In this project a scientific advisory panel will be create to guide development of an explicit experiment testing the effect of fish farms on wild smolt survival by using a large-scale marine telemetry array to measure survival of key British Columbia salmon stocks.
Postdoctoral fellow: Dr. Wendell Challenger, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Simon Fraser University
Lead faculty member: Dr. Carl Schwarz, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Simon Fraser University
The effect of the British Columbia aquaculture industry on wild salmon stocks is currently unclear. In this project we will create a scientific advisory panel to guide development of an explicit experiment testing the effect of fish farms on wild smolt survival by using a large-scale marine telemetry array to measure survival of key BC salmon stocks. The PDF will extend Kintama’s existing mathematical software to design an optimal 2nd generation array to measure the effect of fish farm exposure on survival and advance aspects of the underlying mathematics. The design will maximize precision of the survival estimates and the resulting statistical power of the test(s), while minimizing costs. The PDF will also investigate mathematical models for increasing the current system’s efficiency by incorporating additional spatial information. The project is novel in developing complex statistical approaches for a new technology, and provides training in managing high profile scientific investigations.