Abstract

The Model for Assessing Links Between Ecosystems (MALBEC) is a policy gaming tool with potential to explore the impacts of climate change, harvest policies, hatchery policies, and freshwater habitat capacity changes on salmon at the North Pacific scale. This document provides background information on the MALBEC project, methods, input data, and preliminary results pertaining to (1) hatchery versus wild salmon production in the North Pacific Ocean, (2) rearing, movement, and interactions among Pacific salmon populations in marine environments, (3) marine carrying capacities, density-dependent growth, and survival in Pacific salmon stocks, and (4) climate impacts on productivity in salmon habitat domains across the North Pacific.