International Year of Salmon (IYS) Workshop on
Salmon Status and Trends
NEW DATE: 23–24 January 2019
Vancouver BC
Problem: In recent decades, the productivity of salmon has become increasingly uncertain withmany populations experiencing extremes related to timing, abundance and size with serious
social, economic and conservation impacts. Much has been learned in previous workshops but alack of consistency in approaches to categorize biological status and trends, terminology toindicate status, requirements and standards for different types of data, spatial and temporalscales for comparison and aggregation, and ways of communicating findings significantly
impedes the timeliness, efficiency and effectiveness of scientific investigations. Our datasystems do not match our technological capacity and social/scientific inquiry needs. Many
agencies have a commitment to open data but are challenged to achieve it given the significant
costs associated with bringing historic data online. Increasing variability in a rapidly changing
environment demands rapid access to integrated data for comparative and mechanistic studiesof the distribution and productivity of salmon across life history stage and associated ecoregions.
Solution: IYS seeks to establish the conditions for resilience of salmon and people during 20182022 by conducting high-impact projects to achieve the outcomes listed on the next page. The
Information Systems outcome of “freely available information systems contain historic andcurrent data about salmon and their environment” is foundational to further achieving theStatus of Salmon and Salmon in a Changing Salmosphere outcomes.
A series of workshops are proposed, each building on the previous, to establish at thehemispheric scale, standardized approaches of defining metrics for salmon status and trends
and their associated environments. Participation and leadership at individual workshops willvary depending on the specific goals of each workshop. The Jan 2019 workshop is intended todraw together scientists interested in working with others on representative time series of data
andassociated meta-data to understand salmon status and trends. The key word isrepresentative. How well or poorly do these datasets represent salmon status and trends forreasonably broad geographic areas? The primary goal of this workshop will be to identify a1

series of legacy datasets and standards associated with major categories of data. Later, aseparate workshop will focus on identifying
the coastal and high seas climate andoceanographic data that can be linked to salmon data. We envision that these datasets will be
the focus of subsequent analytical workshops; additional workshops may concentrate oncommunication of scientific results to disparate audiences: fellow scientists, general public(press, social media), fisheries and habitat managers, senior decision-makers. Ideally theseseparate but linked workshops focusing on data, analysis, and communication will take placeover the course of IYS.

IYS OUTCOMES
Status of salmon

The present status of salmon and their environments is understood.

Salmon in a changingsalmosphere

The effects of natural environmental variability and human factors affecting salmon
distribution and abundance are understood and quantified.

New frontiers

New technologies and analytical methods are advanced and applied to salmon research.
Research is carried out to fill gaps in poorly studied regions of the salmosphere.

Human dimensions

Communities, Indigenous Peoples, youth, harvesters, scientists and resource managers
across the Northern Hemisphere share knowledge and collaborate in the development of
new tools and approaches to restoring, managing and sustaining salmon.

Information systems

Freely available information systems contain historic and current data about salmon andtheir environment.

Salmon outreach andcommunication

People understand the value of healthy salmon populations and engage to ensure salmon
and their varied habitats are conserved and restored against the backdrop of increasing
environmental change.

Workshop Steering Committee: Jim Irvine (DFO Science; DFO IYS), Mark Saunders (NPAFC IYS),
Carrie holt (DFO Science), Kim Hyatt (DFO Science), Gérald Chaput (DFO Science; SAG of IASRB),
Sue Grant (DFO Science; DFO IYS/State of Salmon), Martha Robertson (DFO Science, Chair ICES
Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon.
Workshop Approach: Participation will be limited to ~20 experts on Atlantic and Pacific salmon
from (potentially) Canada, USA, Europe, and Asia who will:
Overview case studies used in Pacific and Atlantic basins to categorise temporal andspatial status and trends of salmon. Datasets need not be thoroughly analysed or detailedbut should be examples where data are being used or have the potential to be used torepresent status and where there is the potential to learn from further analysis. Casestudies should encompass have a range of data quality/quantity examples.
Propose requirements and standards for different categories of data ranging from poor toexcellent that are consistent across species/regions/agencies. These may be linked to2

spatial and temporal scales for comparisons among species and populations, including
levels of aggregation.
Begin a catalog of salmon datasets, their availability, and the gaps needed to fill in orderto achieve specific scientific and management goals.
Document the requirements for future data assembly projects: data structures(inclusion of metadata), management issues (resourcing, ownership, publication rights),
timelines, standards
Develop plans for a subsequent series of workshops. For instance:o describe how targeted data sets might be analysed;o next steps to developing data standards;
o discuss how we could share analytical methods to test hypotheses arising fromthese workshops;
o discuss how new analytical approaches could be more easily and safely applied bybiologists who are not professional statisticians or programmers; ando identify additional datasets required to address hypotheses about cause andeffect.
Document workshop findings in a report.

Workshop Participation: will be encouraged for those who:
can provide a relatively high-level overview of a salmon status and trends case or
are interested and knowledgeable about developing requirements and standards forvarious categories of data.
Workshop Agenda: to be finalized in next several months. If interested in attending and/orpresenting a data set or data standards example, let Jim Irvine know by 15 November 2018.
For Further Information: contact any member of the Steering Committee including Jim Irvine(james.irvine@dfo-mpo.gc.ca) for expectations with respect to presentations, or Mark Saunders(msaunders@yearofthesalmon.org) for details on international IYS.

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