The King Salmon (commonly referred to as Chinook) has disappeared from many rivers in Alaska in 2009. No one is sure exactly why, but here are some possibilities, as reported at redorbit.com;
- availability of food
- predator/prey imbalance
- changing river conditions
- changing ocean currents
- plankton blooms
- incidental capture of Kings in pollock trawl nets
Any other ideas? Oh yeah, we’ve got one!
Alaska’s salmon ranching program pumps out billions of salmon (mainly Pink and Chum species)that compete with wild salmon in the ocean for food, but only produces minimal amounts of King salmon. Could ranched salmon, given the head start in a hatchery, be outcompeting wild King salmon for food? It’s seems a little too coincidental that the one species not heavily enhanced is the one not returning at historic levels.
Please welcome the elephant that just entered the room.
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Alaska’s salmon go missing. Why? « Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub // August 21, 2009 at 6:44 am |
[...] Reasons could be one of many, or several: Changing ocean currents, pollock fishing accidental catches of salmon, plankton blooms, conditions on the rivers, competition from “ranched” salmon. [...]