Road and Impervious Surface Contaminant Runoff Risks and Effects in Freshwater Pacific Salmon Streams

Urban streams are commonly unsuitable for salmon. One reason is pollution that rainfall washes from roads into waterways. For instance, coho salmon are very sensitive to a car tire additive present in road dust. It has killed adults before they spawn and likely affects young salmon too. This problem has been described in the US Pacific Northwest, but its extent in Western Canada is not well known. We propose a scientific research project in metropolitan Vancouver, British Columbia to evaluate which types of roadway pollutants may enter streams at harmful amounts, when and where that happens following rainfall, and study the ways in which it affects fish health. We will use submerged sensors, measure contaminants in water samples, and make biological measurements on young coho placed in streams in cages. The work will include avenues for citizen science participation. The project will be conducted through a partnership between university faculty and Raincoast Conservation Foundation, a conservation science organization. The research will support Raincoast’s mission by answering the above questions for government natural resource managers, community stakeholders, engineers, and local First Nations through a combination of data for scientists and information for the public.

Faculty Supervisor:

Tanya Brown;Vicki Marlatt

Student:

Partner:

Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: