Fraser River sockeye salmon: data synthesis and cumulative impacts

Report Title: Fraser River sockeye salmon: data synthesis and cumulative impactsReviewer Name: Sean CoxDate: 18 March 20111. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of this report.StrengthsThe database is the primary strength of this report. The project seems to have createdan efficient way to organize and store a wide range of data, meta-data, anddocumentation. Development of such databases will undoubtedly be critical to futuresalmon research.Response: Once data are made available from the Cohen Commission, we hope that manyresearchers working on salmon populations can expand and apply this database using anumber of diverse analytical approaches, and have expanded section 5.2.2 to include thisrecommendation. We note however that there are some serious limitations to the types ofindicators available for various stressors, in terms of their specificity for various stressors,as well as spatial and temporal coverage. We have also included discussion on future typesof analyses that may be valuable to conduct with these data.The report examines a wide range of potential factors that might explain changes insockeye salmon productivity. The assemblage of data and analyses for sockeyepopulations spread throughout the Pacific northwest represents a meta-analyticapproach that is more powerful than analyses on single stocks.This Project 6 report is heavily based on other reports, so it is difficult to identify uniquestrengths.WeaknessesThis report attempted to synthesise a vast amount of information in a short period oftime. Like any report/paper that attempts a broad review and synthesis, it sometimesstruggles to draw conclusions and recommendations that are unique compared to thesource reports. Many of the critical comments below are probably a reflection of anoutsider’s view of this struggle.The conceptual model developed in this report does not live up to its intendedpurpose; that is, to "organize complex relationships among factors". What is describedas a conceptual model is really just a life-history sequence connected to a list ofpotential explanatory "factors" in a linear way. There are no feedbacks or even basicdirectional effects indicated (i.e., "+", "-", or "+/-") for any of the factors, possiblybecause all of the factors are assumed to have negative impacts only. It is commonscientific knowledge that salmon recruitment is based on survival through a series ofdensity-dependent life stages – so a negative effect in one stage can be compensatedby a positive effect in a subsequent stage. Where is this basic feature represented in137