Salmon Steward

14 2016 psf.ca A s Chinook salmon smolts make their way downstream towards shelter and food in an estuary, they arrive in a sea of waving eelgrass blades (Zostera marina). The intricate weaving of underwater blades ošers salmon refuge from the hungry foraging of bald eagles. The tiny algae attached to the blades feed small crustaceans called copepods that swim near the muddy bottom, which in turn feed the juvenile salmon coming from freshwater streams. The plants are so popular with salmon that eelgrass meadows have been compared to salmon highways in the Pacific Northwest. Chinook then migrate from the native eelgrass beds into deeper waters of bull kelp blades (Nereocystis luekeana) after a few months, where they continue to grow and feed in the protected shadows of the kelp blades. In these ways, eelgrass and kelp habitats provide underwater gardens for salmon as they build in size and strength for the challenges of the open ocean. But eelgrass and kelp habitats have greatly decreased over the years. Pollution from sewage and fertilizers, log boom storage, boat anchors and propellers that dredge up the bottom, warming water temperatures, and increased wave energy associated with climate change are all factors. Unfortunately, there is little government funding available for seagrass restoration and monitoring, so much of the work has been done by community groups with many in-kind contributions. Citizen scientist Nikki Wright has been engaged in community organizing since the 1970s. Funding from Sitka Foundation enabled Nikki to support the Seagrass Conservation Working Group, an extensive network of coastal communities involved in the restoration and monitoring of eelgrass habitats in 19 sites within the Salish Sea, from Sechelt to Tod Inlet. The support has also engendered a unique partnership between the scientific community and Salish Sea coastal community members. Maycira Costa from the University of Victoria Department of Geography is investigating the extent of eelgrass habitat and its relationship to changes in adjacent land using aerial photos and satellite imagery. And Maycira is using the knowledge of volunteers within the Seagrass Conservation Working Group to validate the new approach. Maycira and Nikki will also be combining skill sets to survey the locations and distribution of large kelp beds, including the training of community volunteers and First Nations to assist with kayak surveys of bull kelp. Satellite imagery will help identify locations of the kelp beds. The work is key on two fronts. Practically speaking, it will provide a baseline for long-term monitoring of bull kelp habitat and help answer a critical question: why does Chinook and Coho juvenile salmon abundance fall so precipitously within the first four months in the southern Gulf Islands? It will also provide a new model for restoring seagrass habitat. Community volunteers who restore salmon habitat are passionate, and experts in their watersheds. As the need to devote more resources to salmon and seagrass habitats grows, leveraging community knowledge and resources will only become more important. sCienCe and CoMMunity CoMbine to restore salMon highways Maycira Costa ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA, GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT Above: Maycira on a research cruise. Left: Nikki leads a volunteer eelgrass planting project. A volunteer maps kelp habitat. Community volunteers that restore salmon habitat are passionate and experts in their watersheds. Nikki Wright EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SEACHANGE MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY who CareS about sAlmoN?

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