Environmental productivity patterns of the Salish Sea

Pacific salmon are important from ecological, economic, social and cultural perspectives, but many species in the Salish Sea have seen drastic decrease in marine survival rate in recent decades, likely linked to reduced survival of the young stages of salmon due to a combination of environmental, food web changes, and human impacts. This activity will provide an ecosystem-level analysis of how the environmental productivity of the Salish Sea has changed in recent decades with focus on the implications this has had for salmon populations in the area. The aim is to develop a hypothesis for why the changes in environmental productivity impact salmon, as well as for how important productivity changes are for population trends as compared to food web effects and direct human impacts, notably through fishing.

Faculty Supervisor:

Villy Christensen

Student:

Vijay Kumar

Partner:

Pacific Salmon Foundation

Discipline:

Oceanography

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Program: