Elisabeth Duffy*, David Beauchamp
Juvenile salmon are moving through Puget Sound (PS) from April-July. By end of July most have made it to the deep ocean. Percent of fish from hatcheries is about 50% in N PS and 90% in S PS.
Nearshore fish comunity: herring and perch up north, hatchery salmon dominate in the south; salmon are 30-130mm, herring 130-160cm, sand lance 100-130cm; north diets dominated by insects, south diet by crab larvae, euphausids; predators drive early mortality and salmonids dominate (cutthroat target smallest juveniles)
Overall, marine survival has been really low, and lowest during pink years. The bigger the fish are in July, the better their marine survival.
Where do we go from here?
- synthesize data across Salish Sea
- Prey supply (zooplankton) is a big data gap