Juvenile Chum Salmon and Pink Salmon use of submerged vegetative habitats and the influence of an apex predator Marine and Coastal Fisheries

Apex-predator-initiated trophic cascades occur in many nearshore marine habitats that simultaneously serve as critical habitat and food sources for commercially and ecologically important species, including juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. Yet the potential relationships among apex predators (e.g., sea otters Enhydra lutris), submerged aquatic vegetation, and juvenile salmonids are not well understood. In Southeast Alaska, we investigated (1) juvenile salmonid abundance in eelgrass Zostera marina meadows and understory kelp beds and (2) potential drivers of juvenile Chum Salmon Oncorhynchus keta and Pink Salmon O. gorbuscha abundance in eelgrass meadows.