Pacific Salmon are doing better than they have.

[OldBlackDog]

Taken from The Tyee article.



DFO did not respond in time to a request for comment on this story, but the Tyee did connect with Richard Beamish, an emeritus scientist listed on the DFO website as head of salmon interactions, coastal and oceanic ecosystems. Beamish is a Coho specialist, but knows enough about Chinook to say they’ve been in serious decline everywhere, including Russia, which accounts for 10 per cent of the world’s Chinook catch and more than 50 per cent of the overall Northern Pacific salmon catch (Canada accounts for only three per cent overall). In other words, it’s not just the Fraser River and Puget Sound that are seeing Chinook declines, it’s planet-wide. Others have suggested that among salmon species, Chinook may be more susceptible to climate change, and our warming, acidifying oceans. Oddly enough, as Beamish points out, “Pacific salmon in general are probably doing better than they have in recorded history. We are getting record catches of pink salmon in the North Pacific, especially in odd numbered years. [Pink and Chum] are doing quite well, but that’s not what the general public understands.

 

[Dave]

They are only "doing better" when one takes into account the billions of ocean ranched pinks and chums from Alaska, Russia, Japan and Korea. It is only just recently scientists are discovering the damage these ranched fish are doing to sockeye and steelhead populations.

 

[SpringVelocity]

They are only "doing better" when one takes into account the billions of ocean ranched pinks and chums from Alaska, Russia, Japan and Korea. It is only just recently scientists are discovering the damage these ranched fish are doing to sockeye and steelhead populations.

Why is south America chinooks doing so well if it's a global problem. There is something else going on. It has always been my belief. The combination of dozens of factors.

 

[Dave]

Maybe South American chinooks don't migrate to the same oceanic feeding and rearing areas as Northern hemisphere fish, but I'm only speculating.
But I agree, it's many factors involved.

 

[Birdsnest]

Why is south America chinooks doing so well if it's a global problem. There is something else going on. It has always been my belief. The combination of dozens of factors.

Chinooks(and coho some what) have a respectable track record of transplanting and/or straying successfully. They even do well in freshwater which suggest they are fairly resilient at developing populations outside of their normal boundaries. Given this, one would suspect that they would not be facing the issues they face up and down the west coast of Alaska, Canada and the us west coast.
What does south america have that we don't. Maybe that is the key to the mystery. Maybe we should look closely at the genetics of those south american springs, maybe they don't have the predation we have although I do not think alaska has the predator population we have in terms of seals. So much to consider but what a great question.