Pacific salmon science supported by PSSI
We are carrying out research and monitoring of Pacific salmon and their ecosystems. The following broad range of projects share a common purpose of generating knowledge and advice to inform fisheries management, hatchery enhancement, stock rebuilding, and other decisions related to Pacific salmon. These projects are supported through Canada's Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI).
Current research
Updated March, 2025.
| Title | Project overview | Project lead and collaborators | Project focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| A decision-support tool that considers harvest, hatchery, and habitat management levers to support implementation of the Fisheries Act for Pacific salmon | Evaluating the performance of management actions related to harvest regulations, hatchery enhancement, and habitat mitigation is increasingly critical for Pacific salmon given risks associated with environmental and biological variability and change. The goal of this project is to develop salmonMSE - an open-source decision-support tool, to prioritize management actions among harvest, hatchery and habitat levers. It will expand on previous tools by explicitly accounting for risk and uncertainty, including freshwater and marine life-stages, and considering mark-selective fisheries, impacts of changes in habitat, and differential survival and exploitation of natural- and hatchery-origin fish. | Project leads: Carrie Holt, Brendan Connors, and Catarina Wor | Modelling and decision support |
| Adaptive genetic variation and climate change resilience in Canadian Pacific salmon | Pacific salmon genetic markers are widely used for stock identification in fisheries, however, these markers provide incomplete representations of the salmon genome. This project uses whole genome sequencing to assess genetic variation among and within populations of Pacific salmon. This information will be used to analyze variation related to environmental conditions and assess the climate change resilience of different populations based on genetic adaptability. | Project leads: Eric Rondeau, Tim Healy and Kyle Wellband | Salmon physiology |
| Assessment of Chinook and Coho broodstock bacterial kidney disease screening data | Screening salmon brood stock for bacterial kidney disease has allowed hatcheries to reduce the disease in young salmon and returning adults. Hatcheries now have 16 years of disease test data along with genetic (parentage) information. This hatchery study collects disease data and genetics from Chinook and coho at the Spius, Puntledge, and Nitinat hatcheries to model variables that could improve hatchery methods. | Project lead: Amy Long | Hatchery science |
| Assessment of the distribution and abundance of juvenile Chinook salmon in the lower Thompson River basin | Historic flooding in 2021 impacted salmon spawning and rearing habitat throughout the lower Thompson River and tributaries. This salmon population monitoring study uses night snorkel surveys to count juvenile Chinook in the lower Thompson mainstem and tributaries and compares the survey results to previous years to assess population status and habitat recovery. | Project lead: Lauren Weir | Salmon populations |
| Barkley Sound and Clayoquot Sound acoustic monitoring of salmon and salmon prey | Acoustic monitoring provides information about the salmon food web and abundance in marine areas. This salmon monitoring study uses multi-frequency echosounders from mooring stations and mobile units in West Coast Vancouver Island sounds and the Salish sea to monitor salmon forage species including zooplankton and Pacific herring. The study also counts juvenile and adult salmon along their migration. | Project lead: Stephane Gauthier | Habitat and ecosystems |
| Barkley Sound and Clayoquot Sound krill monitoring | Krill, a type of zooplankton, are a critical component of the marine food webs and important part of juvenile salmon diets. This ecosystem monitoring program collects krill on a monthly basis in two key feeding areas for early marine juvenile salmon along the west coast of Vancouver Island. We are monitoring how the amount and nutritional value (fats, protein and total energy) of krill varies with season and ocean conditions (temperature, salinity, and oxygen). | Project leads: Akash Sastri and Kelly Young Collaborators: Bamfield Marine Sciences Center, Ha'oom Fisheries Society, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| Biological models to support prioritizing salmon stocks under future climates | Predicting how salmon stocks will respond to climate change is difficult because salmon use different kinds of habitats across their life-cycle. This modelling project studies the relationships between salmon abundance and environmental data, such as temperature. By modelling these relationships across different sockeye salmon stocks, decision-makers will be better able to predict sockeye salmon status under a variety of climate change scenarios. | Project leads: Patrick Thompson and Cameron Freshwater | Modelling and decision support |
| Changing coastal productivity: Using sediment cores, water properties and archived plankton data to identify changes at the bottom of the food web in B.C.’s coastal waters | Ocean warming can change the composition of phytoplankton in ocean food webs, which has implications for food availability for salmon. This ecosystem monitoring study compares organic molecules in sediment cores with seawater samples from B.C. coastal inlets to measure historic changes in the food web and their association with changes in climate. | Project lead: Sophia Johannessen | Habitat and ecosystems |
| Characterizing and monitoring priority contaminants of concern in West Coast Vancouver Island juvenile salmon | This project is focused on the contaminant component of the “Follow the Fish” program (FtF), a PSSI-supported science project focused on West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI) Chinook salmon. The overall aim of this project is to characterize and rank contaminants of concern in WCVI juvenile Chinook salmon and assess contaminant-related health effects in WCVI juvenile C hinook salmon deemed to be of highest concern. | Project lead: Lisa Loseto | Salmon physiology |
| Chum whole genome sequencing for improved stock delineation | Genetic sequencing is an effective tool to identify salmon species by stock, but this method is only available where sufficient genetic information has been gathered and enough differences have been detected. South Coast chum salmon have not been sequenced intensely enough to identify distinct populations, so this genome sequencing study gathers DNA from across the region to assess differences in genetic markers that could be used to maximize the resolution. | Project leads: Eric Rondeau, Tim Healy and Kyle Wellband | Salmon physiology |
| Climate downscaling for salmon conservation in marine ecosystems | Ocean and climate conditions influence salmon numbers and health. While efforts have been made to model future climate conditions, these models are broad in scope which creates a scale gap when applying projections to salmon habitat. This modelling project downscales broader global climate models to include coastal environments and salmon species distribution. | Project leads: Di Wan and James Christian | Modelling and decision support |
| Complementing British Columbia’s coasts longest sea surface temperature and salinity records with 21st century technology to monitor a changing climate | Continuous marine salmon habitat measurements are important for fisheries management. The B.C. Shore Station Program collects long-term sea surface temperature and salinity at twelve coastal stations, but the data are coarse and limited by weather and labour. This ecosystem monitoring project is testing and installing a minimum of four independent water quality logging stations spanning the coast to collect a nd transmit hourly real-time data posted online. | Project lead: Jennifer Jackson Collaborator: Canadian Coast Guard |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| Convergent tracks: a tagging study to quantify salmon predation by sealions | Steller sea lions are believed to feed on large numbers of Fraser River sockeye salmon when salmon migrate past Triangle Island, near northern Vancouver Island; however, there is little data available on sea lion diets, sea lion behaviour, or sockeye salmon mortality in this area. This project tracks sockeye salmon and Steller sea lion movements, estimates sockeye salmon survival, and analyzes sea lion diets to determine if the area is a survival bottleneck. | Project leads: Strahan Tucker and Cameron Freshwater | Habitat and ecosystems |
| Developing a proactive, modernized, holistic approach to ensure optimal health and condition of hatchery production | Proactive, modernized health-monitoring of hatchery production can inform improvements to husbandry practices. This study assesses stress, infection, disease, and smolt readiness in salmon, and pathogens in source and culture water throughout production in two enhancement and several conservation hatcheries. Hatchery managers can apply these measures to minimize infection and optimize health and smolt readiness, leading to improved survival of h atchery salmon post release. | Project lead: Kristi Miller-Saunders | Hatchery science |
| Development and application of laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to determine saltwater entry size of juvenile salmonids and track habitat usage | Advances in lab microchemistry like mass spectrometry can be used to track juvenile salmon life history using otolith, or ear bone, samples. This project develops methods for “laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry” to test on juvenile Chinook sampled in the Follow the Fish program. Using this technique, body size at saltwater entry and habitat use can be measured and compared to fish health and age. | Project leads: Andrew Ross, Xiangjun Liao and Nicole LaForge | Salmon physiology |
| Development of geospatial tools for large-scale freshwater salmon habitat assessment by the Freshwater Spatial Ecology Program | Identifying individual and cumulative threats to salmon and their habitat is critical for effective management and restoration actions. This project estimates and maps nine human activities and landscape disturbance-based threats, and four climate change-based threats for the stream network in the Fraser Basin. Results identify threat levels across salmon Conservation Units and the human activities and land uses that contributed most to threats. | Project lead: Josie Iacarella | Modelling and decision support |
| Enhanced salmon bycatch monitoring and sampling in the Pacific region groundfish trawl fishery | The groundfish trawl fishery is one of the largest commercial fisheries in British Columbia. This study collects enhanced monitoring information on bycatch of Pacific salmon in the trawl fishery to accurately estimate the catch by species and determine the stock composition of Chinook salmon catch. This information will help us to understand whether the fishery is having impacts on stocks of concern to inform management decisions. | Project lead: Cory Lagasse Collaborators: Canadian Groundfish Research and Conservation Society |
Fisheries monitoring |
| Epidemiological modeling of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in sockeye salmon | Long-term monitoring of the deadly viral disease “infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus” shows changes among stocks and areas, however, the reasons for this are unknown. This study examines the virus’ prevalence across different watersheds, sockeye stocks, and environmental conditions to identify factors driving prevalence and influencing disease within sockeye salmon populations. | Project lead: Kyle Garver | Salmon physiology |
| Epigenetic variation between hatchery and natural-origin Canadian Chinook salmon | There are a small number of genetic differences between hatchery-bred and wild salmon in enhanced populations, but structural modifications to genes may impact salmon fitness in the wild. DNA sequencing that assesses differences in this genetic expression has the potential to be a useful tool for monitoring populations and understanding the consequences of hatchery enhancement. This study gathers Chinook samples from hatcheries at the Nicola, Quinsam, Sarita, Atnarko, and Chilliwack rivers to compare epigenetic differences between hatchery and wild Chinook. | Project leads: Eric Rondeau, Tim Healy and Kyle Wellband | Salmon physiology |
| Feasibility of estimating Chilko River smolt abundance using upward and side looking SONAR methods | Chilko Lake sockeye smolts are counted each spring from a fish-counting weir to provide information on population trends and informing fisheries planning. However, with earlier spring freshets due to the warming climate, the weir must be removed before the smolts are counted more often than previously. This salmon monitoring project tests upward-looking and side-looking SONAR units that can be used during high flows, and compares the results to the weir counts. | Project lead: Daniel Doutaz | Salmon populations |
| Follow the Fish: An integrated Chinook salmon assessment and monitoring program for the West Coast of Vancouver Island | Chinook stocks are thought to experience high death rates during early residence along nearshore ecosystems of the West Coast of Vancouver Island. This salmon monitoring project samples Chinook salmon in rivers, sounds, and estuaries using different capture methods including rotary screw traps, beach seining, purse seining, and microtrolling. The samples will be used to assess fish health (genetics, growth, disease, contaminants) along with environmental conditions (food web, temperature, oxygen, pH) to help us identify some factors that limit Chinook survival. | Project lead: Jessy Bokvist Collaborators: British Columbia Conservation Foundation, Cedar Coast Field Station, Charter Tofino, Ehattesaht/Chinehkint First Nation, Ha'oom Fisheries Society, Hesquiaht First Nation, Hupačasath First Nation, Huu-ay-aht First Nation, Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k:tles7et'h' First Nation, Maaqutusiss Hahoulthee Stewardship Society, Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, Nootka Sound Watershed Society, Nuchatlaht Tribe, Pacheedaht First Nation, Pacific Salmon Foundation, Quatsino First Nation, Thornton Creek Hatchery Society, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, Toquaht Nation, T’Sou-ke Nation, Univeristy of Victoria, Uu-a-thlukYuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government/Ucluelet First Nation |
Salmon populations |
| Fournier Transfer Near Infrared (FT-NIR) Spectroscopy; its application for rapid fish age estimation within the Sclerochronology Lab at the Pacific Biological Station | Age information is important for understanding and modelling changes in the productivity and abundance of salmon stocks. Our Sclerochronology Lab is applying new technologies to improve aging capacity and continue to provide age information amidst staffing changes. This project will test Neural Network Techniques and Deep Machine Learning for sclerochronology including the age estimation of salmon. | Project lead: Stephen Wischniowski Collaborators: NOAA, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission |
Salmon physiology |
| Genetic associations with age of return in male Canadian Chinook salmon | Jacks (male salmon that return a year early) are a natural source of genetic diversity for Chinook, but too many jacks in a population can limit overall breeding success and reduce body size. Hatcheries can selectively breed jacks if they can identify them, but identification based on body size can be uncertain. This genetic monitoring study samples male Chinook tissues from the Chilliwack, Puntledge, and Qualicum rivers to develop a rapid screening test for jacks that could be applied for broodstock selection. | Project leads: Eric Rondeau, Tim Healy and Kyle Wellband | Hatchery science |
| Identifying and characterizing tire-related chemical (6PPD-quinone) toxic hotspots in salmon habitat | Automobile tires break down and leave the toxic chemical 6PPD-quinone on roadways. Rain events wash 6PPD-quinone into salmon-bearing streams, sometimes in amounts lethal to coho salmon. This contaminant monitoring study samples water quality from 10 new sites on salmon-bearing streams in urban areas of greater Vancouver, Squamish, and Vancouver Island to detect toxic amounts and compare to stormwater green infrastructure areas. | Project lead: Lisa Loseto Collaborators: B.C. Conservation Foundation, Cowichan First Nation, Musqueam First Nation, Pacific Salmon Foundation, Peninsula Streams Society, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Redfish Restoration Society, Tsawwassen First Nation, Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Island University, World Fisheries Trust |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| Identifying good practices for considering Indigenous Knowledge in rebuilding plan targets and stock assessment reference points | Indigenous knowledge includes countless generations of place-based Pacific salmon experience that cannot be recreated or measured. Guided by the Eptuaptmumk framework (“Two-Eyed Seeing”, as described by Mi'kmaw Elder Albert Marshall), we are partnering with Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island and University of Victoria to identify rebuilding targets and reference points forsuuhaa (Chinook salmon), that pair Indigenous Knowledge Systems with Western Science, based on interviews and focus groups with Indigenous Knowledge holders and a review of assessment literature. | Project lead: Jared Dick (University of Victoria) DFO project lead: Carrie Holt Collaborators: Ha'oom Fisheries Society, University of Victoria |
Modelling and decision support |
| Improved decision making for salmon by understanding the threats of freshwater Aquatic invasive species both now and in the future | Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) continue to be introduced and expand their ranges aided by climate change, threatening biodiversity and Pacific salmon survival. This risk assessment study targets over 400 invasive species within or approaching five freshwater ecoregions in B.C. Researchers developed a Non-Indigenous Species Screening Tool (NISST) that allows managers to prioritize the invasive species threats w hen creating regulations and salmon recovery plans. | Project leads: Thomas Therriault and Cher LaCoste Collaborators: Local First Nations, Pacific Science Foundation, Province of British Columbia, The Canadian and B.C. Invasive Species Councils, Washington State |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| Improved understanding of cumulative impacts on salmon survival across freshwater life-stages; tools and approaches for mechanistic assessments | Models of landscape-scope watershed assessments often can’t capture accurate salmon health and life-cycle dynamics because they lack the mechanistic tools to show cumulative impacts and multiple stressors in the environment. This project monitors the health of salmon and their habitat for North Thompson juvenile coho and Fraser juvenile sockeye to model fish condition in relation to habitat change and climate conditions. | Project leads: David Patterson and Douglas Braun | Salmon physiology |
| Improvement, expansion and modernization of salmonid health diagnostic services for optimizing salmonid hatchery health management | Salmon disease testing methods have greatly expanded in the last decade. This increases accuracy and decreases testing turnaround time. This hatchery lab project collects tissue samples from broodstock and young salmon to confirm that new methods are sensitive and specific to pathogens of interest. Once validated, these tests will be used by our Finfish Diagnostic Laboratory, improving our diagnostic capacity. | Project lead: Amy Long Collaborator: B.C. Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences |
Hatchery science |
| Improving baseline knowledge of environmental conditions in Vancouver Islands fjords through observations and modelling, with a focus on hypoxia dynamics, climate change, and the potential implications for Pacific salmon | Low-oxygen (hypoxia) conditions have been observed near the surface in salmon migration inlets on West Coast Vancouver Island. The ecosystem monitoring component of this study measures salinity, temperature, and oxygen at different depths in Clayoquot Sound fjords in collaboration with Indigenous groups to establish present-day baseline conditions. The modelling compon ent helps understand the drivers of hypoxia and how they may change in the future. | Project lead: Laura Bianucci Collaborators: Ahousaht First Nation, Hakai Institute, Hesquiaht First Nation, Nature Trust of British Columbia, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, Uu-a-thluk Fisheries, Nuu-cha-nulth Tribal Council |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| Innovative ecosystem-based approaches to identify cumulative stressors: Salmon Fit-Chips and eDNA | Over the course of migration, salmon are exposed to a variety of environmental stressors and pathogens which can impact their health, as well as variations in prey availability, predator abundances, harmful algae, and competitors for food that may drive their optimal habitat usage. This study is based on juvenile Chinook salmon that are migrating through west coast Vancouver Island sounds during their first marine year. The study combines innovative technology that non-lethally measures stressor and disease signals in salmon, and collects habitat information like species compositions comprising salmon, predators, prey, pathogens, and harmful algal blooms from environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess fish health responses to climate conditions, and to identify species that are positively and negatively associated with Chinook distributions. Taken together, this project will assess the relative importance of several factors thought to limit salmon distribution and survival during their first year of marine rearing. | Project lead: Kristi Miller-Saunders Collaborators: British Columbia Conservation Foundation, Cedar Coast Field Station, Charter Tofino, Ehattesaht/Chinehkint First Nation, Ha'oom Fisheries Society, Hesquiaht First Nation, Hupačasath First Nation, Huu-ay-aht First Nation, Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k:tles7et'h' First Nation, Maaqutusiss Hahoulthee Stewardship Society, Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, Nootka Sound Watershed Society, Nuchatlaht Tribe, Pacheedaht First Nation, Pacific Salmon Foundation, Quatsino First Nation, Thornton Creek Hatchery Society, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, Toquaht Nation, T’Sou-ke Nation, Univeristy of Victoria, Uu-a-thlukYuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government/Ucluelet First Nation |
Salmon physiology |
| Integrated Salish Sea acoustic monitoring of salmon and salmon prey | Acoustic tools can provide important information on the salmon food web and salmon survival in marine areas. Alongside the Barkley Sound and Clayoquot Sound acoustic monitoring of salmon and salmon prey study, this salmon habitat and abundance monitoring study uses multi-frequency echosounders from mooring stations and mobile units in West Coast Vancouver Island sounds and the Salish sea to measure aspects of salmon forage species such as zooplankton and Pacific herring, and count juvenile and adult salmon along their migration. | Project lead: Stephane Gauthier | Habitat and ecosystems |
| Intergenerational transfer and parental origins of DNA methylation variation in coho and Chinook salmon | Chemical reactions in a salmon body decide which genes are expressed in a process called “DNA methylation.” This hatchery genetics study sequences methylation across the genome to compare between hatchery and natural origin to see if salmon offspring inherit DNA methylation from parents (epigenetics) and how this could inform hatchery breeding methods. | Project leads: Eric Rondeau, Tim Healy and Kyle Wellband | Hatchery science |
| Investigation of the impacts of singular and coinciding acute climate stressors on the nutritional quality of the pteropod Limacina helicina, a juvenile Pacific salmon dietary species | Pteropods are snail-like animals that live in the water column and are food for young salmon in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Climate change, both ocean warming and increasing acidity, may affect these pteropods and this investigation measures their nutritional status (fatty acid composition) under predicted future climate change conditions. This laboratory experiment analyzes historic field samples to examine time-series changes in pteropod fatty-acid composition in relation to temperature records. | Project leads: Chris Pearce and Ian Forster Collaborator: Salmon Marine Interactions Program |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| Measurement of stress hormones in scales and its application for the identification of conditions causing chronic stress in Pacific salmon | Chronic stress impacts fish health, behavior, growth and reproduction. This project evaluates stress hormone levels (cortisol and cortisone) in scales as a tool for routine monitoring of chronic stress in Pacific salmon. Methods for scale sampling and stress hormone analysis in salmon have been validated. To aid in the interpretation of scale stress hormone levels as a measure of chronic stress we are determining the timing and rates of cortisol/cortisone deposition and resorption in a series of controlled laboratory experiments. | Project lead: Stewart Johnson Collaborator: University of Guelph |
Salmon physiology |
| Mechanistic modelling to link hydrology to juvenile salmon habitat quality and productivity | Predicting how much water fish need is a key management challenge in the face of climate change and increased water demand. Hydraulic habitat models are widely used for instream flow management, but do not currently account for dynamic water temperature. This project leverages large-scale flow and temperature monitoring across the North Thompson to develop flow-habitat models for juvenile coho, which incorporate dynamic temperatures and habitat structure. | Project lead: Sean Naman Collaborator: Secwepemc Fisheries Commission |
Modelling and decision support |
| Monitoring and predicting the exposure of Pacific salmon to harmful algal biotoxins | Under certain conditions some of the microscopic plants or algae that live in the ocean produce poisonous chemicals called biotoxins. We use special techniques to measure these algal biotoxins in young Chinook salmon and their habitat on Canada’s west coast. We then compare the results with environmental conditions like water temperature, and indicators of fish health. This helps us to better understand when, where, and how the fish are exposed to biotoxins and how they affect the growth and survival of Chinook salmon. | Project lead: Andrew Ross Collaborators: Cermaq Canada, Pacific Salmon Foundation Citizen Science Program, Snuneymuxw First Nation |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| Optimization of feeds used in the hatchery production of Pacific salmon | Hatchery feed often comes from commercial sources focused on other fish species and may be nutritionally incomplete for Pacific salmon. This hatchery feed study develops new diets specific to Chinook and coho and tests salmon health under different feed trials. | Project leads: Ian Forster and Cher LaCoste Collaborators: Creative Salmon, Taplow Feeds |
Hatchery science |
| Prediction of reproductive success of Chinook salmon based on thiamine concentrations in returning adults | Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in salmon is diet-related and could be tied to warming oceans and changing food webs. The nutrient deficiency lowers the survival rate for salmon fry and has been observed in Yukon and California Chinook, but hasn’t been studied well in B.C. This fish health monitoring study gathers Chinook tissue samples from the Albion test fishery and hatcheries to measure thiamine, fatty acids, and other health parameters to help predict and monitor vulnerable stocks. | Project leads: Ian Forster and Cher LaCoste Collaborator: University of British Columbia - Institute for Oceans and Fisheries |
Salmon physiology |
| Quantifying Yukon Chinook migration mortality and its implications for fisheries management and rebuilding under the Fish Stock Provisions of the Fisheries Act | Yukon River Chinook numbers have been declining and a proportion of returning adults do not migrate past the border between Alaska and Canada. This transboundary tracking study uses radio-telemetry from towers and aerial surveys to expand Alaska’s Chinook tagging efforts and locate the area and cause of the drop in numbers using death rate, migration speed, and timing. | Project leads: Brendan Connors, Adam O'Dell and Marc Ross Collaborators: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Yukon First Nations |
Salmon populations |
| Quantitative assessment of the impact of smallmouth mass suppression efforts in Cultus Lake and SMB emigration from Cultus Lake | Smallmouth bass introduced to Cultus Lake pose a predation risk to indigenous Cultus Lake sockeye. However, some anglers prefer fishing for smallmouth bass and strongly oppose actions to lower the bass population. This predator research study captures , tags (with PIT and acoustic transmitters), and biosamples smallmouth bass to assess population control methods. Anglers are also interviewed to help develop a communit y plan. | Project lead: Daniel Doutaz Collaborator: Province of B.C. (Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship) |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| Relative reproductive success of hatchery- versus natural-origin salmon in Canadian integrated populations | Salmon bred from a hatchery may experience higher mortality after release compared to naturally-bred salmon; however, different hatchery techniques may improve post-release survival. This genetic study compares DNA samples from hatchery-bred and natural origin Chinook salmon returning to the Sarita River to evaluate their relative reproductive success and see if differences in hatchery methods improve spawning success. | Project leads: Eric Rondeau, Tim Healy and Kyle Wellband | Salmon physiology |
| Research into habitat use and predation on juvenile Chinook Salmon in the Canadian Okanagan River and Lake system | Okanagan Chinook face threats including habitat destruction, invasive species, and fishing mortality. This study uses tagging to track juvenile Okanagan Chinook in the Canadian Okanagan basin to better understand habitat use and predation from invasive species. Results will inform rebuilding activities for Okanagan Chinook in Canada. | Project lead: Lauren Weir Collaborator: Okanagan Nation Alliance |
Salmon populations |
| Research on measures to increase marine survival of juvenile Sakinaw sockeye | Pinniped predation may impact at-risk Sakinaw Lake sockeye as they migrate through the Strait of Georgia every spring. This salmon-tracking study traps and applies PIT tags up to 2,500 sockeye smolts at a smolt fence, then transports the sockeye by boat past Hodgson Islands and compares the survival rate of transported sockeye to naturally migrating smolts . | Project leads: Kevin Pellett, Nicolette Watson, Karalea Filipovic Collaborators: shishalh Nation |
Salmon populations |
| Salish Sea plankton and oceanography | This study is focused on sampling zooplankton and ocean conditions on a bi-weekly to monthly basis, to model salmon diet and early marine survival of juvenile salmon in the Salish Sea. Additional measurements of phytoplankton and zooplankton production rates are used to characterize how season, oceanographic conditions, and plankton composition interact to regulate energy available to higher trophic levels (e.g. fish). | Project leads: Akash Sastri and Kelly Young Collaborators: University of British Columbia, University of Victoria |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| San Juan River adult and juvenile assessment program | The Pacheedaht First Nation is restoring Chinook salmon freshwater habitat in the San Juan River, but more salmon abundance information is needed to accurately assess the effects. This salmon monitoring project operates rotary screw traps and hydroacoustics in the San Juan River, as well as summer purse seining and winter microtrolling in Port San Juan. Freshwater and marine sampling allows researchers to observe Chinook at multiple life stages and compare wild to hatchery Chinook bred at the 4 Mile Hatchery. | Project leads: Katie Davidson Collaborators: 4 Mile Enhancement Society, Pacheedaht First Nation |
Salmon populations |
| SHERLOCK assay for rapid genotyping applications | Hatchery staff use genetic markers to tell the difference between summer and fall runs of Chinook in the Puntledge River to preserve genetic integrity. However, genetic stock identification is typically slow and results are not known until later in the year. This salmon genetics pilot project assesses rapid, in-season testing where genetic marker information could be provided in under an hour to aid in hatchery broodstock selection. | Project leads: Eric Rondeau, Tim Healy and Kyle Wellband | Salmon physiology |
| South Coast freshwater ecological indicator pilot | Streamflow, water quality, and aquatic insect information is useful when assessing salmon habitat at risk. This freshwater ecosystem monitoring project expands the range of data collection to include between 5 to 14 more Chinook habitat systems where researchers sample streamflow, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and benthic macroinvertebrates. | Project lead: Diana McHugh | Habitat and ecosystems |
| Understanding the impact of Arctic outflow winds on British Columbia fjords | Arctic air masses move from the interior to coastal inlets, cooling and adding oxygen to the marine habitat. Fjords where this cooling occurs can become a marine refuge for salmon. This project monitors climate conditions in B.C. mainland fjords to measure the impact on salmon habitat and study how these factors may impact other coastal inlets. | Project lead: Jennifer Jackson Collaborator: University of Northern British Columbia |
Habitat and ecosystems |
| West Coast Vancouver Island sediment transport and redd scour assessment | Climate change influences freshwater flows and sediment movement during the salmon egg incubation stage. Frequent high-severity flows can impact egg survival rates due to redd scour events. This research develops and assesses methods for measuring redd scour compared to freshwater flow to inform salmon habitat restoration, enhancement, and rebuilding efforts. | Project lead: Diana McHugh Collaborators: Redd Fish Restoration Society, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation |
Habitat and ecosystems |
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