Progress in Juvenile Salmon Coastal/Ocean Ecology: Recent Findings and Management Implications

The periods when juvenile salmon enter the ocean and their following first winter are widely considered the most critical phases to salmon ocean survival. Understanding mechanisms that affect salmon survival during these periods has been a growing area of research worldwide, with implications for improved adult return forecasting, harvest management, and other management actions that increase survival of at-risk salmon populations.  This symposium will provide an opportunity for scientists to present, discuss and compare results of recent work from vastly different ecosystems, including the Pacific, Atlantic, and Great Lakes, related to survival and migration patterns (distribution and timing); the effects of climate variability, hydrological characteristics and primary production; food web dynamics (predator/prey interactions, competition); and diseases and toxics.  Management applications, such as progress in the development and efficacy of forecasting tools, will also be presented.