Lost at sea: Identifying the marine foraging grounds and resources of inner Bay of Fundy salmon populations

Inner Bay of Fundy (iBoF) Atlantic salmon populations are at risk of extinction and outer Bay of Fundy (oBoF) populations are now in the listing process for consideration of endangered status. This monitoring program will determine the ‘at sea’ ecology of this endangered species, identify the feeding grounds, prey and predators of adults returning to spawning in iBoF rivers. Stable isotopes, naturally occurring biomarkers, will be used to identify multi-annual trends in the marine feeding grounds of iBoF salmon returning to Big Salmon R, Upper Salmon R, Gaspareau R., and Petitcodiac R., and will be compared to oBoF (Saint John R.), Gulf of Maine (Penobscot R.), Gulf of St Lawrence (Miramichi R. & Restigouche R.) and Lake Melville, Labrador populations. Integrating all of these datasets will provide the first assessment of the at sea ecology of iBoF salmon populations, essential to their continued recovery.
Contact: Dr. Brian Hayden, 506-440-8339, brian.hayden@unb.ca