Measuring the Effectiveness of the Salmon Enhancement Program on Canada’s West Coast

Description

Salmon enhancement restoration and conservation activities for Pacific salmon intended to support fisheries while maintaining the biological diversity of the many salmon species on Canada’s west coast are becoming increasingly important. Salmon hatchery supplementation and captive breeding of Sockeye and Chinook Salmon have successfully stabilized abundance, retained genetic diversity within target populations, and restored Canadian fisheries (e.g. Fraser (Cultus Lake) Sockeye Salmon). However, the impact of enhancement on the target population and surrounding wild populations is of increasing concern. In this project, genetic markers will be applied to issues surrounding enhanced populations to help resolve questions associated with enhancement projects that support fisheries.

This project will employ a variety of genetic examinations and markers in an attempt to measure the impact of the Salmon Enhancement Program:

1. Genetic data will be analyzed for west coast Vancouver Island Chinook Salmon in order to determine the level of genetic influence from major enhancement facilities into surrounding wild spawning habitats;
2. Genetic data will be analyzed from Puntledge River Summer Chinook Salmon to determine:
   1. the contributions of hatchery- and naturally-spawned fish to that Chinook population;
   2. the ability of hatchery- and naturally-spawned Summer Chinook salmon to inherit migration timing patterns (which has an effect on spawning success); and,
   3. the effect that removing hatchery fish infected with Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) may have on the genetic diversity of the Puntledge River Summer Chinook population;
3. Genetic data on re-introduced Sakinaw Lake Sockeye Salmon, the first Canadian salmon population to be restored in the wild from captive breeding after extinction in that area, will be analyzed to measure the preservation of genetic diversity throughout 10 years of captive breeding and re-introduction to the natural environment of Sakinaw Lake.

Scientific title for this project:

Genomic Tools for Salmon Enhancement

Program Name

Genomics Research and Development Initiative (GRDI)

Year(s)

2014 - 2017

Principal Investigator(s)

Ruth Withler
lead

Dave Willis

Mel Sheng

Wilf Luedke
Fisheries and Oceans Canada