Leandre Vigneault
Community Advisor: Patrick Fairweather

Leandre Vigneault was born and raised on Haida Gwaii.  After obtaining a BSc in fisheries and marine biology he moved back to Haida Gwaii in 1993 and has worked and volunteered there ever since.  Throughout his career he has pursued fisheries related work for a wide variety of employers including DFO, McMillan Bloedel and Haida Fisheries before working as an independent consultant. His work has focused primarily on salmon and salmon habitat and working with fish hatcheries, designing and conducting watershed restoration projects, providing fisheries advice for logging companies and conducting spawner escapement surveys. Leandre has long history of volunteerism which began in 1984 when as a teenager he started an enhancement project in the Tlell River watershed, that project has since morphed into the Tlell Watershed Society a group which is dedicated to conservation and data collection in the watershed.  He has been a member of two land use and two marine use planning processes that were completed on Haida Gwaii and is currently a director with the Tlell Watershed Society, a member of the Haida Gwaii Integrated Advisory Committee, a member of the local Sports Fish Advisory Committee, a director with the Graham Island Advisory Planning Commission and the current chair of the Salmonid Enhancement and Habitat Advisory Board.

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Jan Lemon
Communiity Advisor: Rob Dams
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Alternate:
Bart Proctor

Kris Bulloch

Community Advisor: Natalie Newman

I was ecstatic to land the job as the Toboggan Creek Hatchery Manager in Northern BC.

As the manager I am employed full time, year-round and we hire 2 full time seasonal (Apr-Nov) and 1 part time seasonal employee to run the bulk of our operation.  Volunteers and/or technical staff fill in the gaps as needed.  Just enough good people to work towards that goal of long-term sustainability.

Marjorie Lieuwen (alternate):
Marjorie is the Conservation Science Coordinator at the Buck Creek Canfor Hatchery and Nature Centre in Houston, BC, which is part of A Rocha Canada, a conservation organization. Marjorie manages the coho stewardship hatchery, raising up to 10,000 coho fry yearly for release in the Upper Bulkley River watershed. She also monitors juvenile salmon and salmon habitat and works on riparian restoration projects in the watershed in partnership with members of the Upper Bulkley Roundtable. Marjorie loves gardening and exploring the outdoors along with her husband Jason.

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Currently Recuiting
Community Advisor: Stacey Larsen

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Don Hicks
Community Advisor: Laura Terry

Don is currently hatchery manager and director of Little River Enhancement Society and involved in hatchery operations, salmon enhancement and stream restorations. Originally from Comox, Don and family lived in Chetwynd in the Peace River country where he was involved in the community serving on a number of boards including Little Prairie Community Forest and Peace River/Williston Reservoir Advisory Committee.  Don enjoys grandkids, kayaking and cycling.

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Currently Recruiting

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Ian Bruce
Community Advisor: Ian Douglas

Ian Bruce founded the Peninsula Streams Society on the Saanich Peninsula in 2002 where he serves as its Executive Coordinator. Additionally, through his consulting firm, he provides ecological and fisheries services to industry, governments and First Nations. Ian is a registered professional biologist, having studied Marine Biology at UVIC originally and much later completed a Diploma in Restoration of Natural Systems (2003). Ian grew up in Victoria, moved to the Island’s West Coast for 20 years, and then returned to the Saanich Peninsula in 1997. Ian has been working in the field of salmon and salmon habitat since 1980 has served on the SEHAB Board since 2014.

Steph Cottell - alternate, MSc Education for Ecological Sustainability

An uninvited settler of Scottish ancestry, Steph is grateful to live and work in unceded Coast Salish Territory as the executive director for the Cowichan Community Land Trust (CCLT). The CCLT has delivered the Friends of Cowichan Creeks program for over 10 years. This program offers whole watershed education to the community, including riparian area and salmon health, and organizes streamkeepers, stewardship, and restoration activities to the Cowichan region in collaboration with many valued community partners.  Steph also volunteers as a founding director of the Thetis Island Nature Conservancy (ThINC), a grassroots community group that is actively growing it’s citizen science initiatives such as eelgrass stewardship and forage fish monitoring. She is a curious and appreciative tender of the land and waters.

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Angela Kroning
Community Advisor: Jim Wilson
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Angela is an active volunteer with the Sunshine Coast Streamkeepers Society counting spawners, removing invasive plants and sampling water quality. With the Sunshine Coast Friends of Forage Fish she volunteers to sample for Surf Smelt and Pacific Sand Lance eggs and helps out with eelgrass transplanting efforts.  She volunteers and through her consulting company, provides occasional research for the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association; she has been their representative at the Ocean Protection Plan Forums. Research includes environmental reviews of a proposed open pit gravel mine at McNab Creek, an Independent Power Project at Narrows Inlet and the Woodfibre LNG proposal. Together with Dianne Sanford, they have offered Streamkeepers Training on the Sunshine Coast for the past twenty years. In spite of the set back of COVID-19, Angela is enthusiastic about  the renewed interest shown by her community in the local marine environment and in salmon in particular.

Dianne Sanford- alternate

Dianne Sanford is a Director with the Seagrass Conservation Working group and has  been mapping and monitoring eelgrass since 2001.  Working with SeaChange Marine Conservation Society, she has coordinated various shoreline and subtidal restoration projects on the Sunshine Coast.

She is sole proprietor of Moonstone Enterprises, since its inception in 1996, and provides Environmental Education and environmental monitoring services, working closely with the Sunshine Coast School District and the many camps on the Sunshine Coast, as well as the local governments.  Marine education is her specialty, and she has developed and delivered many beach programs.

 Many children on the Sunshine Coast know her through the Salmonids in the Classroom program, as she held the Education Coordinator contract for Fisheries and Oceans Canada for many years, in which salmon are raised from eyed eggs to fry. 

 She is a Streamkeepers Trainer for the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation, a past director of NRAC, (Natural Resources Advisory Committee, a group advising the Sunshine Coast Regional District,) and alternate director on the SEHAB committee (Salmonid Enhancement and Habitat Advisory Board).

 Dianne is the coordinator for Sunshine Coast Friends of Forage Fish, coordinating volunteer sampling for sand lance and surf smelt over the past ten years at various Sunshine Coast beaches.

Several local beaches have proven positive for surf smelt and sand lance spawn.

Community Advisor: Brian Smith
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Kevin retired in 2015 after a 41 year career in Sales and Marketing with Canadian Pacific Railway. Not one to sit around, with lot’s of energy he needed to figure out what to do once retired. Having lots of experience volunteering for years while when his kids were young. Helping out with various school activities that eventually moved into sports activities they were involved in.

Approaching retirement and reading about Mossom Creek hatchery and the devastating fire that happened in 2014 he was so impressed that a volunteer organization could bring the community together and raise enough capital to have a beautiful 2 story building built. He decided to meet Ruth Foster and Rod MacVicar (co-founders). Truly impressed and inspired by their passion and stories they shared about their 40+ years of environmental teaching. He started volunteering there immediately. He quickly realized Mossom could use his business knowledge and experience to help run Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement society. They were looking for a President and he offered his services in 2017. Having spent the last 7 years as the president, it’s been a wonderful rewarding experience. Running a community hatchery and education center is like operating a small business. Kevin’s primary functions are to ensure financial viability of the operation, and to attract the best volunteers with skill based knowledge which will keep the operation in good shape. Working with like-minded volunteers makes the job fun.

Most recently Kevin has branched out working with various groups developing ways to protect and monitor creek water quality. I have spent time with other stream keepers assisting them in a variety of areas building on the strengths developed at Mossom. I have worked with North shore stream keepers on a couple projects in their efforts to improve their rivers and creeks on the North Shore.

Most recently teamed up with a company called Flowlink Environmental. They have designed a system which can be used on any construction and creeks site to continuously monitor water quality on a 24/7 continuous basis. They are an independent 3^rd party to ensure water leaving the site is released only when meeting provincial and municipal guidelines. Kevin is working hard to promote this technology so it is used on as many construction sites as possible to protect our creeks, streams and rivers. Working on the SEHAB board has greatly expanded my horizons and given me the opportunity to speak with many of our stream keeper and hatchery volunteers. It’s very inspiring to hear all their dedication and tireless efforts to improve the life cycle for our salmon.

Paul Cipywnyk
Community Advisor: Scott Ducharme

Paul Cipywnyk has volunteered with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society in Burnaby, BC, for over 20 years. Paul was a citizen representative on the City of Burnaby Environment Committee, a member of the Burnaby Board of Trade Environmental Sustainability Committee, and is on the board of the Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver. Paul is a freelance editor and writer, and also helps deliver the Stream of Dreams Murals Society watershed-education program in schools. Paul is an avid nature and wildlife photographer, and enjoys hiking and camping.

Alan James - alternate

Alan James has been an active streamkeeper with the Stoney Creek Environment Committee in Burnaby since 2003. He has a BSc degree from UBC and a Masters degree in geophysics from the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Ecological Society of America, the Society for Ecological Restoration, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He is currently managing the Road Salt and Salmon Project with assistance from the Pacific Science Enterprise Centre (DFO), the Department of Zoology at UBC, and the Faculty Ecological Restoration at B.C.I.T.

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Lesley England
Community Advisor: Paul Neufield

Over the last 15 years, I have been an avid fisherwoman who respects and supports the efforts of the Department of Oceans and Fisheries (DFO) mandate to ensure that survival of all species of Pacific Salmon remain sustainable. My knowledge base on the importance that Pacific Salmon play in the environmental cycle, issues relating to environmental factors, and the intricacies of numerous stakeholders input, has increased during the last few years through my volunteer time at the Tynehead Hatchery.
I am constantly looking for other ways and groups that can add to my knowledge and provide me with avenues that allow me to make a difference in the healthy survival of Pacific Salmon. One avenue has been sitting as a Director of the Serpentine Enhancement Society (SES) that operates the Tynehead Hatchery. This has allowed me the opportunity to gain knowledge of resources (local and provincial), and of other stakeholders who are working for the common goal of Pacific Salmon survival.
It is through partnerships and collaborative practices between Salmon Hatcheries in British Columbia and other stakeholders/experts such as the DFO and the aquatic stewardship community that will lead to the healthy survival of the Pacific Salmon: a common goal shared by SES. One group cannot work in isolation to achieve a common goal.
The aquatic stewardship community is a community comprised of both small and large organizations throughout British Columbia. Collaborative practice can be as simple as inviting other aquatic organizations to be part of Salmon Hatchery events where sharing of educational knowledge for the public can occur. It also leads to networking and inclusion in other stewardship activities. Collaboration enables new partnerships and sharing of knowledge and materials. It also allows for sharing of common issues. However, aquatic stewardship does not need to be a group: it can be an individual.
Supporting University student researchers working on their environmental and Salmon programs allows education, sharing of information and activities that lead to a collaborative effort to enhance our local rivers. This includes bringing on these students as volunteers/members within the Hatchery environment itself.
Partnerships and collaborative practice between Salmon Hatcheries in British Columbia and the DFO is also important. This occurs with Salmon Hatcheries maintaining a positive partnership with their DFO Community Advisor (CA). Each CA oversees numerous hatcheries: DFO and Volunteer operated. The CA is a valuable resource for resolving issues, providing appropriate resources (i.e. River Restoration Engineer), acquiring appropriate materials and providing education and educational materials. Partnership with the CA also provides both the CA and the Salmon Hatcheries an understanding of common issues as they arise; thus, allowing for faster interventions at both micro and macro levels.
Survival of the Pacific Salmon is a common goal for the DFO, the aquatic stewardship community and Salmon Hatchery’s throughout British Columbia. All require collaborative partnerships for this goal to occur.

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Lee Hesketh
Community Advisor: Melissa Lesko

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Community Advisor: Guy Scharf

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Tracy Bond - Alternate

Tracy Bond has been working in Community Development since 1994.  Primarily with Environmental organizations but also economic development with Board of Trades, Economic Development Offices, and business recovery.  She has been the executive director of Baker Creek Enhancement Society since 1999. She sits on the College of New Caledonia Advisory Committee, BC Stewardship Centre, and is the current president of the Chamber of Commerce. Her current focus is in Wildfire Restoration of Salmon Habitat and working with others to create a Mid Upper Fraser River Salmon Collaborative. She has been a part of SEHAB since 2008.

Jim Shinkiewski
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Jim serves as representative from the Pacific Salmon Foundation where he works as the Director of Grants and Community Programs. He is responsible for overseeing all elements of PSF’s grantmaking programs, including directing the Community Salmon Program, Stewardship Community Bursary, Partnered Initiatives, and other strategic functions within the Foundation. His department works with DFO’s Salmonid Enhancement Program and the network of salmon stewardship volunteers throughout B.C. and the Yukon. He also serves as president of the board of directors of the Ucluelet Aquarium.

Zo Ann Morten is the Program Coordinator for DFO's Streamkeepers Program. She is employed through the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation who are entrusted with the oversight of the program for DFO.

Zo Ann volunteers her time with, and is a founding member of, the  North Shore Streamkeepers and Morten Creek Salmonid Enhancement Program. With one foot in the creek and the other on committees and board rooms she has a broad perspective on salmon and stream issues across the Pacific Region. Monitoring local streams and improving the capability to share the information is a passion. Gardening, travel  and being wife,  mom and grandma round out her life.

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