Study fears ‘undocumented extinction’ of salmon

A lack of crucial data on the region’s vast watersheds encompassing British Columbia, Alaska and the Yukon risks leading to “undocumented extinction” of some salmon, a study suggests.

The study (New window)(in English), produced by the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF), covers the river basins of a region covering approximately 110,000 square kilometers, more than three times the area of ​​Vancouver Island.

The key species of this region are the subject of great ignorance, as indicated Stephanie Peacockthe lead author of the study.

In reality, we know very little about most salmon in the northern transboundary region, because monitoring has tended to focus on economically important stocks.

Data gaps

Monitoring data for Chinook and Sockeye Salmon is limited to major basins, including the Alsek and Taku Rivers.

Pink salmon, chum salmon and rainbow trout also occur in the region, which is so ecologically intact that the study calls it salmon bastion .

Stephanie Peacock also indicates that monitoring of these species is weak or non-existent.

For some salmon, such as those that spawn in the Blanchard River, located near the British Columbia-Yukon border along the Haines Highway, there are no studies. This means that we do not know the status of these fish.

The researcher explains this problem by the way fish are managed under the Pacific Salmon Treaty, which generally focuses on counting the number of fish swimming in large rivers.

This treaty was signed by Canada and the United States in 1985 with the aim of cooperatively managing and conserving Pacific salmon stocks.

According to Stephanie Peacockthe system, as it is designed, does not take certain things into account. Monitoring in this region does not take biodiversity into account she says.

Aspects to take into account

Salmon are not homogeneousshe adds, taking the example of sockeye salmon. Some members of this species prefer to spawn in rivers, while others do so in lakes.

Stephanie Peacock stresses that these aspects must be taken into account, as well as the age and size of the fish.

Without this essential information, fish conservation will remain a big question mark.

If we don’t follow up to try to understand how these various groups are doing, we run the risk that they will be in decline or even disappear without us even knowing it.

What does the research suggest?

Overall, the study suggests that salmon in the region are facing a decline in abundance compared to previous decades.

For example, like their Yukon River cousins, Chinook salmon numbers in the region have seen a precipitous decline since around 2000.

But when researchers dug a little deeper into the available data and assessed salmon biodiversity, they found some bright spots. For example, monitoring of the Klukshu River, whose headwaters are in the Yukon, shows that coho salmon numbers have increased by about 600% compared to the historical average. This represents approximately 12,000 fish.

Stephanie Peacock however, believes this may be an anomaly as the full extent of the upwelling has not been monitored. Coho salmon also spawn late, when ice eventually covers rivers. The study says this makes investigations difficult.

Elizabeth MacDonaldof Yukon Salmon Sub-Committeea non-governmental advisory body, believes the study is important because “these fish are very, very important to people.”

What should be done?

The PSF believes that more research needs to be carried out on habitats and their quality, and the data must be made easily accessible and understandable.

Stephanie Peacock also suggests giving First Nations more resources so they can develop and carry out their own monitoring and management efforts.

With information from Julien Greene