Go Deep

Fraser River Estuary

Water Facts

  • It is the largest estuary on the Pacific coast of North America
  • The estuary supports high biodiversity and an extensive food web for marine mammals (endangered southern resident killer whales)
  • The coastal and inland areas from the estuary have been heavily modified by agriculture, industrial, and urban development
  • Over a hundred species of fish and birds are at risk of extinction in the estuary

Water Challenges

01.

Sea-level rise

02.

Saltwater infiltration into freshwater sources

03.

Flooding

04.

Water contamination from agricultural/urban runoff

Spotlight

A must-read report on climate change in Fraser River Estuary:

(1) Lower Mainland Flood Management Strategy (Phase 1 (complete), Phase 2, 3 (In progress). (2016-2022). Fraser Basin Council.

  • Local governments looking at an example of a strategies aimed at reducing flood risks and improving flood resilience of communities susceptible to coastal/riverine flooding

(2) Conservation in heavily urbanized biodiverse regions requires urgent management action and attention to governance. (2021). Kehoe, et al.

  • This study underscores that biodiversity conservation in heavily urbanized areas is not a lost cause but does require strategic planning, attention to governance, and large-scale investment.

Fraser River Estuary Situation Report

The Situation Report provides a state-of-the-moment overview and analysis of Fraser River Estuary’s water conditions, challenges, and emerging issues.

Researcher Profile

  • Dr. Tara Martin

    Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia

    Tara is a Professor in Conservation Decision Science with the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia.

    Tara is also the Liber Ero Chair in Conservation at UBC. She is a pioneer in the field of Conservation Decision Science – combining predictive ecological models with decision science to inform what actions to take, where to take them and when to achieve our conservation and natural resource management goals. Tara leads a team of graduate students and research fellows seeking to understand, predict and ultimately inform decisions about the impact of global change on biodiversity and natural resources. Tara was recently awarded The Nature Conservancy Professor in Practice Award, Thomson Reuters Citation & Innovation Award for her work in Climate change decision making and a Wilburforce Conservation Fellowship. Tara is a member of the IUCN Climate Change Specialist Group and co-leads the Climate Adaptation Theme.

    Chalifour, L**, Holt, C., Camaclang, A.E., Bradford, M.J., Dixon, R., Finn, R.J.R., Hemming, V., Hinch, S.G., Levings, C.D., MacDuffee, M., Nishimura, D.J.H., Pearson, M., Reynolds, J.D., Scott, D.C., Spremberg, U., Stark, S., Stevens, J., Baum, J.K., Martin, T.G. 2022. Identifying a pathway towards recovery for depleted wild Pacific salmon populations in a large watershed under multiple stressors. Journal of Applied Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14239. Paper URL: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14239

    Hemming, V.*, Camaclang, A.E., Adams, M.*, Burgman, M., Carbeck, K., Carwardine, J., Chades, I., Chalifour, L.**, Converse, S.J., Davidson, L.N.K., Garrard, G.E., Finn, R.**, Fleri, J.R., Huard, J.**, Mayfield, H.J., McDonald Madden, E., Naujokaitis-Lewis, I., Possingham, H., Rumpff, L., Runge, M., Stewart, D.**, Tulloch, V.J.D.*, Walshe, T., & Martin, T.G (2022). An Introduction to Decision Science for Conservation. Conservation Biology. PDF

    Huard, J.R**., Proudfoot, B., Rooper, C.N., Martin, T.G., Robinson, CLK. 2022. Intertidal beach habitat suitability model for Pacific sand lance, Ammodytes personatus, in the Salish Sea, Canada. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0335

    Bal, P., J. R. Rhodes, J. Carwardine, S. Legge, A. Tulloch, E. Game, T. G. Martin, H. P. Possingham, and E. McDonald-Madden. 2021. How to choose a cost-effective indicator to trigger conservation decisions? Methods in Ecology and Evolution 12:520-529. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13532 PDF

    Chalifour, L.**, D. C. Scott, M. MacDuffee, S. Stark, J. F. Dower, T. Beacham, T. G. Martin, and J. K. Baum. 2021. Chinook salmon exhibit long-term rearing and early marine growth in the Fraser River, B.C., a large urban estuary. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science DOI: 10.1139/cjfas-2020-0247

    Hemming, V.*, Hanea, A. M., & Burgman, M. A. (2021). What is a Good Calibration Question? Risk Analysis. PDF

    Hanea, A.; Hemming, V.*; & Nane, T. (2021) Eliciting Expert Judgment: An Outline of Past and Future Research Needs. Special Issue: ‘Uncertainty’ in Risk Analysis. PDF

    Finn, R. J.**, Chalifour, L.**, Gergel, S. E., Hinch, S. G., Scott, D. C., & Martin, T. G. (2021). Quantifying lost and inaccessible habitat for Pacific salmon in Canada’s Lower Fraser River. Ecosphere, 12(7), e03646. PDF https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3646

Authors

The content of this Go Deep page was written by:

Charmaine White

Food and Agriculture Institute, University of the Fraser Valley

Robert Newell

Royal Roads University & Food and Agriculture Institute, University of the Fraser Valley