ProjectCROOS unites state-of-the-art science and embattled salmon fishermen in a unique project that aims to save salmon and the Oregonians who depend on them for their livelihood. In this innovative project, the fishermen will be the frontline researchers, collecting data as they fish that will provide valuable clues about where Chinook salmon travel during their ocean years. Using this data that would not be available otherwise, geneticists can determine the routes salmon travel during their lives, from river to ocean and back inland once again.

 

ProjectCROOS has set goals across a range of activities. These include:

Marketing

Certify wild-caught origin of fish.

Provide consumer with information on that specific fish, including its river of origin, where it was harvested, and when.

Use bar codes and digital traceability systems to track fish from harvest to dinner table.

Management of salmon stock

Provide real-time genetic analysis to allow for in-season assessment of harvest impacts.

Help fishermen avoid weak-stock Klamath runs.

Science

Use genetic analysis to identify the salmon's most-likely stock of origin.

Address temporal and spatial variations in stock composition.

Study the oceanic distribution of salmon and how it changes with varying oceanographic conditions.

Use otolith chemistry to assess if different stocks move about the ocean differently.

Collect scale samples to estimate ages of fish harvested.

Fishermen

Link fishing data to oceanographic conditions.

Provide fishermen with access to their individual data, helping them plan both fishing and marketing operations.

ProjectCROOS Leadership

Nancy Fitzpatrick, Administrator of the Oregon Salmon Commission, and Gil Sylvia, an OSU resource economist and Superintendent of the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (COMES), are project leaders.

Scientists from Oregon State University are leading the research effort: Michael Banks, a geneticist at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) and Michael Morrissey at the OSU Seafood Lab are the Project Leads for the genetic analysis and traceability efforts. Renee Bellinger at HMSC provides further science leadership with genetic analysis.

Funding & Support

The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board got ProjectCROOS off and rolling with a generous grant. Oregon State University provides research facilities: at COMES in Newport and the Seafood Research Lab in Astoria.

The Oregon Salmon Commission provides administrative support and coordinates salmon fishermen who will be collecting samples for data analysis.

Additional funding and support are provided by: Oregon Sea Grant, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Community Seafood Initiative, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Data Collection

Oregon salmon fishermen will provide all the raw data. This is the foundation of the project, which would not be possible without their participation.