This project will address questions about the variable marine survival of different Skeena river sockeye stocks. Zooplankton sampling will be conducted along the smolt outmigration route to determine the timing of peak abundance of important sockeye prey items. The scale characteristics of a number of different Skeena sockeye stocks across different years will be compared […]

With the development of imaging technology, camera trapping becomes one of the best ways to record the presence and activities of large mammals in a given area. The approach to monitoring the animals can assist people in the community with decision making about preserving biodiversity. In the past, experts analyzed such images manually, which required […]

The purpose of this project is to provide Coastal Shellfish Corporation with an integrated biological and financial modelling framework for the management of current and future aquaculture operations of the corporation. The primary goal of this research is to provide a framework for implementation to the management of CSC that will enable to organization to […]

The Saugeen Ojibway First Nation (SON) Commercial Fisheries database was developed nearly a decade ago, prior to mobile computing, cloud computing, and implementation of many of the current standards of IT. This project will redevelop the existing database using modern database and programming architectures (i.e. MySQL, PHP, Java), improve data storage, and provide users with […]

French Heartworm is a very real threat to the health of domesticated and wild dogs in Newfoundland. The purpose of this research project is to validate the sensitivity and specificity of a newly developed fecal test for this parasite. This will be done by collecting fecal and heart/lung samples from deceased dogs and wild canids (ie. coyotes, foxes). […]

BC seafood companies and their industry association partners are strongly interested in growing domestic markets for seafood and promoting their locally caught and raised seafood products, which fit well with a number of current North American food trends including local food, a growing focus on diets promoting healthy lifestyles and an increasingly older adult demographic […]

Rising river temperatures, partly driven by land-use and climate warming, threaten the future of Fraser River salmon. It is vital that fisheries managers acquire tools that will aid their understanding of how rising river temperatures will impact salmon in the Fraser River. With my industry partner, I will build a novel mathematical temperature model for […]

Research on salmon in the Skeena River estuary in 2007 and 2013 quantified the abundance of different species of salmon in different locations of the estuary over time. These results indicate that the region where industrial development is proposed contained the highest abundances of Chinook and sockeye in both years surveyed, and coho in 2007. […]

The objective of the project is to test and optimize a novel stationary bed filter for removing fine waste solids from the water of recirculating aquaculture systems. The filter uses plastic media to intercept the waste solids. Beta prototypes of the filter have been installed at four hatcheries owned by Cooke Aquaculture Inc. in the […]

With recent annual landings values over $200 million, snow crab remains a dominant component of Newfoundland and Labrador fisheries and these snow crab stocks have recently been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) as an initiative of the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP). MSC certification increases market value and access by the fishery; however, […]

Clearwater Seafoods Ltd. Partnership (Clearwater) is a global seafood company concerned with the long-term sustainability of marine resources. A number of Clearwater’s products are MSC certified. This is a voluntary program which involves verifying that the rigorous standards outlined in the federal fisheries regulations are being followed. Annual audits are conducted to ensure they are […]

Re-establishing salmonid populations to areas historically occupied has substantial potential for conservation gains, however, such interventions also risk negatively impacting native resident stocks. An on-going reintroduction of anadromous sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) to Skaha Lake, British Columbia is succeeding, with large numbers returning to spawn. However, a recent genetic study detected strong evidence of hybridization […]