The biological basis of WCVI herring and salmon production variability
Ron Tanasichuk (DFO, Pacific Biological Station), Rich Pawlowicz*, Evgeny
Pahkomov* and Matie Maldonado*. *- Dept. of Earth and Ocean Sciences, UBC
A unique monitoring programme has amassed
21 years of information on WCVI herring and
salmon prey availability; prey availability
has varied by a factor of 800
Variations in the returns of herring
(Tanasichuk and Thomson In prep.), and
coho (Tanasichuk 2002), sockeye (Tanasichuk
and Routledge 2011), chinook (Tanasichuk
In prep.) and chum (Tanasichuk In prep.)
salmon have been linked to prey, competitor
and predator effects; this is unprecedented
Preliminary data collection has begun to address
one of the fundamental questions in science: how
do the sun and the ocean affect marine animal
population productivity, in the context of this
work, herring and salmon prey availability?
Analyses of factors affecting prey availability
can include open ocean processes through
linking with the NEPTUNE project
Our goals
1. Discover the biological basis of salmon and herring prey variability;
2. Develop ecosystem-based forecasting methodologies with communities to enable them to
develop the best management policies for WCVI herring and salmon;
3. Contribute the work as a template for initiatives in other communities.