Meeting Abstract

P3.98  Jan. 6  Plankton Communities: A Unique Partnership Between Scientists and Members of the Public, and an Opportunity for Long-Term Monitoring JACOBS, MW*; COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS, ; BARSH, R; STROM, S; WYLLIE-ECHEVERRIA, T; Univ. of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories; Washington State University mwjacobs@u.washington.edu

Salmon are biological, cultural, and economic keystone species in the pacific northwest. Adult portions of salmon life-histories are well-studied, but factors influencing the distribution and abundance of juvenile salmonids are not well-understood. Non-scientist members of coastal communities often spend large portions of time on the water and represent a largely untapped (by scientists) resource of natural history observation and knowledge. Similarly, scientific studies of populations of salmon and their prey species are often inaccessible to communities attempting to make management decisions about local resources. We are a partnership of scientists and community members in the San Juan Islands working together to set up long-term monitoring of juvenile fish and environmental factors related to fish distributions such as zooplankton and phytoplankton abundances. The goal is to identify factors that can predict presence of juvenile fish. We will present a framework for such partnerships between scientists and community members, and preliminary results from pilot studies at nine locations in San Juan Channel.