Graham Anderson Scholarship Update

Salmon are often referred to as the “backbone of the BC Coast.” They have sustained indigenous fisheries for millennia and a world-renowned recreational fishery for over a century. Precipitous population declines of some Chinook and Coho salmon populations have sparked the need to alter our fisheries management practices in order to maintain the productivity of these wild populations. One such management practice being deployed in recreational fisheries is the increasing use of catch and release that aims to reduce fisheries impacts on wild populations of concern. A key component to understanding the effectiveness of this management scenario is determining the survival rate of salmon after they are released by recreational anglers. 

 

This is where our lab, the Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation laboratory at UBC, led by Dr. Scott Hinch, is working hard on filling the knowledge gap. In 2019 and 2020, we were successful in tagging over 550 Chinook and Coho salmon with acoustic tags that permit us to track the movement and survival of tagged fish post-release. The more we can learn about post-release survival rates, both generally and in relation to different release techniques, the more precisely we can design and implement management strategies that are successful in reducing impacts of recreational angling on populations of concern. 

 

Further, in addition to providing us with valuable data on post-release survival, our Chinook tagging is also providing new data on the interaction between chinook salmon and Southern Resident Killer Whales. As Chinook salmon are the primary food source for Southern Resident Killer Whales, better understanding this interaction is making an important contribution to the design of conservation measures necessary to protect this iconic killer whale pod. An animation showing the post-release migrations for Chinook tagged in 2019 can be found here.