Th-117-18
The Effect of Seagrass Loss on Juvenile Chinook Salmon Prey Availability
Kennedy, LA*, R El-Sabaawi, and F Juanes
Rapid growth during the early marine phase of juvenile salmon correlates with increased survival and subsequent contribution to the spawning stock. Marine environments that favour faster growth, such as those that foster abundant, high quality prey, are therefor important to overall salmon abundance. Understanding effects of the environment on juvenile salmon is underscored by the recent concomitant declines of juvenile salmon survival and nearshore habitat quality. Our project explores how estuarine seagrasses meadows contribute to prey production for juvenile Chinook salmon. We characterize how invertebrate abundance and juvenile Chinook salmon gut contents vary across a gradient of seagrass biomass. We test how seagrass health (natural abundant, natural sparse, restored) affects the abundance and quality of juvenile salmon prey. Our study draws attention to the potential effects of near-shore degradation on the role of seagrasses as nursery habitats, and has implications for other pelagic fish populations.