Multiple species of wild Pacific salmon in British Columbia have faced declines over the past three decades and the role of disease in these declines is poorly understood. High-throughput molecular methods have led to the development of a novel, multi-year dataset that has unprecedented breadth across pathogen taxa and unusually large coverage over space and […]

Chinook Salmon are a species of high ecological, economic and cultural value in BC. Recent declines in Chinook Salmon abundance have highlighted a need to understand factors controlling their productivity. One hypothesis suggests that the first winter in the ocean plays a critical role in controlling Chinook Salmon survival, and in turn, abundance. Little research […]

The goal of the project is to mitigate the impacts to valuable salmonids from invasive smallmouth bass (SMB) in Cultus Lake through suppression and monitoring. The project will benefit both the sport fishing industry and endangered species, by suppressing predation from SMB and controlling further imbalances in predator-prey relationships. We will use methods such as […]

Pacific salmon spend most of their life in the open ocean, where we know little about the factors influencing their health and abundance. Last year, we participated in the first expedition to explore the winter habitat of salmon the Gulf of Alaska. We collect samples to inform ongoing research projects focusing on salmon health and […]

Adult Chinook and Coho Salmon migrate to a variety of marine regions around the North Pacific. Along these migration routes, the contaminants they encounter and consume will vary. These returning salmon are consumed by humans and Southern Resident Killer Whales, and the health risk they pose will be dependent on their migration routes and diets. […]

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 […]

Juvenile Pacific Salmon survival in the Salish Sea has declined dramatically since the 1980s. Our work is part of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project (SSMSP), an initiative which seeks to understand this decline. We have been developing an economical, small vessel-based method to study how juvenile Chinook Salmon use their habitat in more detail […]

The Pacific Salmon Foundation is leading a multi-year project: Salish Sea Marine Survival Program (SSMSP) to determine what is affecting the survival of juvenile salmon and steelhead in the Salish Sea. There are three hypotheses to investigate. The impact of availability of food for the fish, the predation on the fish and other factors including […]

Plankton food-webs are the primary support system for juvenile salmon, necessary for their growth, health, and ultimately survival at sea. Understanding how and why plankton food-webs respond to changing ocean conditions is one of the major goals of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, with the view to understanding fluctuations and declining trends of salmon stocks in […]

B.C.’s Pacific salmon are in decline yet the causes are not clear. The role of disease in declining productivity is poorly understood but is potentially an important factor especially given recent controversies involving salmon farms and disease transmission to wild salmon. We have recently collected quantitative data on 47+ viral, bacterial, fungal, and protozoan pathogens […]

Predation on smolts as they out-migrate down natal rivers may significantly contribute to the decline and lack of recovery of Chinook salmon in British Columbia. A prior study of mortality of Chinook smolts released by the Cowichan Hatchery suggests only a small portion of the fish reached the ocean due to predation by raccoons, river […]

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 […]