Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program:
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Salmon and their predators are primarily visual feeders, but artificial light at night disrupts natural light cycles by extending low-light conditions, increasing nocturnal light levels, and obscuring seasonal light fluctuations. As artificial light at night increases in urban watersheds, even a small shift in night time light could create large changes in fish distribution, behavior, and foraging vulnerability for at-risk sockeye salmon. Our findings will help fishery managers quantify the current predation pressure on juvenile salmon populations and identify areas for light mitigation. This data will provide crucial insights into the impact of artificial light on salmon behavior and distribution through daily, lunar, and seasonal cycles.