Pacific Salmon Conservation Units with Status and Sites

This dataset describes Conservation Units (CUs) for five species of wild Pacific salmon in Canada, based on ecotypology, life history, and genetics. It includes CU status assessments categorized as Red, Amber, or Green, and references spawner enumeration data from counting sites. The CU boundaries were updated in March 2023 using the BC Freshwater Atlas at a 1:20,000 scale.

Use Cases

• Map Conservation Unit boundaries and their associated WSP status zones (Red, Amber, Green) for spatial analysis.
• Analyze the relationship between CU status and the ecological characteristics defined by the joint adaptive zone framework.
• Link CU information to spawner enumeration data from the New Salmon Escapement Database (NuSEDS) via Counting Sites for population trend studies.
• Assess the distribution of CUs across different species of Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) based on the Holtby and Ciruna (2007) framework.

Strengths

• CU boundaries are defined at a detailed 1:20,000 scale from the BC Freshwater Atlas.
• Status assessments integrate multiple biological metrics and expert commentary into a final integrated status for each CU.
• The framework for defining CUs is based on three primary characteristics: ecotypology, life history, and genetics.

Limitations

• The dataset does not include direct spawner count data; it references external counting sites and databases.
• Conservation Units are subject to review and may change without notice, potentially affecting longitudinal consistency.
• Specific row counts, column details, and sample data are unavailable, limiting initial assessment of data volume and structure.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Defined by a framework aggregating salmon into Conservation Units based on ecotypology, life history, and genetics; status assessed using biological metrics and expert review.

Freshness

The CU boundaries were last updated in March 2023.

Geography

Canada's Pacific coast