The Cleaning Up Pollution component of FRAP was primarily the responsibility of DOE. DFO's main function here was to ensure that the DOE's water quality projects took into account fisheries concerns. Specific DFO-FRAP water quality projects were also undertaken. A strategic water quality planning initiative was undertaken to provide objectives and directions to guide future cleanup efforts and integrated planning programs in the Fraser Basin. DFO-FRAP supported a number of scientific investigations directed at determining the impacts of particular effluent problems on fish stocks. These included studies of: the effect of pulp mill effluent on salmon reproduction; the effect of pulp mill effluent on the survival of juvenile salmon; the effect of contaminants on crabs in Burrard Inlet; and the development of bio-indicators of pollution. An assessment was later taken to determine the effectiveness of this component in the Fraser River Action Plan.
Although clean up was principally the responsibility of DOE-FRAP, the comment that the Fraser River is only slightly cleaner than it was before FRAP seems appropriate here. However, given the magnitude of the pollution problem in the Fraser Basin, which in the late 1980s had the fastest population growth in Canada, it was perhaps unrealistic to believe that a program of FRAP's size could significantly improve the situation. .
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Nonetheless, it should be noted that, since FRAP's inception, a much clearer picture of the extent, sources and potential mitigation of Fraser River pollution has been formed. Water quality monitoring projects undertaken by DFO in partnership with DOE have yielded important baseline information concerning contaminant levels in the Fraser River and its biota. DFO Science Sector projects concerning the impact of contaminants on salmon have been particularly successful in identifying sub-lethal effects of pollution.
The component Restoring the Productivity of the Natural Environment was directed at providing an improved understanding of the productive and carrying capacity of the river, as well as promoting a more coordinated approach to habitat management within DFO and between DFO and other agencies.
