White sturgeon were formerly abundant in the lower Fraser River of British Columbia, but have been dramatically reduced by overfishing and habitat loss. Significant efforts have been put into collecting baseline abundance and demographic data over the past decade. Here we fit an age-based model for white sturgeon to the available length-frequency data from slough and river habitats. Our analysis of the parameterized model indicates that the white sturgeon population in the lower Fraser River was declining through the 1980s and into the 1990s. We estimate a growth rate in the range of λ=0.90 to λ=0.96, which corresponds to a 4%−10% decrease in the population each year. Thus, we infer that improving juvenile survival in the slough habitats is key to conserving this white sturgeon population.

Populations certified by the Minister of Community and Rural Development under section 783(3) of the Local Government Act, effective December 1, 2007. These population figures are only to be used to determine voting strength and Director representation. Population includes people residing on Indian Reserves. Includes boundary revisions to December 31, 2006.

Populations certified by the Minister of Community and Rural Development under section 783(3) of the Local Government Act, effective December 1, 2007. These population figures are only to be used to determine voting strength and Director representation. Population includes people residing on Indian Reserves. Includes boundary revisions to December 31, 2006.

Population structure of three ecotypes of Oncorhynchus nerka (sea-type Sockeye Salmon, lake-type Sockeye Salmon, and Kokanee) in the Fraser River and Columbia River drainages was examined with microsatellite variation, with the main focus as to whether Kokanee population structure within the Fraser River drainage suggested either a monophyletic or polyphyletic origin of the ecotype within the drainage. Variation at 14 microsatellite loci was surveyed for sea-type and lake-type Sockeye Salmon and Kokanee sampled from 121 populations in the two river drainages. An index of genetic differentiation, FST, over all populations and loci was 0.087, with individual locus values ranging from 0.031 to 0.172. Standardized to an ecotype sample size of 275 individuals, the least genetically diverse ecotype was sea-type Sockeye Salmon with 203 alleles, whereas Kokanee displayed the greatest number of alleles (260 alleles), with lake-type Sockeye Salmon intermediate (241 alleles). Kokanee popul...

A goal of the Government of Canada’s Coastal Environmental Baseline Program (CEBP) is to amalgamate historic environmental data from high vessel traffic areas. An extensive DFO biological sampling program was conducted from 1980 to 1981 on Sturgeon and Roberts banks located on the outer Fraser River estuary, BC, Canada. This report collates and simplifies three data sets: water quality and nearshore fish catch previously published as DFO Data Report 340 (Conlin et al.1982), and un- published weight-length (W-L) data for two locations on Sturgeon Bank (Iona and Steveston) and near Westshore Terminals (Coal Port) on Roberts Bank. W-L data were reconstructed from archived computer printouts using Optical Character Recognition methods. Analyses of water quality data indicate that the two banks provided different fish habitats with Sturgeon Bank having a greater freshwater influence. Although Iona area water quality was exposed to sewage outfall from a nearby sewage treatment plant, it appears that fish communities were not different from the other Sturgeon Bank area (Steveston). The fish communities were found to be different between the two banks with Roberts Bank having greater overall abundance and diversity. Interestingly, of the seven fish species used for condition factor analyses, five were found to have lower Relative Condition Factors in the Roberts Bank sampling area.

Mean pairwise FST values averaged over 14 microsatellite loci from 16 regional groups of Sockeye Salmon and Kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) that were sampled at 121 locations in the Fraser River and Columbia River drainages.

White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Fraser River are listed as imperiled (the second highest possible rating) by the British Columbia Conservation Data Centre. A difficulty in trying to protect this species in the Fraser River and elsewhere is the lack of knowledge regarding their population biology. Variation in the mitochondrial DNA control region and at four microsatellite loci was examined in order to characterize white sturgeon samples from throughout the Fraser River mainstem and from a major tributary, the Nechako River. Samples from the adjacent Columbia River were analyzed for comparison. In contrast to previous work, present data indicate that white sturgeon population structure in this region reflects post-glacial dispersal more than it does recent anthropogenic effects. The data divided the Fraser into four biogeographic regions: (i) the lower Fraser, below Hell’s Gate; (ii) the middle Fraser, between Hell’s Gate and river km 553; (iii) the upper Fraser, above t...

Time series and wavelet spectra for sockeye salmon populations not shown in Fig. 1.

The Fraser Delta intertidal region consists chiefly o f three extensive tidal flats (Figure 1): Sturgeon and Roberts Banks, together also referred to as the Fraser Delta foreshore, and Boundary Bay. These areas constitute the largest wintering grounds for ducks along the British Columbia coast, and the Canadian Wildlife Service have made aerial surveys o f ducks there for a decade. Food studies on dabbling ducks have been conducted in estuarine marshes o f Sturgeon and Roberts Banks by Burgess (1970), but in 1974, the first author initiated the first comprehensive food study o f diving ducks on the tidal flats. An attempt is made here to present the population and food data as a stepping stone for further ornithological investigations as well as for environmental assessment.

This paper is a preliminary summary of observations on juvenile herring taken on Sturgeon and Roberts banks, Fraser River estuary, during beach seine sampling over the period March 1979 to July 1981. Previous data on juvenile herring in the Strait of Georgia are scarce. The only other reports are those of Hourston (1957), who dealt mainly with qualitative estimates of abundance, and Barraclough (1967) who reported larvae from a late spawning population at Boundary Bay and/or Point Roberts. The former location is reported to support a spawning population of 2501 to 5000 t/yr (Hourston and Humphreys 1978)

Significant eigenGWAS underlying Fraser River kokanee and sockeye ecotypes.

Relative seasonal proportions Ps of migrating spring and summer Chinook salmon stocks originating from the Fraser River, Puget Sound, and the Strait of Georgia.

The biomass distribution of the estuarine amphipod Amisogammarus confernicolus is related to river flows, since portions of this species' population are exported and retained according to prevailing currents and habitats. Field data show that the amphipods' low tide habitats (cover material) are more stable in areas "protected" from river flosw. Laboratory data indicate that adult amphipods cannot swim against currents greater than 10 cm sec-1, so that at peak flows biomass could be lost due to flushing and subsequent sinking in the deep water of the "outer" estuary.

The Fraser River estuary is the most important estuary on Canada’s Pacific coast. Most of the Province of British Columbia’s populations live at the river mouth, and the estuary is an international shipping port that supports over 50 species of fish, including the largest salmon populations of any single river in the world [I]. To achieve a net gain of fish habitat, a goal of Canada’s fisheries management policy, a large number of habitat restoration projects have been conducted in the estuary since 1980. In this paper I review some of the successes, failures, and lessons learned over the past twenty years. References [Z] and [3] provide ecological assessments of some of the projects on the inner estuary, and reference [4] provides additional summary information.

White sturgeon are listed with COSEWIC as a species of Special Concern. Several of the existing water quality criteria are based on water column characteristics (e.g. temperature, flow, substrate type, dissolved oxygen, and toxicants), often from laboratory measurements of tolerance. Preliminary results from an age-structured density-independent model for white sturgeon populations and habitats in the lower Fraser River and estuary are presented. The simulations suggested that access, water flow, and sediment exchange between slough and channel habitat are key ecological processes for this species. Metrics for mapping substrate and related biophysical features important for white sturgeon are not well developed. Relationships between habitats and white sturgeon populations dynamics are poorly understood. Mapping at the macroscale (1:1 M) showed that about 70% of estuarine habitat has been lost in the Fraser River estuary owing to urbanization. It is not clear if the remaining habitat in its degraded configuation is sufficient to maintain present or restored white sturgeon populations.