Data & Assessments

SCIENCE

Data & Assessments

SCIENCE

The Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Data & Assessments Team compiles data on salmon and their habitats into clear, accessible tools and resources to help guide conservation and recovery planning. Working alongside a diverse network of partners—including First Nations, community organizations, and government agencies—we track the status of salmon and their habitats and support community-led monitoring and stewardship.

Tracking the State of Salmon

Salmon returns can vary drastically across regions and from year to year, making it hard to track of how salmon are doing. Our yearly State of Salmon Report provides a data-driven overview of the state and trends for six species of Pacific salmon, including steelhead, throughout British Columbia and the Yukon.

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Data & Assessments for Salmon

Effective salmon recovery starts with answering critical questions: Which populations are the most vulnerable? How healthy are salmon habitats in this watershed? Where could conservation efforts have the greatest impact?

Too often, those answers are hard to find. Monitoring has declined in many regions, and the data that do exist are often scattered across jurisdictions and organizations. We bring it together — aggregating, standardizing, and centralizing key information into accessible tools and platforms.

We also help local partners build the capacity they need to take effective action, sharing monitoring tools, frameworks, and scientific resources with organizations working at the watershed level.

When First Nations, governments, and stewardship organizations can find and trust the data they need, planning gets easier and more gets done for salmon.

Areas of Work

Democratizing Salmon Data

We work with diverse partners to compile, analyze, and share Pacific salmon population and habitat data through accessible platforms like the Pacific Salmon Explorer. 

Pacific Salmon Explorer

Tracking Status & Trends

We apply data-driven assessment models to track the current status of wild salmon populations and their habitats, identifying key changes and emerging pressures in our annual State of Salmon Report.

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Translating Science into Action 

We synthesize complex data into clear, actionable insights that guide management decisions, shape policy, and direct resources toward high-priority recovery efforts.

Expanding Local Capacity

We support First Nations and community stewards with the tools, training, and resources they need to achieve their watershed monitoring and conservation goals.

Tools to Track Drought

Local First Nations and stewardship groups across B.C. collect invaluable data on stream temperature and flow, which can inform salmon conservation and management decisions. To integrate these efforts and help drive action for salmon, PSF has released new monitoring protocols covering best practices for every budget and capacity level. 

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Tracking 400+ salmon populations

The Pacific Salmon Explorer is the most up-to-date and complete source of information on the status of Pacific salmon and their freshwater habitats in B.C. and the Yukon – providing a one-stop shop for salmon data from the Okanagan to Old Crow.

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“Community-led monitoring groups across BC collect a wealth of freshwater data. We’re working to support these efforts and improve how these data are collected — so communities can monitor habitat conditions more effectively and be prepared to intervene for salmon when conditions deteriorate.”

Marc Porter,
Senior Scientist, Pacific Salmon Foundation

Thank you to our funders

PSF is thankful for the generous support provided by the former British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (co-funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia), Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program, Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Coastal Restoration Fund, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Building on Past Work: Highlights

Centralizing Yukon Salmon Data

The eight-year Strategic Salmon Health Initiative was a partnership between PSF, DFO, and GenomeBC that embarked to better understand how infectious agents affect wild salmon health, where these agents come from, and interactions between farmed and wild salmon. The Strategic Salmon Health Initiative laid the foundation for PSF to launch our current Salmon Health research.

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AI for Salmon Monitoring

Tracking thousands of unique salmon populations across B.C. and the Yukon is an extraordinary challenge. PSF is working with First Nations groups and other partners to pilot AI-powered monitoring systems that automatically detect and identify returning adult salmon.

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News and Stories

An aerial view of ppen-net pen salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago in 2022. Photo by Brandon Deepwell.

Viral heart disease far more widespread on B.C. open-net pen salmon farms than previously reported, new study finds

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A new study has found that Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI), a disease caused by Piscine Orthoreovirus (PRV), is far more widespread on open-net pen Atlantic salmon farms in B.C. than previously documented.
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Comment: Norway’s lesson for B.C.’s wild salmon

PSF’s Michael Meneer urges Canada to uphold its commitment to ban on open-net pens in British Columbia by 2029. Leading up to Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre’s visit to Ottawa, Canada's decision to ban open-net pens in British Columbia presents an opportunity to innovate our industry.
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Community Bursary Spotlight: Liam Archbold

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Liam Archbold is an emerging salmon leader, B.Sc. student at BCIT, and active volunteer with Mossom Creek Hatchery and Education Centre in Port Moody. He is also a proud recipient of PSF’s Stewardship Community Bursary. Every year, this program awards multiple $2,500 bursaries to post-secondary students in B.C. and the Yukon pursuing careers related to Pacific salmon.
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