© Alexandra Morton.
Genomic profiling and pathogen screening
The Department of Wild Salmon will use genomic profiling to pinpoint the stresses on wild salmon and where they are being killed. The location of where salmon disappear has always been a mystery.
Genomic profiling is a laboratory process that reads genetic data stored in the immune system. It can detect tiny changes at the cellular level before physical changes become apparent. This allows us to become aware of problems closer to the source of where they happen which is key to fixing the problems.
What is killing wild salmon?
Scientists have very little opportunity to study and find out what is killing wild fish because predators remove sick fish so efficiently from the environment. With genomic-profiling, we can detect problems in the fish before it weakens or dies. We can also detect them closer to the source of the problem.
For example, sockeye salmon could be tested at intervals as they swim down the Fraser River and north along BC’s coast. This would help remove or reduce harmful impacts, by answering such questions as:
- Are salmon starving due to lack of food?
- Ingesting chemical pollution?
- Is the water too acidic for them?
- Have their cells been attacked by a virus?
- Are they being eaten to death by sea lice?
This allows us to identify where salmon are being impacted by a specific human activity. Then communities – in which the impact is occurring – can seek ways to adapt, decrease or remove the problem.
A year later, repeat sampling in the same locations would allow the salmon to inform us whether efforts to reduce a problem worked. This removes the guesswork and increases chances for success.
While this is a new science for salmon, genomic profiling is a rapidly developing field of science with enormous potential. British Columbia has the leading salmon genomic expert, Dr. Kristi Miller, based here with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Her lab is a valuable resource for Canadians.
Mathematical modeling
Genomic-testing will help us understand what is killing salmon. Mathematical modelers will allow us to see patterns – such as how human activity and climate change are influencing the decline or rebound of salmon populations.
As it stands today, no data exists on the condition of salmon runs and the environment coastwide. Every year, some salmon runs collapse while others thrive. Mathematical modeling will allow us to decipher trends in, and relationships between:
- Environmental factors
- Human activity
- Wild salmon returns and health
Modeling can weigh all factors and suggest which among them is the dominant.
As we follow the prescribed steps, we can see whether or not they worked and act accordingly. If, for example, genomic profiling indicates overexposure to copper in wild salmon, the local community could try to remove a potential source. The Department of Wild Salmon approach would allow a community to evaluate how significant an impact it was having and whether it was successful in addressing the probelm or not. If one activity, for example, is impacting five per cent of wild salmon in the region, and another is impacting 65 per cent, the community could set priorities to address the greater impact.
Because salmon benefit upriver and coastal communities, it is in their interest to do their part. They don’t have to wait to be told what to do by government.
This is called “adaptive management” – a method that calls for changing approaches based on how well they are working. It allows communities to better understand what they should do to bring more salmon back to them.
After a century of guesswork in wild salmon restoration, we will be able to evaluate and fine-tune our work based on what salmon tell us. Allowing us to:
- Assess the status of fish health at intervals along their migration.
- Determine whether a fish has suffered low-oxygen, high water temperature, toxins, parasites, viruses, bacteria, and other stressors that trigger an immune response.
- Increase understanding about where salmon are running into specific problems so that society can make accurate and informed decisions.
- Determine priorities. For example, if an industrial activity is impacting four per cent of a salmon population, it could be considered a lower priority than one that impacts 70 per cent.
Benefits for people, salmon and other species
By working together with coordinated skilled field teams, labs and cutting-edge science, DWS will generate the information needed to:
- Predict wild salmon runs with increasing accuracy.
- Guide industrial developments to avoid harm to the salmon.
- Extrapolate how future human activity will affect wild salmon.
- Measure carbon capture by forests fed by salmon.
- Maximize economic benefits of salmon abundance.
- Restore orca populations that depend on salmon for food.
- Provide food security for First Nations and coastal communities.
- Provide economic benefits throughout BC.