Salmon Steward

salmon Steward magazine 11 DID YOU KNOW? Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family. Orcas use echolocation – bouncing sound off objects to determine their location – to hunt, and use a series of high-pitched clicks to stun prey. Orcas are highly social animals and members of orca pods often work together to catch a meal. Orcas establish social hierarchies, and pods are led by females. Orcas are thought to use complex forms of communication with different dialects from one pod to another. have significantly increased in abundance in their territory, such as Steller sea lions, harbour seals and California sea lions. This narrative about the needs of orcas also fails to appreciate the complexity of Chinook biology. There are more than 900 stocks of Chinook salmon migrating through B.C. waters at di•erent times and in di•erent strengths; in addition, there are an estimated 600,000 Chinook thought to currently move through inside waters to Puget Sound and the Fraser River – many that were produced from hatcheries in Puget Sound and southern British Columbia. But not all of these Chinook are present at once. Returns of Chinook are spread out from May through November in southern British Columbia and the southern United States, so orcas need to be in the right place at the right time. Their seasonal migrations clearly indicate that they used to do just that. Unfortunately, the returns of Chinook today vary significantly between populations and years, so whether there is su†cient Chinook to restore the abundance of Southern Residents is uncertain. THE SOLUTION What orcas really need is to have someone turn the clock back to the 1960s and '70s, when Chinook populations were healthier throughout the foraging range of Southern Resident Killer Whales. Short of this, it is impossible to be certain that Southern Residents will be able to adapt to current conditions, or if actions taken to control human behaviour in British Columbia will make any meaningful di•erence. But one thing is certain: the relationships between people, Chinook salmon and the Southern Resident Killer Whales is going to become more interdependent. The Pacific Salmon Foundation's Salish Sea Marine Survival Project is targeted at recovering wild Chinook in the Strait of Georgia – vital foraging ground for Southern Residents. With its experience in completing this Project, and the continued support of its donors, the Foundation is ready to help in any way it can. The Foundation will focus on restoring Chinook salmon production and developing the means to monitor everyone's success in delivering what the Southern Residents need to survive – more food. In fact, stakeholders from the whale watching community, recreational fishing community, streamkeeping communities and the Pacific Salmon Foundation are already in collaboration. But to recover these endangered animals, it's a collaboration that will have to play out over at least a couple of decades. The Foundation met with its whale watching supporters in Victoria to discuss solutions for starving Southern Resident orcas. Clockwise from left: Ben Duthie, Prince of Whales Whale Watching; Brett Soburg, Eagle Wing Tours; Chris Boss, South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition; Dr. Brian Riddell, Foundation; Cory Matheson, Foundation; Andrew Lees, Five Star Whale Watching; Cedric Towers, Vancouver Whale Watch. Meet the Foundation's whale watching supporters on p. 27. Data provided by Center for Whale Research: whaleresearch.com/orca-population

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