Up to one million more salmon will be released into B.C. waters every year thanks to a trio of new hatcheries being built along the Fraser and Skeena watersheds, the federal government says.

A funding update on the projects was held in Prince George Tuesday, where one of the facilities is being constructed along the banks of the Nechako River, in the territory of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation who will be partners in managing the project.

“Salmon are not simply a resource,” Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dolleen Logan told the gathered media. “Salmon are relatives. They are a part of our culture, our identity, our laws, our responsibilities.”

Logan said that helping bring back abundant salmon populations to B.C. is part of everyone’s collective responsibility to future generations.

According to the most recent State of Salmon report released by the Vancouver-based Pacific Salmon Foundation, the majority of salmon populations in B.C. and Yukon remain below their long-term averages, despite some promising signs of recovery in certain areas.

“Pacific salmon are under pressure,” federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said at Tuesday’s event.

“Our climate is changing, habitat is changing. Salmon are facing new challenges at every stage of their lifecycle and this highlights the importance of ongoing conservation and stewardship efforts.”

Thompson announced $53 million in contracts for the construction of the new hatcheries, which the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will own.

The funding includes:

• $38 million for the Upper Fraser River Salmon Conservation Hatchery in Prince George, to be built on the north bank of the Nechako River near the confluence of the Fraser River, in collaboration with the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation. The hatchery will have the capacity for 400,000 juvenile chinook salmon annually, with space to expand.
• $7.5 million for the Wilp’Ho Dix Hatchery, built along the Kitwanga River and flowing into the Skeena in northwest B.C. In collaboration with the Gitanyow First Nation, the hatchery will have space for 300,000 juvenile sockeye annually, with the potential to increase to 400,000.
• $7.5 million for a chinook salmon hatchery near Hanceville, just north of Williams Lake, along the Chilcotin River on the upper Fraser River watershed. Operated by the Tŝilhqot’in National Government, it will have initial capacity for 250,000 chinook salmon fry annually.

The federal government says it expects up to 100 construction jobs to be created at the new facilities over the next three years, with between 10 and 15 permanent, full-time positions at each hatchery once they are operational.

The sites will also be a space to teach young people about the cultural and ecological importance of salmon, Thompson said.

Gitanyow Hereditary Chief Harry Daniels said it’s the future he is most excited about.

“Our fisheries have been depleting for the past 20-30 years,” he said. “And I see we are coming to a brighter future for each and every one of us.”

Logan echoed that sentiment.

“This is for the future,” she said. “It’s going to be passed down for generations.”