Area of Expertise:
David Willis is the Section Head for Coastal Hatchery Operations for the Pacific Region with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
The DFO’s Salmon Enhancement Program and the Pacific Salmon Foundation have been working in partnership on several projects designed to assess hatchery-wild salmon interactions in the Salish Sea, as well as to improve understanding of the behaviour, marine distribution, habitat use and competition between hatchery and wild salmon. This work also investigates various means to produce hatchery fish that survive at higher rates in the marine environment, which could then allow for reductions in hatchery production while sustaining or improving adult salmon production.
Select Presentation(s) / Publication(s):
Beacham TD, Wallace C, Jonsen K, et al. Comparison of coded-wire tagging with parentage-based tagging and genetic stock identification in a large-scale coho salmon fisheries application in British Columbia, Canada. Evol Appl. 2018;00:1–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12711
Withler, R.E., Bradford, M.J., Willis, D.M., and Holt, C. 2018. Genetically Based Targets for Enhanced Contributions to Canadian Pacific Chinook Salmon Populations. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2018/019. xii + 88 p.
