This is a continuation of a multi-year, multi-institutional study to evaluate the role of changing ocean conditions on growth and survival of juvenile salmon from the Columbia River basin as they enter the Columbia River plume and PNW coastal habitats. Adult returns vary dramatically (over 10 fold) as a result of changing (good or bad) ocean conditions juveniles experience. Evaluating the benefit of restoration efforts in the Columbia River to restore endangered salmon populations needs to consider ocean conditions as a contributing factor to recovery.

Continuing to operate at a reduced budget, OHSU will ensure that metrics characterizing estuarine salinity intrusion and plume characteristics will continue to be computed and thus available for integration in the multiple fisheries analyses that require them. This includes both continuing to conduct and analyze underlying circulation simulations (Task 5.1) and filtering the results to derive the estuarine (Task 2.3) and plume metrics (Task 5.3).