Title
Proceedings of a workshop on research strategies into the causes of declining Atlantic salmon returns to North American rivers
Publication Date
2000
Keywords
abundance, activity, America, Atlantic salmon, Canada, Europe, Fisheries, Freshwater, marine, North America, Nova Scotia, ocean, oceans, project, proposal, returns, river, Rivers, salmon, salmon returns, strategy, UNITED States
Publication place
Nova Scotia, Canada
Publisher
Bedford Institute of Oceanography
Abstract
In response to the decline in the abundance of Atlantic salmon returning to rivers in North America and limited directed research programs on salmon at sea, Fisheries and Oceans Canada convened a special workshop to define a research strategy and to lay the groundwork for an intensive and integrated research campaign. The workshop took place from June 12 to 14, 2000 at the Dalhousie University in Halifax Nova Scotia, with participants from government agencies in Canada, United States (New England) and Europe, as well as Canadian Universities and the Atlantic Salmon Federation. The workshop format included a plenary session for introducing the subject, terms of reference, and a brief overview of background material, followed by division of participants into three working groups defined by the life stage of Atlantic salmon (freshwater, estuarine/nearshore, and marine). Each subgroup was assigned the tasks of reviewing the most plausible reasons for the salon's decline and ranking research programs on the basis of likelihood of success, feasibility, and fundability. Products from the workshop include 15 project proposals summarizing the background information, databases necessary to test hypotheses, time frame for completion, resources required, and the value of the proposal related to the consequences for better understanding the decline in salmon. In addition, this Proceedings document was produced to archive the activities and discussions during the meeting.