A new SFU study found 181 species assessed for protection under the Species at Risk Act still await federal decisions. Lead author Peter Thompson, a postdoctoral fellow in SFU's School of Environmental Science, joins the program to discuss the growing backlog, transparency concerns, and why dozens of threatened Pacific salmon populations remain in limbo.

Photo: Young-of-the-year lake sturgeon from the Saskatchewan-Nelson River population. Credit: Luke Belding and Mike Latschislaw via Simon Fraser University.

<p>A <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2026/11/canada-s-endangered-wildlife-left-in-political-limbo--according-.html">new SFU study</a> found 181 species assessed for protection under the Species at Risk Act still await federal decisions. Lead author Peter Thompson, a postdoctoral fellow in SFU's School of Environmental Science, joins the program to discuss the growing backlog, transparency concerns, and why dozens of threatened Pacific salmon populations remain in limbo.</p>
<p>Photo: Young-of-the-year lake sturgeon from the Saskatchewan-Nelson River population. Credit: Luke Belding and Mike Latschislaw via Simon Fraser University.</p>