STRONGHOLDS, HOPE FOR WILD PACIFIC SALMON

Produced in partnership with the Wild Salmon Center with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Strongholds, Hope for Wild Pacific Salmon premiered on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.

April 21, 2010 Salmon Strongholds: short film premiere and Congressional briefing

Capitol Building, Washington D.C.

Wild Salmon Center and the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) hosted a special short film premiere and Congressional briefing on Salmon Stronghold conservation across the North Pacific. With special remarks from Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-1st), Valdis Mezainis (Director of U.S. Forest Service International Programs), Robert Glenn Ketchum (iLCP fellow), and Guido Rahr (President of Wild Salmon Center).

About the Wild Salmon Center Strongholds campaign:
In 1892, Livingston Stone, a Minister and avid fisherman called upon the US government to create a salmon park, saying “Let us now, at the eleventh hour, take pity on our long persecuted salmon and do him the poor and tardy justice of giving him, in our broad land that he has done so much for, one place where he can come and go unmolested and where he can rest in safety.” We have yet to pay attention to those great words, stated over a century ago.

While recovery efforts are critical in some areas, the nations of the North Pacific must work together to create and maintain a network of strong, healthy salmon ecosystems – strongholds of diversity and abundance. This proactive investment in robust salmon ecosystems provides an alternative to waiting until near extinction to try to reverse the effects of habitat degradation and overharvest.

Fortunately, there are rivers across the North Pacific still intact and teeming with wild salmon.

By identifying and protecting strongholds of robust salmon productivity in key rivers around the North Pacific Rim, we can direct our efforts toward conserving still healthy and intact salmon ecosystems. Wild salmon rivers are core centers of abundance and diversity, serving as the foundation for healthy wild fisheries, healthy economies, and healthy communities.

Protection of wild salmon strongholds must be at the heart of every federal, regional, tribal, and local conservation strategy.

We need your help. ACT.