Pacific Coast estuaries provide important rearing habitats leading to improved growth and survival for juvenile chinook salmon. However, research has suggested that juvenile salmon have little use for estuarine habitats in the Columbia River. To further understand salmonid recovery needs in estuaries, I compared historical and contemporary life history patterns...
Despite evidence that juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) utilize North Pacific estuaries for growth and salinity acclimation, research in the Columbia River estuary has lead to opposing hypotheses about the estuary’s importance as a salmon rearing environment. Many contemporary tagging studies indicate that salmon residency within the estuary is short...