Landslides and Salmon

Landslide Impact on Flow Dynamics, Fish Migration and Genetics of Fraser River Salmon is a 3-year project led out of Simon Fraser University (SFU) and funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund.

The chance of future slides in the Fraser Canyon is real, and past landslides have likely shaped current salmon biodiversity. The likelihood and impacts of these events on salmon remain uncertain. In order to improve our ability to respond to this and future events, there is an urgent need for integrative science to assess the full impacts of the Big Bar Landslide, identify potential future landslides and understand how fish navigate hydraulic barriers.

Our project examine the impacts of the Big Bar Landslide, and more generally river blockages that can form barriers to salmon migration in the Fraser Canyon. We apply and integrate our diverse expertise in natural hazards, geomorphology, remote sensing, salmon migration, and population genetics and incorporate traditional Indigenous perspectives to examine past, present, and future impacts of landslides.

The project is a science partnership that consists of an interdisciplinary team of researchers and leaders from non-commercial enterprises based primarily at universities and collaborative organizations in British Columbia who seek to understand risks posed by natural earth surface processes, such as landslides and hydraulic barriers, on Fraser River salmon. Our team includes world-leading experts and early career researchers in river science, natural hazards, ecology, and salmon genetics, who are excited to help conserve and restore Fraser River salmon.