Pink Salmon Action Plan

Scientific Research Program Objectives

The main program objectives have remained consistent between 2003 and 2006. The goal is to develop a multi-year database that determines:

• the distribution and relative abundance of wild juvenile pink and chum salmon in the Broughton Archipelago and Knight Inlet waters, and
• sea lice infection (lice species, development stages and abundance) ) on these wild juvenile pink and chum.

Additional DFO research objectives have also evolved as more is learned about the wild juvenile salmon and sea lice in the Broughton. DFO research is currently focused on answering five key questions:

1. Are juvenile pink and chum salmon infected every year with sea lice? What is the between year variations in the distribution and abundance of juvenile pink and chum salmon, and does this variation affect their respective lice loads?
2. Do salmon farms contribute sea lice to the natural environment and are there other sources/causes of sea lice?
3. What is the impact of sea lice on individual juvenile pink and chum salmon? Do sea lice infections affect the growth rates or survival rates of juvenile pink and chum salmon?
4. Is there an associated impact on numbers of adult salmon returning to reproduce; and how important are sea lice as an additional source of mortality in salmon populations, compared to other natural sources of mortality?
5. Can the concern for farmed salmon and sea lice be managed, via:
   Chemical treatments designed to control lice on fish farms (e.g. Slice)
   Fallowing (temporary removal of a salmon farm site from production)
   Corridors (specific protected channels, etc.)