Methods of Stock Monitoring Salmon at Mission

Question 1

What is the Pacific Salmon Commission?

Answer 1

The Pacific Salmon Commission is a treaty based internal organization and a decision-making body for cooperative management of Pacific salmon

Question 2

What kinds of hydroacoustic equipment are used by the staff at the Matsqui/Mission site?

Answer 2

Splitbeam Sonar and Imaging Sonar. Split beam sonar detects a fish with a large sound beam and so you don’t get any detailed information on the fish, other than it’s presence. Imaging sonar detects fish with many narrow souond beams so you can get lots of details.

Question 3

Be familiar with the concept of hydroacoustics and its use for counting fish in water

Answer 3

Hydroacoustics uses sound to detect fish presence. A transdoucer sends out sound waves which travel throught the water until they hit somthing like a fish. the sound waves bounce off that object and back to the transducer.

Question 4

What is an associated “tool” that the PSC uses to calibrate which species of fish might be seen with the hydroacoustic equipment?

Answer 4

The imageing sonar allows you to see in detail what species is passing the station and the staff at the PSC go through the data and identify and count the speices passing the station.

Question 5

Why is the PSC monitoring these fish?

Answer 5

• The PSC is monitoring these fish to provide in season monitoring of the progress toward escapement goals
• It is being used as a tool for in season assesment of timing and abundance for sockeye and pink salmon