Presentation Abstract
The first fish tracking arrays were deployed in the Salish Sea over a decade ago. These arrays have yielded a rich data set which have provided the first direct estimates of early marine-survival and migratory behavior for acoustic-tagged juvenile sockeye, Chinook, Coho and steelhead >130 mm in fork length (FL). In spring of 2015, as part of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the Ocean Tracking Network and Kintama Research deployed additional arrays in the Discovery Islands and Johnstone Strait (north of the Strait of Georgia) to provide higher resolution survival data. These new arrays use receivers that can detect VEMCO acoustic tags that transmit at 69 kHz, as well as new, smaller tags that transmit at 180 kHz. These new tags can be implanted into smaller salmon smolts (>100 mm FL), but the disadvantage is reduced detection range and battery life. When designing the array, we considered the tradeoffs between detection efficiency, survival estimation, array design, and costs, and then tested the performance of the smaller tag by double-tagging 50 steelhead smolts with both tag types. We used high powered 69 kHz V9 tags to estimate presence because these tags have had excellent detection efficiency in past studies. The smaller 180 kHz V4 tag programming emulated the programming typically used to track small salmon smolts through the SOG. To estimate the detection efficiency of the smaller tag, we compared the number of 180 kHz ID codes to the number of 69 kHz ID codes detected on each array. The resulting detection efficiency of the V4 tag on the Discovery Islands sub-array was 74% (SE=0.10). Thus for the many salmon populations that migrate north through the Salish Sea (e.g. many Fraser River populations), it is now possible to estimate early-marine survival over a wider range of smolts sizes.
Session Title
The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project- Novel Approaches, Project Status and Key Findings, The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project- Novel Approaches, Project Status and Key Findings
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Pacific salmon--Radio tracking--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Radio--Transmitters and transmission
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons
Advances in Salish Sea Acoustic Telemetry: 2015 Array Deployments and Promising Transmitter Performance
2016SSEC
The first fish tracking arrays were deployed in the Salish Sea over a decade ago. These arrays have yielded a rich data set which have provided the first direct estimates of early marine-survival and migratory behavior for acoustic-tagged juvenile sockeye, Chinook, Coho and steelhead >130 mm in fork length (FL). In spring of 2015, as part of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the Ocean Tracking Network and Kintama Research deployed additional arrays in the Discovery Islands and Johnstone Strait (north of the Strait of Georgia) to provide higher resolution survival data. These new arrays use receivers that can detect VEMCO acoustic tags that transmit at 69 kHz, as well as new, smaller tags that transmit at 180 kHz. These new tags can be implanted into smaller salmon smolts (>100 mm FL), but the disadvantage is reduced detection range and battery life. When designing the array, we considered the tradeoffs between detection efficiency, survival estimation, array design, and costs, and then tested the performance of the smaller tag by double-tagging 50 steelhead smolts with both tag types. We used high powered 69 kHz V9 tags to estimate presence because these tags have had excellent detection efficiency in past studies. The smaller 180 kHz V4 tag programming emulated the programming typically used to track small salmon smolts through the SOG. To estimate the detection efficiency of the smaller tag, we compared the number of 180 kHz ID codes to the number of 69 kHz ID codes detected on each array. The resulting detection efficiency of the V4 tag on the Discovery Islands sub-array was 74% (SE=0.10). Thus for the many salmon populations that migrate north through the Salish Sea (e.g. many Fraser River populations), it is now possible to estimate early-marine survival over a wider range of smolts sizes.
