WSC honored for collaborative salmon conservation efforts at the first Kamchatka Salmon Festival.

WSC received a public recognition award for collaborative salmon conservation efforts on Kamchatka from the Kamchatka Regional NGO “Let’s save salmon together” and the Ust-Bolsheretsky public watershed council.

The “Salmon Keeper” award was given at the Kamchatka’s First Regional Salmon Festival and Sport-Fishing Championship in August 2012, organized by the Ust-Bolsheretsky public watershed council, which WSC helped establish in 2011, and local/regional stakeholders in partnership with WSC. The 3-day festival attracted hundreds of local community members and fishermen, guests from neighboring areas, conservation NGOs, educators, municipal and regional government, Sakhalin watershed council members, and international partners. Supported across Kamchatka’s commercial sector, the festival is now included in the Kamchatka Ministry of Sport and Tourism’s official yearly program with designated government funding.

Above: Leila Loder accepts the award on behalf of WSC | Zinaida Makarova