Featured Publication
Fish in troubled waters
Salmon Coast researchers Stephanie Peacock, Mark Lewis, and Martin Krkošek recently contributed this article to the magazine International Innovation. It serves to make scientific research more accessible to the public, an important Salmon Coast mandate.
According to researchers at the University of Alberta and University of Toronto, small management changes on salmon farms can have big benefits for the wild salmon population of Pacific Canada
Over a decade ago, fishermen and biologists in the Broughton Archipelago, in British Columbia, Canada, noticed sea louse parasites (Lepeophtherius salmonis) appearing in large numbers on migrating juvenile pink and chum salmon. This observation motivated researchers to investigate the potential link between these parasites on wild salmon and the burgeoning salmon farming industry. Could sea lice transmit between farmed and wild salmon? If so, what were the implications for the survival of wild salmon populations.
Select Publications
Atkinson, E.M., A.W. Bateman, L.M. Dill, M. Krkošek, J.D. Reynolds and S.C. Godwin. 2018. Oust the louse: leaping behaviour removes lice from wild juvenile sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka. Journal of Fish Biology. doi: abs/10.1111/jfb.13684. (*News coverage in Science Magazine.)
Bateman, A.W., S.J. Peacock, B. Connors, Z. Polk, D. Berg, M. Krkošek, and A. Morton. 2016. Recent failure to control sea louse outbreaks on salmon in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 1-9. doi: 10.1139/cjfas-2016-0122. PDF
Peacock, S.J., M. Krkošek, S. Proboszcz, C. Orr, and M.A. Lewis. 2013. Cessation of a salmon decline with control of parasites. Ecological Applications, 23(3), 606-620. (*News coverage by the Globe & Mail and CBC)
Connors B.M., D.C. Braun, R.M. Peterman, A.B. Cooper, J.D. Reynolds, L.M. Dill, G.T. Ruggerone, and M. Krkošek. 2012. Migration links ocean-scale competition and local climate with exposure to farmed salmon to shape wild salmon dynamics. Conservation Letters, 5(4), 304-312. (*News coverage in the Vancouver Sun.)
Frazer, L.N., A. Morton, and M. Krkošek. 2012. Critical thresholds in sea lice epidemics: evidence, sensitivity, and subcritical estimation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 279 (1735),1950-1958.
Krkošek, M. and R. Hilborn. 2011. Sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) infestations and the productivity of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 68(1), 17-29.
Krkošek, M., B. Connors, A. Morton, M.A. Lewis, L.M. Dill, and R. Hilborn. 2011. Effects of parasites from salmon farms on wild salmon populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 108, 14700-14704.
Morton, A., A. McConnell, R. Routledge, and M. Krkošek. 2011. Sea lice dispersion and salmon survival in relation to fallowing and chemical treatment on salmon farms. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68, 144-156.
Williams, R., M. Krkošek, E. Ashe, T. A. Branch, S. Clark, et al. 2011. Competing conservation objectives for predators and prey: estimating killer whale prey requirements for chinook salmon. PLoS ONE, 6(11).
Connors, B., M. Krkošek, J. Ford, and L.M. Dill. 2010. Coho salmon productivity in relation to direct and trophic transmission of sea lice from salmon aquaculture. Journal of Applied Ecology, 47, 1372-1377.
Connors B.M., B. Hargreaves, S.R.M. Jones, and L.M. Dill. 2010. Predation intensifies parasite exposure in a salmonid food chain. Journal of Applied Ecology, 47(6), 1365-1371
Keller, R., M.A. Lewis, D.M. Lodge, J.F. Shogren, and M. Krkošek. 2009. Putting bioeconomic research into practice. In Bioeconomics of Invasive Species: Integrating ecology, economics, policy and management. Editors: R. Keller, D.M. Lodge, M. A. Lewis and J. F. Shogren. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Krkošek, M., A. Morton, J. Volpe, and M.A. Lewis. 2009. Sea lice and salmon population dynamics: Effects of exposure time for migratory fish. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 276, 2819-2828.
Connors, B.M., M. Krkošek, and L.M. Dill. 2008. Sea lice escape predation on their host. Biology Letters, 4, 455-457.
Ford, J.S. and R.A. Myers. 2008. A global assessment of salmon aquaculture impacts on wild salmonids. PLoS Biology, 6(2), e33.
Krkošek, M., J.S. Ford, A. Morton, S. Lele, R.A. Myers, and M.A. Lewis. 2007. Declining wild salmon populations in relation to parasites from farm salmon. Science, 318, 1772-1775.
Krkošek, M., M.A. Lewis, A. Morton, N. Frazer, and J. Volpe. 2006. Epizootics of wild fish induced by farm fish. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 103, 15506-15510.
Morton, A.B. and R. Routledge. 2006. Mortality rates for juvenile pink and chum salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha and keta) infested with sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) in the Broughton Archipelago. Alaska Fisheries Research Bulletin, 11(2), 146-152.
Ford, J.K.B., G.A. Ellis, D.R. Matkin, et al. 2005. Killer whale attacks on minke whales: Prey capture and antipredator tactics. Marine Mammal Science, 21(4), 603-618.
Krkošek, M., M.A. Lewis, and J.P. Volpe. 2005. Transmission dynamics of parasitic sea lice from farm to wild salmon. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 272, 689-696.
Morton, A., R.D. Routledge, and R. Williams. 2005. Temporal patterns of sea louse infestation on wild Pacific salmon in relation to the fallowing of Atlantic salmon farms. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 25(3): 811-821.
Morton, A., R.D. Routledge, C. Peet, et al. 2004. Sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) infection rates on juvenile pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (Oncorhynchus keta) salmon in the nearshore marine environment of British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Fisheries And Aquatic Sciences, 61(2), 147-157.
Morton, A. and H. Symonds. 2002. Displacement of Orcinus orca (L.) by high amplitude sound in British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Marine Science, 59, 71-80.
Morton, A. and J. Volpe. 2002. Description of escaped farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar captures and their characteristics in one Pacific salmon fishery area in British Columbia, Canada, in 2000. Alaska Fisheries Research Bulletin, 9(2), 102-110.
Morton, A. 1990. A quantitative comparison of the behaviour of resident and transient forms of the killer whale off the central British Columbia coast. Report of the International Whaling Commission. (Special issue 12), 245-248.