How to translate text using browser tools
15 November 2021 Declines of Juvenile Coastal Cutthroat Trout and Coho Salmon over Fifteen Years in a Salmon-Bearing Stream in the Salish Sea
Anne-Marie Flores, Morgan M. Davies, Katrina Kushneryk, Pippi T.E.S. Lawn, Sibylla Helms, Hanna M. Thomson, Kyle R. Nelson, Christopher W. Burns, Steven Roias, Travis G. Gerwing
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Pacific salmon are ecologically, economically, and culturally important species indigenous to British Columbia, Canada. Unfortunately, some populations of Pacific salmon have been declining due to climate change, habitat loss, overfishing, and anthropogenic development. As such, considerable resources have been invested to study, restore, protect, and monitor Pacific salmon and their habitat. Since 2004, Lyall Creek, a salmon-bearing stream in the Salish Sea in British Columbia, Canada, has been monitored. Using 2-pass electrofishing, we investigated changes in observed densities over 15 years (2004–2019) for juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and juvenile coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii) that inhabit Lyall Creek. A statistically insignificant but general decreasing trend was observed for juvenile coho salmon densities over 15 years in Lyall Creek. Juvenile coastal cutthroat trout densities in Lyall Creek exhibited a statistically significant decline. More research is required to understand what anthropogenic and environmental factors are negatively influencing Pacific salmon densities in Lyall Creek. Specifically, water availability may be an important stressor affecting these salmon populations.

© 2021
Anne-Marie Flores, Morgan M. Davies, Katrina Kushneryk, Pippi T.E.S. Lawn, Sibylla Helms, Hanna M. Thomson, Kyle R. Nelson, Christopher W. Burns, Steven Roias, and Travis G. Gerwing "Declines of Juvenile Coastal Cutthroat Trout and Coho Salmon over Fifteen Years in a Salmon-Bearing Stream in the Salish Sea," Western North American Naturalist 81(4), 550-557, (15 November 2021). https://doi.org/10.3398/064.081.0407
Received: 31 January 2021; Accepted: 9 July 2021; Published: 15 November 2021
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top