Canada Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans Pacific Region Science Branch

Fish and water management tool project assessments : record of management strategy and decisions for 2005 by K. D Hyatt ( Book )
1 edition published in 2007 in English and held by 37 libraries worldwide

Evaluation of long range summer forecasts of lower Fraser River discharge and temperature conditions by D. A Patterson ( Book )
2 editions published in 2007 in English and held by 13 libraries worldwide
Extreme temperature and discharge conditions in the Fraser River adversely affect adult sockeye salmon migration success. Current fisheries management practices adjust harvest plans based on predicted summer temperature and discharge values. Therefore, the development of long range (~1 to 4 months) forecasts of environmental conditions will aid in pre-season harvest planning. This report evaluated several models used to make long range forecasts of summer conditions. Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) run-timing groups were used as a case study to illustrate model performance. Most models were best-fit using simple, or multiple, linear regressions. We quantified the uncertainty in the temperature and discharge forecasts arising from uncertainty in the model structure, and, where applicable, uncertainty in the predictor variable. Predictor variables include winter precipitation anomalies, spring and summer air temperature anomalies, water volume forecasts, and historic trends in water and air temperatures. Temperature forecast models performed comparably, and consistently predicted summer river temperatures with a coefficient of variation of less than 8% and an approximate standard deviation of 1°C. The precision of discharge forecasts deteriorated throughout the summer, and there was a trade-off between the availability of the forecast method and the precision of the results. In general, increasing the number of days used to calculate the predicted means led to small improvements in model fit, however there was only modest improvement going from 19-day to 31-day means. Recommendations of the most appropriate models were made based on model fit, forecast uncertainty and the timing of data availability.

Distribution and abundance of juvenile salmonids and other fish species in the Courtenay River estuary and Baynes Sound, 2001 ( Book )
2 editions published in 2008 in English and held by 13 libraries worldwide
In 2001, juvenile salmonid populations and distributions were surveyed in the Courtenay River, its estuary, and Baynes Sound as far south as Denman Point. Between January 12th and August 15th, 76 sites were sampled using beach, purse, mini purse and pole seines, as well as Gee traps. A total of 7,177 juvenile salmonids and 19,741 non salmonids were captured. Lengths and weights were recorded for 1,088 chinook, coho, chum, pink, rainbow, cutthroat and steelhead. Water temperature and salinity were recorded to a maximum five metres depth at all beach, purse and mini purse seine sites. Following a description of the project and the study area, this report presents statistical analyses of the data, a discussion of factors impacting the populations, and recommendations to improve the habitat in this area.--Includes text from document.

Proceedings of the 2007 International Workshop on Didymosphenia geminata by International Workshop on Didymosphenia geminata ( Book )
2 editions published in 2008 in English and held by 13 libraries worldwide
The 2007 - International Workshop on Didymosphenia geminata, sponsored by the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada was held at the Montreal Convention Centre in Montreal, Quebec 18-19 August, 2007. Fifty-four registered delegates from Canada, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Peru and Austria representing research and management interests from federal, provincial and state governments, universities and non-governmental organizations were in attendance. On the first day a presentation was made on the current status of D. geminata blooms in Quebec and the surveillance and public awareness programs run by the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks. This was followed by presentations on the distribution, genomics, physiological ecology and environmental factors favoring D. geminata blooms in other parts of the world. Presentations on the second day of the Workshop focused on the impacts of D. geminata blooms on salmonid production in Norway, Iceland and in British Columbia. The workshop closed with an open discussion on the research needed to better understand the nature and impacts of didymo blooms worldwide and appropriate management actions needed to help control its spread.

Pelagic fish surveys of 23 sockeye rearing lakes in the Skeena River system in the northern British Columbia coastal watersheds from 1997 to 2005 by Jeremy M. B Hume ( Book )
2 editions published in 2008 in English and held by 13 libraries worldwide
This paper reports on pelagic fish surveys conducted between 1997 and 2005 using hydroacoustics, midwater trawls and small mesh gillnets in 23 sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) rearing lakes in the Skeena River and north and central coast regions of British Columbia. The authors present the results in relation to lake water type and provide detailed results for each lake.--Includes text from document.

Limnology of Cultus Lake, British Columbia by K. R. S Shortreed ( Book )
1 edition published in 2007 in English and held by 13 libraries worldwide

Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chum (O. keta) salmon visual enumeration surveys in twenty-six lower Fraser River area streams, 1999-2005 ( Book )
2 editions published in 2007 in English and held by 12 libraries worldwide
Visual enumeration surveys were conducted on 26 streams for coho and chum salmon in the Lower Fraser Area (Squamish to Hope, BC) from 1999-2005. Fish counts and observer efficiencies were estimated during weekly foot surveys for each stream and trapezoidal area under-the-curve methodology was used to estimate escapement over a range of residence times (R.T.). Residence times were calculated specifically for Salmon River/Coghlan Creek coho using mark-recapture and visual survey data (average R.T. (1999-2004) = 5 days) and Silverdale Creek chum using results from a residence time tagging study ((R.T. (2004) = 9 days). This report describes the study and discusses the results.--Includes text from document.

Species trends in relative biomass, occupied area and depth distribution for Hecate Strait assemblage surveys from 1984-2003 by A Sinclair ( Book )
1 edition published in 2007 in English and held by 12 libraries worldwide

Quantifying the sensitivity of Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) management adjustment models to uncertainties in run timing, run shape and run profile by M. J Hague ( Book )
2 editions published in 2007 in English and held by 11 libraries worldwide
Differences between lower and upper river sockeye salmon escapement estimates (difference between estimates; DBEs) are currently forecasted from average river temperature and discharge conditions using Management Adjustment (MA) models. MA models were developed on the underlying biological assumption of a link between extreme river environment and increased en route mortality. If the relationship between environmental exposure and fish mortality drives the observed DBEs, we hypothesised the use of environmental averages weighted by the proportion of the daily incoming run would produce more accurate DBE forecasts than the currently applied 31-day symmetric or 19-day asymmetric un-weighted averages. The length, shape, and timing of incoming run distributions at a fixed location in the lower river (Hells Gate, B.C.) displayed high annual variability. Early Stuart runs averaged 34 days in length (± 6 days), Early Summer runs 52 days (± 12 days), Summer runs 63 days (± 12 days), and Late runs 46 days (± 13 days). Early Summer and Late run distributions were often negatively skewed and the occurrence of multiple modes was common. Run distributions were rarely normally distributed, and were best-fit using a mixed normal model. The complexity of the run distributions was not accurately reflected by 31-day or 19-day means; however, the 31-day MA models consistently provided a better fit to historic DBEs than the weighted average MA models. Across a range of environmental scenarios, weighted average MA models were relatively robust to changes in the shape of the incoming run, but were sensitive to changes in run timing. Sensitivity to run timing for weighted 31- and 19-day MA models was highest during the early summer and during years of extreme and highly variable environmental conditions. Uncertainty analyses revealed limited improvements to DBE forecasts if run timing uncertainty was included in the Early Stuart MA models. Our current inability to predict accurate daily river conditions and daily abundance inhibits the use of weighted average models for forecasting DBEs. We recommend continued use of 31-day symmetric environmental averages as a reasonable surrogate for the effect of river temperature and discharge on spawning escapement discrepancies. However, we also recommend the investigation of cumulative exposure models as an alternative method for modeling river conditions experienced by migrating sockeye salmon.

Bathymetric relationships of principal groundfish shelf cohabitants off West Vancouver Island and in Queen Charlotte Sound, based on demersal-trawl landing records by S. J Westrheim ( Book )
1 edition published in 2005 in English and held by 11 libraries worldwide