Salmon Steward is the official publication of the Pacific Salmon Foundation in British Columbia, Canada
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/407926
salmon Steward Newsletter edition 3 Searching for Answers five key initiatives made possible by your donations to the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project by Mikelle Sasakamoose Tracking individual salmon behaviour and morTaliTy ParTner: Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Laboratory, University of British Columbia Their work: A particularly important and sensitive period for salmon is the smolt life stage — when, after time spent in fresh water nursery areas, they transform themselves for life in salt water and make the long migration to sea. Very little is known about this life stage, and past research has mostly been limited to laboratory studies or snapshots of smolt distributions at sea. Doctoral student Nathan Furey and researchers are investigating the behaviour and survival of wild Sockeye smolts as they leave Chilko Lake and migrate to the Salish Sea. The project uses a tracking technology called acoustic telemetry, which includes surgically implanting tags into fish. Each tag transmits a unique sound code that is heard and recorded by underwater listening stations. The work builds on a previous study that partnered the Pacific Salmon Foundation with Furey's PhD adviser Dr. Scott Hinch and Canada's Ocean Tracking Network. The study provides important information on when smolts are migrating and how long they take to migrate, the amount of time Sockeye spend in specific habitats, and also allows for the estimation of smolt survival down the Fraser River, in the Strait of Georgia, and up to the top of Vancouver Island. Their impact: "Tracking individual fish gives us insight into migration rates and survival that are impossible without this technology," says Furey. "The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project is about understanding the interactions between different factors that impact salmon. This project will help clarify how individual behaviours and ocean conditions interact to affect the marine migrations of salmon smolts." Sockeye salmon smolts migrate out of Chilko Lake. photo: nathan furey photo: Matt CasselMan Doctoral student Nathan Furey prepares to tag a fish.