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Progress with respect to our key Canadian objectives
is as follows:
OBJECTIVE #1: Re-build production of wild
Pacific Salmon and steelhead through a program
that is ecosystem based, considers hatchery
effectiveness and engages communities.
One of the greatest achievements from the SSMSSP
has been the development of an integrated and broad
community of researchers, across disciplines and borders.
The SSMSP has facilitated a high level of integration and
collaboration between researchers, in government or
academic groups, both in Canada and internationally
through its program funding, annual workshops and
working groups.
While we continue to see poor survival from local hatchery
programs, PSF has undertaken a review of hatchery effec-
tiveness. In recent years, there have been huge advances
in our ability to study salmon in the hatchery environment
using DNA-based tools (Parental-based tagging) and
genomics (EPIC Coho study
5
and Strategic Salmon Health
Initiative). These advances enable future studies that could
improve the survival of hatchery-reared salmon to provide
more sustainable fisheries, supplement production of wild
Pacific Salmon and assess interactions between hatchery
and wild salmon.
Most notably over the duration of the SSMSP it is apparent
that an "ecosystem-based" model of production for
Chinook and Coho Salmon is the appropriate level
of consideration. While there is certainly a significant
mortality during the early months at sea, it is not sufficient
to account for the variation in survival rates observed
between years or populations. Our studies suggest that
mortality occurring through a sequence of life stanzas
or periods, some with greater impacts than others, is the
appropriate interpretation. Essentially it is a complex full-
life history or chain of events that ultimately determines
the production of Chinook and Coho Salmon observed
from a year — with the weakest link in the chain having
the greatest effect. Some of these effects can be mitigated
locally but others, like climate change, are more global
and will require us to compensate for these long-term
changes.
OBJECTIVE #2: Promote sustainable fisheries and
increase their value to local BC communities.
The accomplishments under Objective 1 also pertain
to Objective 2. Additionally, media coverage of the
project — particularly related to the Citizen Science
Oceanography program and the Strategic Salmon Health
Initiative — raised public awareness and appreciation of
wild Pacific Salmon in communities across BC And, since
inception, the project has seen a growing roster of chari-
table fishing derbies to support the Project. These derbies
have provided opportunities to educate people at the local
level about the importance of sustainable fisheries and
how we can support them. However, direct evidence of
value to communities will require the implementation of
management actions and the accrual of biological benefits
to salmon production over time.
5. Enhancing Production in Coho: Culture, Community, Catch (see: www.sfu.ca/epic4/ )
