Salmon Steward is the official publication of the Pacific Salmon Foundation in British Columbia, Canada
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/300930
of the Paci c salmon's life cycle. Comparatively little has been dedicated to understand and improve Paci c salmon survival in salt water. In addition, Canadian Fishing Company has also offered lease of their vessels and crew for data collection, and the Paci c Salmon Endowment Fund Society has committed $250,000 per year for the project starting in 2014. But what is different about this project that will allow it to answer questions that others have not? The differences lie with the collaboration of experts (building a network), the application of past knowledge to focus work, and the scope and synchronicity of multiple projects that comprise the full-scale initiative. BEING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE The Strait of Georgia is a large, open marine ecosystem that is highly dynamic in time and space, changing from season to season and from one area to the next. (See infographic centrefold.) Consequently, numerous past studies have been very narrow, focusing on one species, in one area or time, for one topic. This approach cannot expect to provide insights at the scale of the whole Strait. To understand how biological systems in the Strait function, we have to ask questions at the correct spatial and temporal scales, meaning we would essentially have to do everything, everywhere and at the same time! While this clearly cannot happen, it has challenged our science community to be innovative, directing our thinking to large- scale observation processes and consideration of all the biological components that we can monitor. For example, our most advanced research vessels still can't be everywhere at once, and it could take several days to conduct one detailed survey of the Strait of Georgia. But, by out tting a small vessel eet working out of the communities surrounding the Strait with special measurement tools, we essentially can be "everywhere all at once." Using the small vessels in conjunction with Canada's Ocean Network at the University of Victoria, we can measure time variability between days, while the small vessels cover changes throughout the Strait. Science typically refers to a systematic process for learning and the body of knowledge that people have acquired over time. In our case, it includes an array of expert minds collaborating within one comprehensive project over scales of time and space that's seldom addressed in the natural marine ecosystem. The Foundation is excited to lead this program; we recognize that we may not accomplish all that we want, but doing nothing for 20 years is a legacy that we cannot support . . . and certainly the communities surrounding the Strait deserve this effort. ■ 16 2014 psf.ca salmon Steward magazine 17 p14-17Brian feature_data centre.indd 16 14-04-16 2:57 PM