Misty MacDuffee
Biologist and Wild Salmon Program Director
Misty MacDuffee serves as Raincoast’s Wild Salmon Program Director. Misty is a conservation biologist with a focus on fisheries ecology in salmon ecosystems.
For the past 20 years, she has undertaken various types of field, laboratory, technical and conservation assessments in the salmon-bearing watersheds of the BC coast. She has a particular interest in the role of salmon as critical food sources for wildlife and incorporating their needs into salmon management decisions. The application of her work is to implement ecosystem considerations in fisheries management. This often requires engagement with management, dialogue and stakeholder forums that affect fisheries and wildlife policy.
She has been an author on over 30 peer reviewed scientific journal publications, and a chapter contributor to the books Spirits of the Coast and Managed Extinction. Misty has authored numerous opinion pieces on wild salmon, Southern Resident killer whales and other coastal conservation topics in both Canadian and US newspapers, including the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, Toronto Star, Seattle Times and San Francisco Chronicle. She has also appeared on a wide variety of television and radio news outlets such as the CBC, NPR, CTV, Global TV, and CKNW, as well as being featured in the 2025 film documentary Shared Waters, Shared Crisis.
Scientific articles
Chalifour, L., Holt, C., Camaclang, A.E., Bradford, M.J., Dixon, R., Finn, R.J., Hemming, V., Hinch, S.G., Levings, C.D., MacDuffee, M. Scott D. … and Martin. T.G. 2022. Identifying a pathway towards recovery for depleted wild Pacific salmon populations in a large watershed under multiple stressors. Journal of Applied Ecology, 59(9), pp.2212-2226. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14239
Kehoe, L.J., J.Lund, L. Chalifour, J.M. Casey, B. Connors, N. Cryer, M.C. Drever, C. Levings, M. MacDuffee, H. McGregor, D.C. Scott, R.G. Vennesland, C.E. Wilkinson, P. Zevit, J.K. Baum and T.G. Martin. 2021. Conservation in heavily urbanized biodiverse regions requires urgent management action and attention to governance. Conservation Science and Practice 3, no. 2 (2021): e310 https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.310
Chalifour, L., D.C. Scott, M. MacDuffee, S. Stark, J.F. Dower, T.D. Beacham, T.G. Martin, and J.K. Baum. 2020. Chinook salmon exhibit long-term rearing and early marine growth in the Fraser River, B.C., a large urban estuary. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science DOI: 10.1139/cjfas-2020-0247
Chalifour, L., D.C. Scott, M. MacDuffee, J.C. Iacarella, T.G. Martin and J.K. Baum. 2019. Habitat selectivity by juvenile salmon, resident and migratory species underscores the importance of estuarine habitat mosaics. Mar Ecol Prog Ser Vol. 625: 145–162, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13064
Gayeski, Nick, Misty MacDuffee, and Jack A. Stanford. 2018. Criteria for a Good Catch: A Conceptual Framework to Guide Sourcing of Sustainable Salmon Fisheries. Facets. 3: 300–314. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2016-0078
Lacy, Robert C., R. Williams, E. Ashe, K.C. Balcomb III, L.J. N. Brent, C.W. Clark, D.P. Croft, D.A. Giles, M. MacDuffee and P.C. Paquet. 2017. Evaluating anthropogenic threats to endangered killer whales to inform effective recovery plans. Scientific Reports. 7, Article number: 14119 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14471-0
Michael H.H. Price, K.K. English, A.G. Rosenberger, M. MacDuffee, and J.D. Reynolds. 2017. Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy: an assessment of conservation progress in British Columbia. Can J. Fish & Aquatic Sci. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2017-0127
Jarvela Rosenberger, A.L., M.MacDuffee, A.G. J. Rosenberger and Peter S. Ross. 2017. Oil Spills and Marine Mammals in British Columbia, Canada: Development and Application of a Risk-Based Conceptual Framework. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 73: 131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-017-0408-7
Darimont, C.T., K. Artelle, H. Bryan, C. Genovali, M. MacDuffee, and P.C. Paquet. 2013. Brown bears, salmon, people: Traveling upstream to a sustainable future. Chapter 14 in Bear Necessities: Rescue, Rehab, Sanctuary and Advocacy. Lisa Kemmerer ed. Brill Press. Boston
Christensen, J.R., M.B. Yunker, M. MacDuffee and P.S. Ross. 2013. Plant consumption by grizzly bears reduces biomagnification of salmon-derived PCBs, PBDEs, and organochlorine pesticides. Env.Tox. Chem. 02/2013
Levi T., C.T. Darimont, M. MacDuffee, M. Mangel, P. Paquet, C.C Wilmers. 2012. Using Grizzly Bears to Assess Harvest-Ecosystem Tradeoffs in Salmon Fisheries. PLoS Biol 10(4)
Darimont, C.T., Bryan, H.M., Carlson, S.M., Hocking, M.D., MacDuffee, M., Paquet, P.C., Price, M.H.H., Reimchen, T.E., Reynolds, J.D., and Wilmers, C.C. 2010. Salmon for terrestrial protected areas. Conservation Letters. 3(6): 379–389
MacDuffee, M. and E. MacIsaac (eds). 2009. Applications of paleolimnology to sockeye salmon nursery lakes and ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska: Proceedings of a workshop at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, October 2008. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. No. 2847
Price, M.H., C.T. Darimont, N.F. Temple and M. MacDuffee. 2008. Ghost Runs: Management and status assessment of Pacific salmon returning to British Columbia’s central and north coasts. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Vol 65, No 12, pp. 2712-2718(7)
Christensen, J.R., MacDuffee, M., Yunker, M.B., and Ross, P.S. 2007. Hibernation associated changes in persistent organic pollutants (POP) levels and patterns in British Columbia grizzly bears. Environ.Sci.Technol. 41: 1834 – 1840;
Christensen, J.R., MacDuffee, M., MacDonald, R.W., Whiticar, M. and Ross, P.S. 2005. Persistent Organic Pollutants in British Columbia’s Grizzly Bears: Consequence of Divergent Diet. Environ. Sci. Technol. 39: 6952-6960
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