A study of the diet of chinook salmon in the Salish Sea has enabled researchers to create a map of the availability of their forage species. The Tyee:
Instead of scientists trawling to try to catch small and agile forage fish themselves, they’ve partnered with local anglers like Hackinen who are catching the salmon that are eating the small fish.
The Salish Sea is the inland sea between Vancouver Island, mainland British Columbia and Washington state. Its forage fish include Pacific herring, Pacific sand lance, northern anchovy, lantern fish and tiny shrimp and crustaceans.
To support the study, known as the Adult Salmon Diet Program, local anglers recorded data about their daily chinook and coho catches before sending scientists the fish’s guts.
Using fish guts to make a map.