Wednesday, March 11, 2020

2020 High Seas Expedition is Off to Gulf of Alaska

A second international expedition with scientists from Canada, the United States and Russia is departing from Victoria, British Columbia today, March 11, to conduct research on winter salmon ecology in the Gulf of Alaska. Twelve scientists will be aboard the Canadian charter vessel Pacific Legacy following a media event send-off to include remarks from expedition organizers Richard Beamish and Brian Riddell.

The expedition is part of the International Year of the Salmon, a project launched by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization and other partners. The International Year of the Salmon project began in 2019 and will continue through 2022.

The 2019 expedition was the first in decades to study salmon on the high seas. The vessel carried 21 scientists from five Pacific Rim countries, Japan, Korea, Russia, the United states and Canada. Their voyage began in February, with the ship scheduled to visit 72 stations in the Gulf and returned to Vancouver on March 18. Researchers made multiple discoveries that are now helping fishery managers to be more effective stewards of Pacific salmon.

The $1.2 million project was jointly funded by government, industry, non-government organizations and private contributions.

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