Study will analyze mortality of “wild” B.C. salmon
Along the coast of British Columbia, schools of juvenile fish from the five species of Pacific salmon (Chinook (called King salmon in the U.S.), Chum, Coho, Pinks and Sockeye) as well as Steelhead (ocean-going Rainbow trout) migrate to sea every year, and so do approximately 500 million juvenile salmon from various hatcheries and man-made spawning channels. Most of these juvenile salmon come out of the Fraser River system which empties into the ocean around Vancouver. Judging from the number of adult fish subsequently returning to spawn in the same rivers or to hatcheries, the survival rate of these fish while in the ocean varies greatly from year to year, and some species are doing much better than others in the area between Vancouver Island and the B.C./ Washington State Mainlands.
As Vancouver Sun writer Larry Pynn explains in an article last week, the funding for the study will come from both Canada and the U.S., and one organization from each of the countries will do the work;
The Pacific Salmon Commission and the Southern Fund Committee announced Thursday that the funding over five years will support the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, an effort by Canada and the U.S. "to improve understanding of the causes of salmon and steelhead mortality" in the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound and Juan de Fuca Strait. Equal recipients of the funding are the Vancouver-based Pacific Salmon Foundation and Seattle-based Long Live the Kings. PSF president Brian Riddell said in an interview that the hope is to find out why there have been such wide fluctuations in the returns of various species of salmon over the years.
One theory is that juvenile salmon are dying in the first few months after they migrate downstream into the Strait of Georgia, but it's unknown whether natural predators, human development, or some other combination of factors including climate change are to blame. "Mortality continues throughout (the salmon's) life, but the real high rates seem to be occurring quite early on," Riddell said. While this new infusion of money won't specifically address the impact of port expansion, Riddell said it would be a good time for such collaborative research to be conducted. "Port Metro Vancouver is aware of what's going on, has shown some interest," but has so far not committed to becoming part of the greater research effort, he said.
The Pacific Salmon Commission is the international body formed by Canada and the U.S. in 1985 to oversee implementation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The Southern Fund Committee, comprised of three U.S. and three Canadian members, was established separately in 1999 by the two countries to administer the Southern Boundary Restoration and Enhancement Fund. The two organizations in a news release said that recent catches of coho, chinook and steelhead in the Salish Sea have been at historic lows, sockeye have had huge variability in returns, and pink salmon have consistently returned at historically high levels. Riddell noted that coho returns in the Strait of Georgia were healthy in 2013, unlike past years.
