Robinson, John2025-02-052025-02-052024-12https://unbscholar.lib.unb.ca/handle/1882/38246For decades, Atlantic salmon in Eastern North America have precipitously declined. In response, Fundy National Park (FNP) and Cape Breton Highlands National Park (CBHNP) implemented smolt-to-adult supplementation strategies within marine and freshwater rearing environments, respectively, Kouchibouguac National Park (KNP) planted fertilized eggs, and Gros Morne (GMNP) and Terra Nova National Park (TNNP) used community-based restoration approaches. To assess juvenile salmon population abundance through decline and restoration implementation of these parks, a Bayesian hierarchical model was developed to standardize single-pass and multi-pass electrofishing methodology, and estimate an index of juvenile density, at site and annual scale, using an electrofishing dataset covering 536 sites, over 49 years, across 24 rivers. Single-pass sites lack the accuracy of multi-pass methods but are an efficient sampling approach from a full catchment perspective. Increasing population trends were shown in some rivers (FNP, KNP), while others exhibited continued declines (CBHNP, KNP, GMNP) or modelling challenges (CBHNP, TNNP).xvi, 135electronicenhttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2master thesisSamways, KurtBiology