Investigate. Inform. Inspire.

Published Scientific Literature

Raincoast is a team of scientists and conservationists that undertake primary research and publishes peer-reviewed science to inform our conservation objectives. As an evidence-based, conservation science organisation (science ENGO), that operates a research lab, research field station and a research/sailing vessel, we are unique in Canada.

Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government and other NGOs to gather information and build support for decisions that protect marine and terrestrial ecosystems, their components and processes. We conduct applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for the conservation debate and the collective body of scientific knowledge.

Our 2012 PLoS paper uses grizzlies to assess harvest impacts of sockeye fisheries. It’s an example of how ecosystem objectives can be considered in salmon management.

Recent Papers

Research: Publication reform to safeguard wildlife from researcher harm

Scientists from Raincoast Conservation Foundation, University of Victoria, Alpha Wildlife Research & Management, and University of Saskatchewan reviewed more than 200 peer-reviewed academic journals that commonly publish wildlife research, evaluating ...
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Research: Differentiating between regulation and hunting as conservation interventions

Wildlife conservation literature and public discourse, too often gloss over the important difference between hunting and the regulation of hunting. This is so common that there is a persistent, misinformed ...
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Salmon species diversity predicts salmon consumption by terrestrial wildlife

Research by scientists at Spirit Bear Research Foundation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and the University of Victoria, led by Christina Service, shows that salmon species diversity – the number of spawning ...
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Pacific herring spawn events influence nearshore subtidal and intertidal species

Although we know that herring play a pivotal ecological role in nearshore ecosystems, from a scientific perspective little is known about the amount of energy and nutrients they transfer from ...
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Conservation Letters: The elephant (head) in the room: A critical look at trophy hunting

Writing in the scientific journal, Conservation Letters, an international team of conservation scientists argue that trophy hunting – hunting that involves the collection of animal body parts, or "trophies," - ...
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Predictions from machine learning ensembles: marine bird distribution and density on Canada’s Pacific coast

In February of 2017, a team of researchers from five research facilities published their findings in Marine Ecology Progress Series: “Predictions from machine learning ensembles: Marine bird distribution and density ...
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Criteria for a good catch: A conceptual framework to guide sourcing of sustainable salmon fisheries

Researchers from Wild Fish Conservancy, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and the University of Montana are proposing an alternative framework for certifying wild salmon. The alternative is explained in a paper published ...
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Mismeasured mortality: correcting estimates of wolf poaching in the United States

This scientific paper, published in 2017 by the Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Mammalogists, was conducted by researchers at Raincoast, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, ...
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Applied Ecology: Hallmarks of science missing from North American wildlife management

A new study, "Hallmarks of science missing from North American wildlife management", published by Science Advances , challenges a widespread assumption that wildlife management in North America is science-based. Scientists from ...
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Political populations of large carnivores

A team led by researchers from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the University of Victoria, and Simon Fraser University reviewed the scientific literature for cases in which independent scientists scrutinized government ...
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Intergenerational equity can help to prevent climate change and extinction

The global crises of climate change and extinction imperil all life on Earth, including present and future human generations – i.e., our children and grandchildren. A new scientific publication suggests ...
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Research: Evaluating anthropogenic threats to endangered killer whales to inform effective recovery plans

The endangered Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs) that inhabit the Pacific Coast of Canada and the United States are balancing on a knife-edge. New research conducted by an international team ...
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