Why We Do It
Today, the greatest threat to Atlantic salmon lies somewhere in the North Atlantic, where climate change and shifting ocean conditions mean more wild salmon than ever before are dying at sea.
By tracking Atlantic salmon at sea, monitoring their health, and studying the effects of predators and human activity, we will be able to pinpoint the causes of decline and offer solutions.
By tracking Atlantic salmon at sea, monitoring their health, and studying the effects of predators and human activity, we will be able to pinpoint the causes of decline and offer solutions.
Where We Work
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Current Projects
Smolt Tracking
Since 2003, we’ve been tagging juvenile Atlantic salmon (smolt) as they leave their home river and embark on their first ocean migration. We’ve documented changing survival rates in some areas and witnessed smolt from different rivers converging as they pass through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and into the Labrador Sea.
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In 2018, we expanded our smolt tracking to Newfoundland and Labrador and continue to explore new technologies to reach further into the North Atlantic.
Adult Tracking
Test description
Using advanced satellite technology, we are surfacing new information about the movement of adult Atlantic salmon at sea.
In 2017, our data led to the first-ever peer-reviewed study on the daily life of wild salmon in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the Labrador Sea.
In 2018, ASF researchers began a multi-year satellite tracking program, tagging and tracking Atlantic salmon off the west coast of Greenland. This is one of the least understood legs of salmon migration and could reveal new insight into the causes of marine mortality.
Predator Effects
Using data from our juvenile and adult tracking programs, our researchers have developed models to estimate the number of Atlantic salmon consumed by predators.
In 2018, we published a study about the effects of an exploding stripped bass population on the Atlantic salmon population in the Miramichi River. This research helped lead to looser angling regulations and a resumption of commercial fishing.
Documenting Escapes
Since 1992, we’ve monitored the fishway on the Magaguadavic River in New Brunswick, studying interactions between wild Atlantic salmon and escaped aquaculture salmon.
This research produced one of the earliest studies in North America documenting aquaculture fish breeding in the wild. And as the only continuously monitored site along the Bay of Fundy, the Magaguadavic fishway provides valuable information about the nearby salmon aquaculture industry.
In 2017, no wild salmon returned to the Magaguadavic River, a first in living memory.
Monitoring Fish Health
Technology is giving Atlantic Salmon Federation researchers new insight on diseases and viruses that effect Atlantic salmon. In partnership with scientists at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Pacific Biological Station, we collect and submit samples from aquaculture escapes and wild salmon for analysis.
By building a disease profile of aquaculture and wild salmon we can learn what might be affecting these populations, and which diseases are spread from the industry.
Published Research
Carr, J., J. M. Anderson, F.G. Whoriskey, T. Dilworth. 1997. The occurrence and spawning of cultured Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in a Canadian river. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 54: 1064-1073.
Carr, J. W., G. L. Lacroix, J.M. Anderson, T. Dilworth. 1997. Movements of non-maturing cultured Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in a Canadian river. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 54: 1082-1085
Carr, J. 2001. A review of downstream movements of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the dam-impacted Saint John River drainage. Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences No. 2573, Dept. of Fisheries & Oceans: 76pp.
Whoriskey, F.G. and J.W. Carr. 2001. Returns of transplanted adult, escaped, cultured Atlantic salmon to the Magaguadavic River, New Brunswick. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 58:504-509.
Carr, J. and F. Whoriskey. 2004. Sea lice infestation rates on wild and escaped farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) entering the Magaguadavic River, New Brunswick. Aquacult. Res. 35: 723-729.
Carr, J.W., F. Whoriskey, P. O’Reilly. 2004. Efficacy of releasing captive reared broodstock into an imperiled wild Atlantic salmon population as a recovery strategy. J. Fish Biol. 65 (Suppl. A): 38-54.
Carr, J.W. and F.G. Whoriskey. 2006. The escape of juvenile farmed Atlantic salmon from hatcheries into freshwater streams in New Brunswick, Canada. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 63: 1263-1268.
O’Reilly et al. (2006). Detection of European ancestry in escaped farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., in the Magaguadavic River and Chamcook Stream, New Brunswick, Canada. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 63:1256-1262.
Morris, J.R.J. et al. (2008). Prevalence and recurrence of escaped farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in eastern North American rivers. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 65: 2807-2826.
Carr, J.W. and F.G. Whoriskey (2009). Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) interactions in the Magaguadavic River, New Brunswick. Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2009/074, DFO: 10pp.
Bourett et al. (2011). Temporal changes in genetic integrity suggest loss of local adaptation in a wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) population following genetic introgression by farmed escapees. Heredity 106:500-510.
John Fredrik Strøm Eva B. Thorstad Graham Chafe Sigrunn H. Sørbye David Righton Audun H. Rikardsen Jonathan Carr (2017) Ocean migration of pop-up satellite archival tagged Atlantic salmon from the Miramichi River in Canada. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 74: 1356-1370.
Jason Daniels, Gérald Chaput, Jonathan Carr (2018). Estimating consumption rate of Atlantic salmon smolts (Salmo salar) by striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in the Miramichi River estuary using acoustic telemetry. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.
Chaput, G, Carr, J., Daniels, J., Tinker, S., Jonsen, I., Whoriskey, F. 2018. Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) smolt and early post-smolt migration and survival inferred from multi-year and multi-stock acoustic telemetry studies in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, northwest Atlantic.
Brunsdon, E. B., Daniels, J., Hanke, A., Carr, J. 2019. Tag retention and survival of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts surgically implanted with dummy tags acoustic transmitters during transition from fresh to salt water. ICES Journal of Marine Science
Daniels, J., Sutton, S., Webber, D., Carr, J. 2019. Extent of predation bias present in migration survival and timing of acoustically telemetered Atlantic Salmon smolt (Salmo salar) as suggested by a novel acoustic tag. Animal Biotelemetry
Strom, J., Rikardsen, A., Campana, S., Righton, D., Carr, J., Aarestrup, K., Stokesbury, M., Gargan, P., Javierre, P., Thorstad, E. 2019. Ocean predation and mortality of adult Atlantic salmon. Scientific Reports
