NCEAS profile
Published:
I was recently flattered to have NCEAS profile me as part of our synthesis work related to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill here.
Blog posts
2018
Declining size of Chinook salmon
Published:
New paper on declining Chinook size and age:
2015
Detecting effects of commercial fishing on marine species
Published:
This spatiotemporal modelling paper, led by Kotaro Ono (post-doc, AFSC) is just out in Ecological Applications. Using spatial species distribution models, we combined several NOAA groundfish trawl surveys with spatiotemporal data on fishing catch and effort, to ask whether we could detect effects of fishing on Dover sole density. Get the paper here.
Conservation challenges of recovering top predators
Published:
Predators are critical components of ecosystems, and provide numerous ecological, economic, and social benefits. Many of the predator populations that have recovered in the US (and worldwide) after receiving protection (Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act) can be seen as conservation success stories. These recoveries may introduce new management challenges, however. In a new paper out today, we use well known examples from 2 very different ecosystems (Northeast Pacific Ocean, Yellowstone) to highlight 3 emerging challenges:
Eulachon and hotspots
Published:
As part of a collaboration with some modelers and researchers from the observer program at NOAA, we just had a new paper come out in Ecological Applications. Using two independent datasets, we were able to verify common patterns in both – that populations of eulachon off the west coast of Oregon and Washington appear to be increasing. Further, we were also able to identify some areas of increased presence — areas off La Push, and Coos Bay for example, have consistently higher than average abundance. Link to paper here, and a recent writeup of some great eulachon bycatch work is in the NY Times here.
What causes salmon to stray?
Published:
Most salmon return to spawn as adults in the same streams they were born in — but some don’t. Salmon that spawn elsewhere are said to have ‘strayed’ and the exact reasons for why salmon stray is often a mystery. Understanding the reasons are important though, because the straying between otherwise independent populations can have synchronizing effects, and affect future population viability. Some recent work I helped with led by Peter Westley at UAF investigated multiple climate and human hypotheses for why Chinook salmon from the Columbia River stray. Using long term data from 19 populations, we found that warmer temperatures and smaller population sizes may be good predictors of salmon straying.
Killer whale baby boom
Published:
I was invited to speak at the Pacific Whale Watch Association symposium this week in Anacortes, and gave a talk on current NOAA research on killer whales and salmon. Jeff Burnside (KOMO) was there and interviewed me for a bit for their news story. Clip here.