Dalhousie University

This project is generously funded in part by:

  • Freshwater Fisheries Research Cooperative

  • Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada

  • Dalhousie University Faculty of Science

For more information about this project, please contact:

Hannah Harrison (Dalhousie University)

hannah.harrison [at] dal [dot] ca