Reflections and connections from the 2025 Salmon Enhancement Program (SEP) Community Workshop.

By Jacques Lambing, Conservation Science Field Technician (Northern BC)

July 7, 2025

A few weeks ago from June 13-15, Eden Atkinson-Bruce, Conservation Science Coordinator and Jacques Lambing, Conservation Science Field Technician from the A Rocha Northern BC conservation science team had a whirlwind four-day road trip to Kamloops to attend the 2025 Salmon Enhancement Program (SEP) Community Workshop.  

The workshop was a series of seminars hosted by various biologists and experts from groups such as Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), consultant agencies, and the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation. The event was held at the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) campus in Kamloops, BC, on the traditional territory of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.

The various workshop sessions consisted of salmon hatchery specific topics such as salmon dissection, rearing and release, egg to fry, water quality monitoring, rapid responses to drought conditions, etc., and the sessions  finished off with an in-depth tour of the local Dunn Creek Hatchery, located within the traditional territory of the Simpcw First Nation.

Of the experience, Eden said “It was great, not only was I able to make excellent professional connections, but the workshops were incredibly informative. I feel they solidified my foundation of Best Ethical Practices for fish handling and rearing. They were also very technical. The workshop on salmon dissection was one of my favourites. The hatchery tour was incredible as well, I was able to ask many questions and to see another, bigger operation was very beneficial. A personal highlight was being hosted by my family members along the way, and being able to catch up with my parents, brother, aunts, cousins and uncles!”

Jacques described it as “a wonderful learning experience, where I got to meet other young people just like myself who are in the same boat. I met Matthew, a 21-year-old working for Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC. He shared contact information of folks working in the fisheries sector in the Lower Mainland, which will be helpful in building a network and finding jobs in the future. The food was amazing: breakfast, lunch, and dinner was served. I would recommend this workshop to anybody seeking to learn more about our wild pacific salmon, and the most ethical and efficient ways to help sustain their populations in the future.”