Juvenile salmon & small streams

The Great Bear Rainforest is home to over 2,500 salmon runs from more than 5,000 spawning populations. Many of these rivers are still intact, offering a unique opportunity to study the linkages between salmon and the larger food web.

However, salmon in this region are faced with increasing threats, many of which have depressed and extirpated salmon populations throughout the Pacific Northwest. Some of our previous work to understand ecology, status of, and threats to coastal salmon populations is linked below.

Ghost Runs: The status and management of coastal salmon streams

Raincoast has ongoing assessments on the status of BC streams. In 2008, we published Ghost Runs discussing the status of salmon on BC’s central and north coast. Our findings showed that salmon runs have repeatedly failed to meet their escapement targets as set by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Small Stream Surveys

Raincoast has engaged in Small Stream Surveys to document salmon presence in uncatalogued small streams and then expand this to other areas of the central and north coasts of BC.

Chum & Coho Stream Ecology

In partnership with Simon Fraser University, Raincoast examined connections between coho fry and the eggs and carcasses of spawning chum salmon in coastal streams. This was the focus of the Chum & Coho Stream Ecology Project.

Juvenile Salmon Ecology

In partnership with Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, Raincoast examined whether salmon farms situated along the migration routes of juvenile salmon are disrupting survival of sockeye, chum and pink salmon. This was the focus of our Juvenile Salmon Ecology Project.

Raincoast researcher studies a salmon bearing stream

Southern Resident killer whales swim just slightly under the water, as seen from land and looking stunning in formation under the water.

Protect what you love

We just launched an exciting project to advance our understanding of killer whale communication by using hydrophones, drones, and subsequent machine learning. It represents a unique opportunity to truly understand what their calls reveal about their societies, relationships, and resilience in a changing and noisier ocean.

Your donation helps us listen to, understand, and protect these extraordinary killer whales.