FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Stomach Contents from juvenile salmonids, primarily Chinook and Coho.

FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Oblique Bongo Tows for juvenile salmonid prey field index.

FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Lab Lengths, weight, genetics, IGF-1 (growth), and otolith microchemistry from juvenile salmonids.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey stations. The Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) started in 1998 and is led by NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey is the longest running salmon survey on the U.S. West Coast. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and Columbia River plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. JSOES collects juvenile salmon and other open-ocean animals which allows identification of shifts in abundance, distribution, and growth/condition of migrating juvenile salmon. JSOES has demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River salmon in the Northern California Current nearshore ecosystem to provide context for efforts by states, tribes, and others to restore and enhance salmon production. The samples from this survey improve salmon forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. The survey is conducted two times a year (late May and late June) for roughly ten days each. This study utilizes a surface trawl. A surface trawl collects juvenile salmon and other open-ocean animals during sampling.

FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) casts and Chlorophyll and Nutrients.

FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) casts and Chlorophyll and Nutrients.

Sampling juvenile salmon and associated fishes in open waters of the lower Columbia River estuary. Field work includes bi-weekly sampling during the spring outmigration (Apr-June), and monthly sampling throughout the summer and fall. We use a purse seine to sample open water habitats. Our objectives are to document the seasonal and interannual variation in juvenile salmon immediately prior to ocean entry, with respect to abundance, size, origins (H/W), stocks, food habitats, and parasites/pathogens. We also document the larger estuarine fish community, which serves a critical role as prey for juvenile salmon predators. Abundance and size of fish caught in Columbia estuary.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been conducting surface water trawl surveys since 1992 in the coastal waters of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Alaska and in the high seas of the Gulf of Alaska. These surveys initially focused on determining the migratory patterns (1992-2002) and on the growth and physiology (2003-2016) of juvenile Pacific Salmon. Since 2016, the focus has been expanded to include all components of the pelagic ecosystem while retaining a strong focus on juvenile Pacific Salmon. Given the change in research priorities, there are differences between years in location and timing. The survey series are provided based on large marine ecosystems, so data will vary in availability. These survey data contain fishing and catch information along with biological information recorded. Surveys available here have published reports that outline overall operations and any oceanographic data, zooplankton and additional samples collected.

Data on Parasite communities in juvenile Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, and steelhead.

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) runs in rivers that flow into the eastern Bering Sea have been inconsistent and at times very weak. Low returns of chinook (O. tshawytscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon to the Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, and Norton Sound areas of Alaska prompted the state of Alaska to restrict commercial and subsistence fisheries during 2000 and declare the region a fisheries disaster area. Weak salmon returns to these river systems follow several years of low sockeye (O. nerka) salmon returns to Bristol Bay, which was declared a fisheries disaster region during 1998 by both the State of Alaska and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Causes of the poor salmon returns to these river systems are not known however, the regional-scale decline of these stocks indicates that the marine environment may play a critical role. Ocean conditions, particularly in the first few months after the salmon leave fresh water, are known to significantly affect salmon survival (Holtby et al. 1990; Friedland et al. 1996; Beamish and Mahnken 2001). Mechanisms affecting marine survival of the eastern Bering Sea salmon stocks are unknown, principally due to the lack of marine life history information on western Alaska salmon. To improve understanding of the marine life-history stage of salmon in the Bering Sea, the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) began an internationally coordinated research program on salmon in the Bering Sea called the Bering-Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS) (NPAFC 2001). As part of BASIS, scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Ocean Carrying Capacity (OCC) program conducted a fall survey on the eastern Bering Sea shelf to provide key ecological data for eastern Bering Sea salmon stocks during their juvenile life-history stage. The goal of the OCC/BASIS salmon research cruise was to understand mechanisms underlying the effects of environment on distribution, migration, and growth of juvenile salmon on the eastern Bering Sea shelf. Primary objectives of BASIS include: 1) to determine the extent of offshore migrations of juvenile salmon from rivers draining into the eastern Bering Sea, 2) to describe the physical environment of the eastern and northeastern Bering Sea shelf occupied by juvenile salmon, and 3) to collect biological information on other ecologically important species. Summaries of previous Bering Sea juvenile salmon research cruises can be found in Farley et al. (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005).