Health of Fraser Salmon: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Lessons Learned

Dave Levy

FNFC AGM Nov. 3’20davidlevy@shaw.ca

Health of Fraser Salmon: Focus on Sockeye and Chinook

Status

Symptoms Diagnosis

Treatment

Lessons Learned

2

COSEWIC Assessment of Chinook Salmon

Designatable Unit (DU) COSEWIC Status

Lower Fraser, Ocean, Fall Threatened

Lower Fraser, Stream, Spring Special Concern

Lower Fraser, Stream, Summer (Upper Pitt) Endangered

Lower Fraser, Stream, Summer Threatened

Middle Fraser, Stream, Spring Endangered

Middle Fraser, Stream, Fall Endangered

Middle Fraser, Stream, Spring Threatened

Middle Fraser, Stream, Summer Threatened

Upper Fraser, Stream, Spring Endangered

South Thompson, Ocean, Summer Not at risk

South Thompson, Stream, Summer 1.2 Endangered

North Thompson, Stream, Spring Endangered

North Thompson, Stream, Summer Endangered

3

Cultus Lake Sockeye

Escapement

Sweltzer Creek Counting Fence

4

SARA-listing Prospects for Pacific Salmon

Designatable Units Endangeredor Threatened under COSEWIC

Listed under SARA?

Okanagan Chinook No

Interior Fraser Coho No

Cultus Lake Sockeye No

Sakinaw Lake Sockeye No

Interior Fraser Steelhead No

11 Fraser Chinook DUs Under Review

9 Fraser Sockeye DUs Under Review

5

Factors Contributing to the Decline of Fraser Salmon

Industrial fishery in Late 1800’s

1915

Hell’s Gate Slide

Focus for today:

• Ocean conditions

• Climate change

• Predation

• Endangered salmon

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Ocean Conditions

7

Predation

• Between 1970 and 2015, the annual biomass of Chinook salmon consumed by seals and sea lions increased from 68 to 625 metric tons.

• Consumption of Chinook was twice as large as resident orca consumption

• Has Steller Sea Lion Predation Impacted Survival of Fraser River Sockeye Salmon?

Synchronicity of Fraser Sockeye and Southern BC Chinook

Climate Change in the Fraser River

Potential Responses:1. Avoidance2. Mitigation3. Proactive Adaptation

Great Bear Lake200 km upstream of the Arctic Ocean

Salmon are Invading the Arctic

First Nations Involvement in Marine Fisheries Policy, Strategy and Management

Healthy stocks Depressed stocks with good rebuilding prospects

Depressed stocks unlikely to respond to management intervention

"No fish stock, however small, will be arbitrarily written off, and where possible, it will be attempted to conserve and rebuild small and remnant stocks."

Salmon Strongholds: a Proactive Approach to Salmon Conservation

What is a Salmon Stronghold?

• wild salmon populations and habitats are strong and diverse, with high intrinsic potential to produce salmon;

• a priority-ranked watershed that is part of a comprehensive and proactive conservation strategy

Four Take Home Messages

1. Both Fraser sockeye and Chinook have declined synchronously with salmon runs between Washington and SE Alaska. Marine factors are implicated.

2. To conserve and protect Fraser salmon, strategies are needed to better understand fluctuations in marine survival due to climate change.

3. Proactive conservation strategies are needed: do we want to rebuild depressed stocks or do we want to develop effective approaches that conserve and protect existing strong populations?

4. It is questionable whether endangered Pacific salmon populations will ever be SARA-listed owing to the operation of mixed stock fisheries and unacceptable socioeconomic consequences.

Questions?

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