Salmon Steward

20 2017 psf.ca F ishing has been in my life since I was seven or eight. We dug the worms, then headed out with dad in a rowboat. He rowed while we trolled with a sti¦ bamboo rod and a PEETZ°reel. We fished Bates Beach up above Courtenay. The kids fished inside the kelp beds and the grown-ups fished outside. Sometimes the kids would come back with more than the adults! When I was older, we would go out with two boats and four guys – it was an annual thing. We fished all over the Georgia Strait: o¦ Texada Island, down o¦ Sangster Island or Thormanby, and we always caught a few. Then, about the early-'90s, we stopped catching anything. We ended up cancelling the tradition. I knew about the Pacific Salmon Foundation through John Bowles, who already served on the board, so I decided to become a board member myself in the mid- '90s. The fundraising back then was pretty low-key, mostly dinners. Then the federal government gave us $30 million – known as the Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund. Big change! We could cover our core operating costs from the interest on the fund. The 2008 financial crisis took a chunk out of the endowment, but we've managed it back up to $33 million, which is critical for the Foundation's future. We began to fundraise in a di¦erent way too. I had a lot of connections in the mining and accounting world that I could leverage and a lot of them loved to fish. We started connecting with the business folk who had personal investments in salmon, fishing and the environment. And they really stepped up! About eight years ago we formalized these partnerships by creating the Major Donors Circle. Since then, the Circle has become a key conduit for driving major financial support, key relationships and strategic advice for the Foundation's important work. Our major donors allowed us to achieve a whole new level with the $10 million Salish Sea Marine Survival Project. Before that, our programs were volunteer-based and in the streams. The science was increasingly pointing to factors a¦ecting salmon in the ocean, but we needed research vessels, professional scientists and access to labs to properly investigate. The money from major donors helped us get there. I hope my grandchildren will be able to go fishing and catch some salmon of their own. We can't repeat what happened on the East Coast. The salmon there are essentially gone. If they disappear here, a lot goes with them. Salmon are a lynchpin, supporting 130 other species. As they come into the rivers, they feed the bears, then they fertilize the trees and other plants. They are propping up so much of what we love about this place. Humans must learn to manage themselves and start making things better for salmon. We need to watch the catch numbers (recreational as well as commercial), observe the stocks, understand what we are doing to their environment and do more than preserve. We have to rehabilitate. We have lots of good people. But if young people aren't interested, we are done. That's one reason I got my son-in-law Chris Donaldson involved with the board. Because there needs to be a succession plan. If we can pass on the research, the work, the gains we are starting to see and the passion to future donors, I think there's still hope for salmon. engAging the next generAtion And creAting A succession PlAn Bob Gayton DIRECTOR EMERITUS, PACIFIC SALMON FOUNDATION & DIRECTOR, WESTERN COPPER AND GOLD Who cares about salmon? Above: Bob's grandson Oscar shows off his first Pink salmon, caught in the middle arm of the Fraser. Below: Bob (R) indulges in a favourite pastime at West Coast Fishing Club.

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