Aquatic resources throughout western North America have been adversely affected by a wide variety of human activities, ranging from habitat degradation to overfishing. Of the myriad threats to aquatic resources, climate change represents one of the greatest because it is likely to affect both the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. As such effects are cumulative with those exerted by other human activities and cannot be effectively mitigated at either local or regional scales, climate change has the potential to adversely affect fish populations throughout the west and the people who are socially, culturally, and economically dependent on these resources.

In recognition of the threats that global climate change poses worldwide, the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. More recently (1997), the developed nations agreed in principle to limit their emissions of greenhouse gases through the drafting of the Kyoto Protocol. The agreement calls for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, by six percent below 1990 levels by 2012. While European nations have largely ratified the agreement, governments in North America have been resistant to taking the steps needed to ensure the implementation of treaty provisions.

In 2002, however, the Government of Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, the Government of Canada has developed a national Climate Change Plan that identifies the steps that will be taken to ensure that its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are met. These actions represent a major step toward full implementation of the treaty and, in so doing, the conservation of fishery resources in western North America and elsewhere worldwide. In recognition of this substantial contribution to the conservation of fishery resources, the Western Division-AFS is pleased to bestow the Robert Borovicha Conservation Achievement Award on Prime Minister Jean Chretien and the Government of Canada.