Programs

Accomplishments

Kol River Salmon Refuge Established. The first headwaters-to-ocean preserve dedicated to salmon conservation protects 544,000 acres of the Kol and Kekhta, two of the most productive salmon rivers on the Pacific Rim with sustained, massive runs of pink, chum, and sockeye salmon.

Creating Safeguards for Utkholok and Kvachina Rivers. WSC has initiated an effort to create a 736,000-acre protected area that will encompass the Utkholok and Kvachina river basins, one of the best-preserved habitats for rare steelhead in the North Pacific and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.

Supporting Protections for Additional Rivers. The Opala and Zhupanova river basins combined represent 2.7 million acres of some of the world’s most productive sockeye and trout rivers and are important resources for both commercial and sport fishing.

Kol Biological Station Constructed. WSC set a precedent in Russia for proactive conservation and research of whole, thriving wild salmon river systems through the development of this research facility. Since 2004, an international consortium of scientists and students led by the Russian Academy of Sciences have conducted field research at the station, now managed by the Kamchatka State Technological University.

Valuing Our Salmon Strongholds. WSC released the Kol River Salmon Refuge Ecosystem Services report demonstrating that the value of salmon caught in the Kol Refuge was between US $981,000 and US $3.7 million per year. This study is the first attempt to approximate the economic value associated with a healthy wild salmon river and will provide initial information needed to create incentives to fisheries and major seafood buyers to support wild salmon conservation.

Training, Education & Outreach

Co-hosted the international conference "Sport Fishing, Watershed Management and Salmon Conservation in Russia," bringing together river managers and sport fishers from different salmon regions of Russia.
Organized an exchange for Russian sport fishers, hunters, and ecotourism outfitters to visit Alaska and learn about private business stewardship, conservation advocacy in salmon strongholds, and the sustainable treatment of resources, including catch-and-release fly fishing.
Worked with National Geographic to develop a feature article on key salmon rivers in Kamchatka. View the photos and full article "Where Salmon Rule" in National Geographic Magazine's August 2009 issue.