In recent decades, the abundance of salmon in the North Pacific has reached unprecedented levels, driven in large part by industrial-scale hatchery production in Alaska, Russia, and Japan. These industrial hatcheries now release billions of pink and chum salmon annually with ecosystem-wide impacts. This includes increased competition between hatchery-origin and wild salmon for a finite supply of food and habitat. This competition, often described as a modern-day “Tragedy of the Commons”, can adversely affect the size and abundance of wild salmon populations across British Columbia and the Yukon.

The Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) is leading an initiative to identify strategies for mitigating the effects of high seas competition between wild and hatchery-origin salmon.

Why This Matters

Scientific evidence has shown that high salmon abundance on the high seas leads to inter- and intra-species competition for food (Ruggerone et al. 2023). The odd-year/even-year cycle of pink salmon abundance serves as a powerful natural experiment, since the abundance of pink salmon in the ocean varies considerably between even and odd years. The odd year returns of pink salmon are often double the returns of even years, due to the odd-year lineage’s apparent ability to respond more favourably to climate warming. There are clear signals of ecological impact reflected in shrinking body sizes and lower survival rates across multiple salmon species, including economically and culturally important sockeye and Chinook salmon.

Despite the growing body of evidence of competition, industrial-scale hatchery production has continued to rise, with the economic consequences on other species unquantified. This project aims to close the gap between science and action by identifying strategies for addressing increasing high-seas competition as a result of human-mediated competition .

Project Objectives

PSF is advancing this work through two key avenues:

1. Conduct a Bioeconomic Analysis: Commission a cost-benefit study to quantify and compare the economic returns from hatchery-origin fisheries with the economic losses associated with reduced abundance and body size in wild salmon populations.
2. Convene a High Seas Competition Working Group: Bring together leading experts from academia, government, NGOs, and First Nations organizations to (1) identify critical knowledge gaps, (2) explore potential policy levers, (3) develop strategies to mitigate high seas competition, and (4) contribute expertise to international policy discussions.

Anticipated Outcomes

• Working group recommendations and targeted briefings to policy discussions in international forums.
• A report on the cost-benefit trade-offs of hatchery releases versus wild salmon productivity.