The FRSCS was founded in 1997 by a group of dedicated sturgeon enthusiasts from several sectors in BC. The founding and current chairman of the FRSCS, Rick Hansen, has provided leadership and motivation to a talented set of directors, made up of community representatives from provincial, federal, and First Nation governments, industry, science, education, the environment. The Society’s mandate is to conserve and protect Fraser River white sturgeon and their habitat. This is addressed through: the development and implementation of stewardship activities, public education and awareness initiatives; conducting research and communicating the results; and professionally addressing key issues facing sturgeon with appropriate actions.

In April 2002, a significant contribution from a private donor, the North Growth Foundation, made it possible for the FRSCS to hire a full-time Executive Director. This organizational change provided the means to lever project grant funds, and allowed the Society to develop and deliver several strategic and stewardship-based programs and projects, including an award-winning, volunteer-driven monitoring and assessment program, a First Nations sturgeon stewardship program, and a Fraser watershed-wide White Sturgeon Conservation Plan. Community contributions of the FRSCS and its programs have been acknowledged; the City of Vancouver awarded the FRSCS with the Mayor’s Environmental Achievement Award in June 2000, and the Society’s Chairman, Rick Hansen, received the Vancouver Public Aquarium’s 2003 Murray A. Newman Award for Significant Achievement in Aquatic Conservation.

The Society has made great progress in identifying and addressing issues affecting the recovery of white sturgeon in the Lower Fraser River. In order to produce reliable estimates of the population of Fraser River white sturgeon, novel life history and migration information for the species, and heightened awareness levels in the public regarding the state of this culturally and ecologically significant species, the Society designed a cost-effective monitoring and assessment program. This significant, volunteer-driven program has coordinated activities and in-kind contributions from true stewards of the resource: sport fishing guides, recreational, commercial, and aboriginal fishermen, test fishery and enforcement personnel, and various fishery monitors. The program has gathered sponsorship and support from provincial, federal, and aboriginal governments, plus non-government institutions, associations, and foundations.

Program volunteers tagged and released over 22,000 live white sturgeon during the first five years of the program within a study area that spans over 185 linear kilometers of river from the Fraser Canyon to the Fraser estuary. The program has resulted in one of the best baseline datasets on sturgeon in the world, creating an internationally recognized population model.

The Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wild Fraser River white sturgeon. The Society has charitable status. Our registered charity business number is 86735 0282 RR0001, and our BC Society Number is S-0037432. Charitable tax receipts can be issued for donations to the Society as per regulations.