Salish Sea Marine Survival Project researchers developed a novel sampling procedure called microtrolling to study juvenile Chinook salmon in the Strait of Georgia. Microtrolling can be conducted from small vessels with modified recreational fishing gear and is non-lethal and low-cost. Researchers found this method effective for systematic sampling across water depths and habitats. The low… Read more »

Seal researchers in the Strait of Georgia analyzed seal scat using DNA metabarcoding and morphological prey identification and found that during the spring outmigration season, harbor seals preferred juvenile coho, chinook, and sockeye over other salmon species. Although juvenile salmon comprise a relatively small percentage of the average seal diet, the abundance of the Strait of… Read more »

Members of the Steelhead Workgroup outfitted 12 harbor seals with GPS tags and acoustic receivers to investigate their spatial and temporal interactions with acoustically-tagged steelhead smolts outmigrating through Puget Sound. Researchers also tested the hypothesis that predators hear and target fish implanted with acoustic tags (commonly called a dinner bell effect). Results suggested that harbor seal… Read more »

Members of the Steelhead Workgroup found low early marine survival for 13 populations of acoustically-tagged wild (16% survival through Puget Sound) and hatchery steelhead smolts (11% survival) over 2006-2009. The highest mortality rates during outmigration were observed within Central Puget Sound and from the north end of Hood Canal to Admiralty Inlet. Read more: Moore et… Read more »

The Coho Task Team examined spatial and temporal patterns in marine survival of hatchery-origin and natural-origin coho salmon populations, and compared Salish Sea populations to coastal populations. Results suggested early marine conditions are especially important for Salish Sea coho salmon, resulting in Salish Sea-scale survival patterns. Read more: Zimmerman et al. (2015) Spatial and temporal patterns… Read more »

U.S. and Canadian scientists convened for their third Salish Sea Marine Survival Project Retreat in December 2016. Scientists presented and discussed the status of current research and preliminary results from 2016 in the context of previous years of study. The international team continued to work on research alignment between U.S. and Canadian research teams to… Read more »

U.S. and Canadian scientists convened for their second Salish Sea Marine Survival Project Retreat in December 2015. Scientists presented and discussed the status of current research, implementation issues, lessons learned, and preliminary results and implications from 2015 research studies and sampling programs The international team continued to work on research alignment between US (Puget Sound)… Read more »

U.S. and Canadian scientists convened for their second Salish Sea Marine Survival Project Retreat in December 2014. Scientists presented and discussed the status of current research, implementation issues, lessons learned, and preliminary results and implications from 2014 research studies and sampling programs The international team continued to work on research alignment between US (Puget Sound)… Read more »

LLTK and PSF convened U.S. and Canadian scientists for the second annual Salish Sea Marine Survival Project Retreat. Scientists reviewed the status of research planning and discussed international integration of research components, including 1) trend analyses and modeling, 2) core, bottom-up sampling programs, and 3) data management and sharing. Read more: 2013 US – Canada Planning… Read more »

Over the course of the project and through its final year, LLTK and PSF will work with scientists and managers to convert the research results into general conclusions and management actions. Ultimately, the outcomes of this project will advance wild salmon and steelhead recovery and support sustainable fisheries by: Increasing the survival of wild and… Read more »