"While five species of Pacific salmon have been seen within these northern watersheds, this report shows that only chum have returned regularly to successfully spawn in these colder rivers," says Paul Leblond, Chair of the PFRCC (www.fish.bc.ca). "As climate change warms the north, we will likely see greater numbers of chum in the Canadian Arctic and possibly pink salmon as well, but regular monitoring is now needed to track these changes."
This report focuses on information on salmon from the Liard watershed, where the Liard River, originating within the Yukon, skirts along the northern B.C. border and flows northeast through the Northwest Territories before entering the Mackenzie River at Fort Simpson. The locations of chum salmon spawning sites within this vast watershed are poorly understood. These chum migrate about 2,000 km from the ocean, and are larger than southern chum. The extra year of ocean growth gives them added body mass, which may assist with long upstream migrations.
With climate change, the numbers of chum are likely to increase and pink will eventually colonize the area, however the report notes that coho, chinook or sockeye salmon are unlikely to make it through the winter marine environment. Regular monitoring and genetic analysis of tissue will help scientists better understand the species and populations of this under-studied area.
A full copy of "Pacific Salmon in Canada’s Arctic Draining Rives, With Emphasis on Those in British Columbia and the Yukon" by J.R. Irvine, E. Linn, K. Gillespie, C. McLeod and J.D. Reist can be downloaded at www.fish.bc.ca.
The Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (www.fish.bc.ca) was created in 1998 and is an independent advisory body whose mandate is to alert and inform the federal and provincial governments and the public on issues that threaten Pacific salmon and their habitat.
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Media Contact:
Carla Shore
C-Shore Communications Inc.
P: 604-731-0975
carla@cshore.ca
The report can be downloaded here.