Animation of adult Chinook salmon returning to the Fraser River in 2019

Kintama has released a movie animation to show the migration of adult Chinook salmon as they migrate around the south end of Vancouver Island on their return trip to the Fraser and other river basins.

With support from the Pacific Salmon Foundation and the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia, 100 adult Chinook were acoustic-tagged in 2019 by our collaborator at UBC, Professor Scott Hinch, and his team near Port Renfrew, BC. The fish were detected on acoustic receiver arrays deployed by Kintama Research in Haro Strait and the Fraser River to track Fraser-bound Chinook. Other receiver arrays deployed by the Ocean Tracking Network, NOAA Fisheries, and Ocean Networks Canada provided additional location information for Fraser River stocks as well as Chinook returning to Puget Sound and other rivers.

Some of these fish really explored! For an example, click on ‘Tag 6312’ under the Display menu to see a single Fraser River Chinook which first milled around in the Strait of Juan de Fuca before heading deep into Puget Sound and then turning around and migrating into the Fraser River.