Page 6 - 2021PSF-ResilientCoastsForSalmon-NewLogo-Primer-Web

Photo by: Mitch Miller

Shoreline Values: Providing sea levels . Promoting healthy shorelines will also
Environmental, Social, Cultural, help ensure we do not lose habitats that support
and Economic Benefits critical links in the food web such as forage fish .

Indigenous people have relied on food from the For those who live around the Salish Sea, Pacific
ocean since time immemorial, with the familiar salmon are central to their way of life . The annual
saying, “When the tide is out, the table is set .” migrations of adult salmon, sometimes hundreds
Today, we continue to rely on the shoreline for of kilometers from the open ocean and back to
our food and livelihoods and as places where we their rearing streams to spawn, are one of the
love to live, work and play . We all benefit from the world’s greatest natural phenomena . During their
ecosystem services that healthy shorelines provide life cycle, they feed orca whales and shorebirds
such as clean water and air, carbon sequestration on the coast, brown and grizzly bears along
and plentiful food resources . Shorelines provide riparian forests, and nourish the streams in which
us with beautiful scenery that can create a sense they swim, spawn and ultimately, die .
of spiritual well-being and can bring value to our Not only are salmon invaluable as part of the
communities . Significant economic benefits are coastal ecosystem, they hold tremendous
derived from tourism, and the harvest of organisms economic and cultural value as a staple food item
such as clams, mussels, and salmon . for communities around the Salish Sea, and as
An ecosystem service that will become increasingly part of commercial fishing and tourism industries .
important in the future is the resilience and Salmon depend on healthy freshwater and marine
adaptive value of healthy intact shoreline systems ecosystems, and are highly reliant on functioning
in the face of climate change . Natural shorelines estuaries and nearshore areas which serve as
are dynamic and, given the space to move, will important nursery habitats .
adjust to rising sea levels and buffer storm energy .
This capacity will help protect our coastal
communities from storms surges and higher Photo by: Macgregor Aubertin-Young

5