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More salmon coming back: Good news for fish and farms?

Posted by: Maven on March 16, 2010 at 5:48 am

From Sierra 2 the Sea:

“Who gets the blame for a declining salmon population off the California coast? A blog by fishery advocate Dick Pool a few days ago is typical of a popular view around the Golden State.

“The Sacramento Valley’s fall-run salmon have experienced catastrophic declines over the past eight years, falling from 769,000 returning adult fish in 2002 to 39,000 in 2009. The National Marine Fisheries Service report addresses several factors in this horrendous free fall, but you don’t have to dig very deep into the data to root out the primary culprit: the huge state and federal pumps near Tracy that send water south.”

Ah yes, let’s blame the farmers for the demise of this iconic fish.

But NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) scientists actually have a different take.

“The big decline we saw in Chinook salmon returns in 2007 and 2008 was subject to a major study that called poor ocean conditions the ‘proximate reason’ for the low numbers says Dr Michael O’Farrell Vice Chair of the Salmon Technical Team for the Pacific Fishery Management Council. Dr O’Farrell works for the NMFS in Santa Cruz who released that study about a year ago. He says ocean conditions was the “largest factor” although there were other reasons as well. … “

Continue reading this article from Sierra 2 the Sea by clicking here.

March 16, 2010 · Filed Under Wildlife & Endangered Species

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