Is Fisheries and Oceans Canada policy receptive to a new Pacific salmon health perspective?

Abstract

The concept of health permeates priorities and policies for managing wild Pacific salmon (Oncorynchus spp.). Regulatory agencies rely largely on salmon abundance and (or) the absence of pathogens to declare if a population is healthy. Our goal was to determine if there was a receptive policy environment within Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to adopt a cumulative effects perspective of health. We used a previously developed health model along with a multiple streams framework and a narrative review of DFO policy to see how fish health was situated in DFO’s salmon management problems, policy, and politics. We discovered that a cumulative effects perspective was consistent with policy goals and priorities. DFO’s guiding principles and responsibilities for aquatic animal health were spread across multiple policies and regulations. There were no processes or people responsible for integrating information and activities. The use of the word health in policies and planning without a consistent definition meant that DFO could not explicitly assess if it has reached its management target of healthy salmon. An option for transitioning to cumulative effects perspective is to adopt a healthy public policy perspective and processes to integrate the diverse information linked to social and environmental determinants of health.

Keywords

• salmon
• fish
• policy
• health
• determinants
• cumulative