The Canadian Wildlife Service is responsible for the conservation and monitoring of migratory birds with habitat in Canada. They are undertaking a long-term study of the impacts of salmon gillnet bycatch on populations of diving seabirds on the Pacific coast of Canada, as well as an assessment of the mitigation measures which could preserve populations while minimizing impact on BC’s salmon gillnet fishery.

I was hired as a landscape analyst to plan out the data-related aspects of the project, ahead of the first major season of data collection. The project is ongoing, and may eventually span many years.

My efforts involved gathering multi-institutional data on fishing effort and seabird populations, conducting first-order analysis of current bird-boat interactions, developing an analysis framework for statistical quantification of the impact of salmon gillnet bycatch on diving seabirds and optimal mitigation methods. I was also responsible for prototyping data management strategies for the Population Assessment Unit which is conducting the research.