Learn More About the FSMC & Its Mandate
Upholding Indigenous Leadership in the Stewardship of Fraser River Salmon
Our Mandate for Governance
The Fraser Salmon Management Council (FSMC) is the united and legally mandated voice for First Nations of the Fraser River watershed in co-management of salmon with the Canadian Federal Government. Our Council is composed of over 79 Signatory First Nations across British Columbia working together to protect, manage, and restore Pacific salmon — not only as a vital food source, but as a foundation of our individual and collective indigenous cultures, laws, and livelihoods.
The Fraser Salmon Management Council is a Tier 1 (First Nations only) governance body that successfully concluded a historic agreement with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The Fraser Salmon Collaborative Management Agreement (CMA) was ratified by more than 80% of the FSMC’s Signatory Nations, and was signed by Minister Wilkinson & FSMC President Darren Haskell on July 5, 2019 at Katzie First Nation. This Agreement puts First Nations at the decision-making table for the management of Fraser River salmon by stipulating a truly collaborative process and structure.
Through the CMA signed with the Government of Canada, FSMC enables Indigenous self-determination in fisheries governance and management. Overseen by the FSMC Main Table, the Council’s mandate is to ensure that First Nations who are signatory to the FSMC are full participants in active management decisions about the operational conservation and sustainable management of Fraser River salmon for Food, Social and Ceremonial (FSC) needs, economic opportunity, and the well-being of future generations.
Our Purpose
Our Mission
To revitalize and uphold Indigenous leadership in the collaborative governance of Fraser River salmon, by strengthening First Nations' capacity to make informed, coordinated, and sovereign decisions over the resource.
Our Vision
Healthy salmon. Healthy Nations.
A future where salmon stocks are abundant and thriving, and where Indigenous laws, knowledge, and decision-making are central to managing the Fraser watershed.
What We Do
Our Activities
Coordinate the Fraser Salmon Management Board (FSMB): A Tier 2 co-governance table that brings First Nations and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) together to make shared decisions.
Coordinate the Joint Technical Committee: A Tier 2 scientific advisory table that brings First Nations and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) biologists together to advise the FSMB.
Support Nation-to-Nation Collaboration: We facilitate dialogue, capacity-building, and consensus among First Nations to present unified positions in fisheries negotiations.
Protect Indigenous Rights: FSMC ensures that First Nations’ rights to access and manage their traditional salmon fisheries are recognized and respected in policy, science, and law.
Advance Salmon Recovery: Through strategic planning, habitat protection, and collective action, FSMC leads efforts to conserve declining salmon populations.
Share Knowledge: FSMC builds bridges between Indigenous knowledge systems and western science to improve fisheries management and ecological understanding.
How We Work
Who We Serve
FSMC represents the First Nations whose traditional territories are connected to the Fraser River watershed — one of the most ecologically and culturally significant salmon-bearing systems in the world. We welcome the participation of all 150 Nations across the watershed and strive to ensure that no voice is left out of the stewardship process.
Why It Matters
The Fraser River salmon are in crisis. Climate change, industrial development, and historical mismanagement have pushed many stocks to the brink. At FSMC, we believe Indigenous peoples are not stakeholders — we are rights holders, knowledge holders, and caretakers of these lands and waters. By working together, we can ensure that salmon and the cultures they sustain will endure.
Visit Our Regions Around the Fraser
Learn More About Fraser Salmon Management Efforts Across the Fraser & In Each Region
Frequently Asked Questions
Your Questions Answered
What is the FSMC?
The Fraser Salmon Management Council is a First Nations governance organization formed in 2019 to support the implementation of the Fraser Salmon Collaborative Management Agreement (CMA). We provide administration and support for First Nations collaborative governance processes, information sharing, and engagement to advance the development of mandates and decision-making among our 79 signatory First Nations. We also provide administration and support to the Fraser Salmon Management Board, its Joint Technical Committee, and any of its subcommittees or processes related to advancing the Fraser Salmon CMA.
A key activity for the FSMC is hosting the annual Fraser Forums. These forums are an integral component of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s integrated fisheries management plan development process. The FSMC works with the Fraser Salmon Management Board to present a post-season review of the previous salmon fishing season, a proposed plan for the upcoming fishing season, and a summary of First Nations and stakeholder recommendations for the upcoming season. The FSMC also uses the Fraser Forums to collaborate with regional First Nations fisheries organizations and First Nations to develop, integrate, and promote nation-to-nation mandates and positions for decision-making and planning for the upcoming season.
What is the Vision & Purposes of FSMC?
The FSMC believes our history, culture, and traditions bind us in common purpose to preserve and protect Fraser salmon. Our vision is that collaborative planning and management of Fraser salmon fisheries become a shared responsibility, and that together Fraser and Marine Approach First Nations, with Canada, restore Indigenous priority and integrate Indigenous knowledge with Western science to guide Fraser salmon conservation and fisheries management.
The purpose of the FSMC is to create, promote, and support government-to-government, nation-to-nation structures for the collaborative governance, management, and conservation of Fraser salmon. We work to coordinate the expertise and technical capacity of First Nations and their fisheries organizations to advance the collaborative development of First Nations' positions and mandates for negotiation of Fraser salmon conservation and fisheries management decisions with DFO.
What does FSMC do?
The FSMC serves as a convening and coordinating body for Fraser and Marine Approach First Nations, in support of consensus-based decision-making under the Fraser Salmon Collaborative Management Agreement. The FSMC also plays a Secretariat role for the Fraser Salmon Management Board. The FSMC Constitution and Bylaws Para 2. (e), (g), (h) state that:
(e) The FSMC, serves as a forum for the Signatory Nations regarding issues of common concern to the Signatory Nations relating to Fraser River salmon,
(g) collect, analyze and disseminate information on issues of common concern to the Signatory Nations relating to Fraser River salmon,
(h) cooperate with, learn from and gather information created by other community, regional and watershed level organizations to develop technical capacity, regional knowledge, communication, information exchange and coordination of efforts to conserve, restore, govern and manage Fraser River salmon.
Who Can Join and How?
The members of the FSMC are the Signatory Nations who were applicants for incorporation of the FSMC, and First Nations that have become a Signatory Nation in accordance with Bylaw 4.2, and in either case have not ceased to be Signatory Nations. For more information on how to become a Member Nation, the roles of Member Delegates, and what's involved to participate, please visit our Membership Page.
Who runs the FSMC?
The nine-person Main Table is responsible for the day-to-day management decisions of the organization.
Main Table appointments include:
(a) The Main Table is established and consists of nine Member Delegates appointed by Majority Resolution as follows:
(i) two Member Delegates appointed by the Member Delegates representing the Upper Fraser Signatory Nations from amongst themselves;
(ii) two Member Delegates appointed by the Member Delegates representing the Middle Fraser Signatory Nations from amongst themselves;
(iii) two Member Delegates appointed by the Member Delegates representing the Lower Fraser Signatory Nations from amongst themselves; and
(iv) three Member Delegates appointed by the Member Delegates representing the Marine Approach Signatory Nations from amongst themselves.
From FSMC Constitution and Bylaws Para 7.1 (i) – (iv)
What area does the FSMC cover?
“Fraser Salmon” means all species of salmon, including sockeye, chinook, coho, pink, steelhead, and chum that live, travel through and are found within he Fraser River, as well as the habitat they rely upon, and the fisheries that exploit them, along their entire migratory route.
Who does FSMC represent?
The FSMC represents the Signatory Nations and to be their official spokesperson for the purposes of the FSMC.
(From the FSMC Constitution and Bylaws Para 2 (i) )
What Role Does FSMC have in Salmon Recovery
Conservation and Restoration: The conservation and restoration of Fraser Salmon now and into the future, is the highest priority for the governance and management of Fraser Salmon.
From the FSCMA Schedule “D” Collaborative Guiding Principles
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