Melissa Dick is nearing the end of her first field season on the Harrison River in British Columbia.
Her research examines tag-related effects on adult sockeye salmon. Mobile net pens are being used to hold fish at the riverbank, which allows for a side-by-side comparison of gastric versus external (“backpack”) electronic tagging techniques. Underwater cameras are installed in the net pens to evaluate potential behavioural differences associated with different tagging procedures. After being held for 1 or 4 hours, fish are euthanized and physiological samples are collected. Melissa started her M.Sc degree with the Cooke lab in May, 2014 and hopes her findings will be used to quantify effects associated with different tagging methods and eventually inform fisheries management models.
Adult Harrison sockeye salmon held in the river in the net pen, tagged with either a gastric or external electronic telemetry tag.
