From a humble beginning as a homestead, Salmon Coast has grown into a world-class research facility through the support of many partners and friends. Officially opening in 2006, Salmon Coast maintains the community-focused, conservation research that prompted its establishment.
Salmon Coast Field Station was originally home to biologist Alexandra Morton, who moved to the region to study orcas. After an influx of fish farms to the archipelago, Morton noticed her beloved orcas had abandoned the area, never to return.
In addition to the orcas vacating the area, she noticed that the number of sea lice (salmon parasites) had increased drastically on wild juvenile salmon. Concerned about the impact of fish farms on local ecosystems, Morton began to invite graduate students into her home to gather information and raise awareness about the lice epidemic on wild salmon. Researchers and students from all over continue to visit the Broughton to further understand the impacts salmon farms have on local ecosystems and communities.
Salmon Coast was officially established in 2006 when Morton joined forces with a dynamic conservationist Sarah Haney, founder of the Canadian Whale Institute, and her partner Alan Calderwood. Together, they formed the Salmon Coast Field Station to help protect the ecology and communities of the Broughton by providing a base for innovative and independent scientific research.
Since then our team has grown to include academics and conservationists from around the world. Thanks in part to the ground-breaking research being conducted at Salmon Coast, the aquaculture industry adopted control measures and local Nations and groups are able to better understand the impacts of fish farms on wild salmon and the ecosystem as a whole.
Educating the next generation of conservation scientists
In the years since our founding, Salmon Coast Field Station has become a hub for scientists at all stages of their careers to conduct conservation research projects on a variety of topics, and learn from each other and our extensive network.
With an alumni network of preeminent researchers, Salmon Coast is known as an incubator for the next generation of scientific leaders. Through the establishment of new projects, the continuation of our long term monitoring, and our position as a base for independent researchers, we have expanded our scope to address many topics of interest within the field of conservation research.