Our successes include:

• the 2003 release of Canada’s first seafood card, the Citizen's Guide to Seafood, to help consumers and retailers make informed seafood choices. The card’s popularity prompted a collaborative, national approach to sustainable seafood purchases through Sustainable Seafood Canada, a coalition of leading Canadian environmental organizations working together under the brand SeaChoice to raise public awareness of the threats to oceans and develop solutions for sustainable fisheries. SeaChoice now publishes “Canada’s Seafood Guide”, a wallet-sized card that lists 62 types of seafood under three different alert codes: Green (Best Choice), Yellow (Some Concerns) and Red (Avoid).
• achievement of a Policy for the Conservation of Wild Pacific Salmon. Sierra Club BC and others in the marine conservation community took a very strong stand that conservation must be the overriding principle in the document and that the important role of salmon in the whole ecosystem must be addressed. These goals were achieved in June 2005 when significant changes were made to the draft policy. Key to our success was a high media profile, our expert briefing of key decision-makers and the vocal support of the public, including First Nations.
• approval of a groundfish reform process in 2006 that significantly reduces trawler by-catch. The reforms require that halibut and groundfish trawlers keep detailed log books, and ensure that every vessel carries either an on-board observer or cutting-edge camera technology that automatically records each fish hauled aboard the boat. The new regime provides basic catch information necessary for successful implementation of total allowable catch limits.
• promotion of a conservation-based harvesting strategy in our role as stakeholders on the harvest planning committee for the Fraser River salmon fishery. We achieved considerable progress in 2005 when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans took a courageous step and closed the sockeye fishery on the Fraser to protect endangered runs of sockeye salmon.
• establishment of the website Salmonopolis, targeted at stream-keepers and salmon stewards. Salmonopolis has been especially successful in encouraging the reporting of habitat violations in salmon streams, each of which is given full legal analysis by our partner in this venture—David Suzuki Foundation.