Understanding juvenile salmon passage at newly created breaches in two major barriers in the Fraser River estuary, BC.

Estuaries are crucial stopover areas for juvenile salmon during outmigration and especially for Chinook salmon who can reside in this habitat for over a month. Many populations of Chinook salmon from the Pacific Northwest are threatened and endangered making conservation important for this species. Currently, managers are investing significant public funds in estuary restoration and understanding the effectiveness of these investments is crucial to recovery of many salmon populations. This research will provide a greater understanding of the benefit of two large projects to restore connectivity in the Fraser estuary, BC, and area highly impacted by anthropogenic barriers. This research will monitor juvenile salmon use of newly created breaches in two large jetties including measuring rates of passage at breach sites as well as investigating local changes in juvenile salmon habitat use. This information will help government managers and NGO’s in there future efforts to restore salmon populations in this region.

Faculty Supervisor:

Scott Hinch

Student:

Partner:

Ducks Unlimited Canada (BC)

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

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

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: