West Coast Salmon Vulnerable to Climate Change, but Some Show Resilience to Shifting Environment

[OldBlackDog]

Return of the king: Salmon rebounds after California drought


https://www.kron4.com/news/return-of-the-king-salmon-rebounds-after-california-drought/

 

[wildmanyeah]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/salmon-beaufort-delta-1.5247290

Fish frenzy: Once rare, salmon are now biting in the Beaufort Delta


Around 800 salmon have been received from harvesters across the NWT to date in all communities across the Beaufort Sea and on the Mackenzie River upstream to Wrigley so far. This is a HUGE salmon year for the Canadian Arctic. In comparison, we had received 5 salmon by this date last year. In 2017, which was our highest recorded year before now, we had received 148 by this date. Let's continue to work together to track these unexpected harvests of salmon so we can better understand what this means for the Arctic ecosystems.

We are still accepting UNLIMITED salmon HEADS in all communities. Harvesters can receive a $25 gift card per salmon head. Please freeze the heads in individual bags and include the date and location of harvest (be specific!). Salmon can be traded in at all DFO offices and most local RRC/HTC offices in the ISR and GSA, and ENR offices in the Sahtu, Dehcho, and South Slave areas. Salmon can also be traded to the AAROM program in the Dehcho. In Nunavut, salmon can be traded in at most local HTO/HTA offices.

Thanks to the harvesters for trading in their salmon, to DFO, Fisheries Joint Management Committee, Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board, and Sahtu Renewable Resources Board for the funds to make this happen, and to ENR and all the local HTC/RRC/HTO offices for their support. Thanks to Colin Gallagher (DFO) for the photos.

Questions? Message us! Happy Fishing!

 

[GLG]

I absolutely do trust the experts. Perhaps not yours.

 

[agentaqua]

David Koch Was the Ultimate Climate Change Denier
How a playboy billionaire built a political army to defend his fossil fuel empire.
By Christopher Leonard
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/opinion/sunday/david-koch-climate-change.html

 

[OldBlackDog]

Let the Hate Flow: Climate Activists Celebrate the Death of David Koch
Eric Worrall / 9 hours ago August 25, 2019

David Koch. By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Guest essay by Eric Worrall

In his life David Koch helped create thousands of jobs. He supported mass immigration and opposed President Trump. But none of this was enough to overcome the bogeyman image created by the green movement.

David Koch, a Bad Man, Has Died

Jack Mirkinson
Yesterday 9:37am

David Koch, the conservative billionaire who, along with his brother Charles, helped to make the world a worse place, has died at 79, Charles Koch announced on Friday.

David Koch was a major philanthropist in the arts world; if you live in New York, you will see his name plastered all over the place in cultural citadels like the Metropolitan Museum and Lincoln Center. But what animated him most was using the vast sums of wealth he and his brother amassed through their company, Koch Industries—his net worth was an astounding $58.7 billion—to fund the conservative movement in America. The Koch brothers have been very successful in doing this, to the detriment of the rest of us.

…

Read more: https://splinternews.com/david-koch-a-bad-man-has-died-1837504323
There’s more;

David Koch’s Monstrous Legacy

By Sarah Jones

By the time he died on Friday at the age of 79, David Koch was worth $42.4 billion. He will be remembered for what he did with it. Some people will probably praise his charitable spirit, perhaps even his support for criminal-justice reform, or his skepticism of military intervention. “The vast bulk of Koch’s philanthropy was not political,” Brian Doherty noted in an obit for Reason magazine. “It included hundreds of millions of dollars for cancer research (he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1992) and major arts and sciences institutions, museums, schools, and public television, with much of his institutional philanthropy centered in New York City, his home for decades.”

But Koch’s largesse wasn’t free. We are paying for it now, and have been paying for it for decades. Koch’s legacy is a testament to the power of weaponized philanthropy. For Koch did not restrict himself to supporting artists and scientists. He, along with his brother Charles, who survives him, committed their vast family fortune to the construction of a powerful conservative network. We live in the world that he helped build, and it is on fire.

…

Read more: http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/08/david-kochs-monstrous-legacy.html
A more balanced memorial from The Independent;

David Koch’s legacy wasn’t perfect – but it was far more positive than you’ve been led to believe

Caleb Franz

To celebrate the death of one of America’s greatest philanthropists because it is politically convenient is a disservice to his true legacy

David Koch, the political philanthropist who nearly everyone has an opinion on, has passed away at the age of 79. Many remember him as a cartoon villain of modern politics; however, the truth of his legacy is that, along with his brother, he championed many positive and noble causes that tend to be supported across the political aisle.

David was philosophically a libertarian, and even once, in 1980, ran as the VP candidate on the Libertarian Party ticket.

When he stepped down from his position at Koch Industries due to his failing health during June of last year, the LP reflected on all he and his brother gave to the movement: “The Kochs have teamed with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Centre for American Progress, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Coalition for Public Safety, and the MacArthur Foundation to reduce incarceration and promote criminal justice reform. It’s informative that Koch political activism and charitable activities are motivated by classical liberal idealism, not by crony capitalist self-interest. They have changed the political atmosphere in a way that both conservatives and liberals can comfortably move in a more libertarian direction.”

…

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/david-koch-death-cancer-brother-money-charles-a9076881.html
It is sad that someone who did so much good has passed.

But it is also sad that a large number of people today are marching to a philosophy of green intolerance, a philosophy which is so rigid and unforgiving, they can’t find anything good to say about someone who supported at least some of their ideas, someone who gave billions of dollars of his own money and many hours of his time to worthy causes.

David Koch Was the Ultimate Climate Change Denier
How a playboy billionaire built a political army to defend his fossil fuel empire.
By Christopher Leonard
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/opinion/sunday/david-koch-climate-change.html

 

[agentaqua]

Why do we lionize & sanitize the unfortunate legacy of corrupt rich people? We are not here to make money. Absolutely NOT the reason we have awareness on this chunk of rock flying around space. I can only assume that people who feel impotent in their own lives mistake belligerence and hate as strength. Those people are neither leaders nor examples of success. The lesson is don't do that. Don't live you life as a lie. Help people. That's why we are here. It's a short trip so pack light - remember that.

 

[OldBlackDog]

How the Media Help to Destroy Rational Climate Debate.

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/08/how-the-media-help-to-destroy-rational-climate-debate/#comments

 

[Fishmyster]

I am guessing you are unfamiliar w multivariate stats (e.g. factor analysis, etc.)? Where you can apportion-out relative amounts that each factor explains the variability?
Ya - most species, most stocks, most years - esp. in the past 10-20 yrs - ya Ocean survival/mortality is the biggest kicker. Look it up. Lots science on that out there.

Are you talking about the multivariable stats like the Stamp river sockeye collapse in comparison to the Sproat river or the fact of Cowichan river Chinook doing fine in the past oceanic conditions where as other stocks continue to suffer?? Why is the warmer conditions not killing off these salmon populations?? The scientific process of you follow reveals the total disconnect from the natural fw environment which has become common in the scientific community in the last 10-20 years. Yes, because there are no recent local studies on fw ecology, chemistry trends or productivity you can only and selectively believe in the what is available on the internet that it is only about ocean conditions. If you ever decide to go outside there is a whole world of natural ecological information in streams indicating fw chemistry has been compromised. Just look it up. It is still there for whomever cares to cross reference with salmon enumeration stats. After you assess this unsolicited multivariable information and apply it to your internet accumulated knowledge you will have a more complete understanding of what is really going on in the real world.

 

[agentaqua]

There's a few more rivers on the coast besides the Stamp/Sproat or the Cowichan, FM. You can argue w the many dozens of researchers who have done work in this area for many years - if you want to. I would suggest looking-up the science, and submitting challenges to the journals they submitted in - if you are serious.

 

[Fishmyster]

There's a few more rivers on the coast besides the Stamp/Sproat or the Cowichan, FM. You can argue w the many dozens of researchers who have done work in this area for many years - if you want to. I would suggest looking-up the science, and submitting challenges to the journals they submitted in - if you are serious.

Oh I know about the other streams on the coast because I have been exploring them as a hobby for the last 3 decades. Another less known gem of a stream is Devereaux creek tributary of the Klinnakleeni river. That is a warm water stream with a valley which has been moved over three times yet has a stable ecology and fish population. Then the near by Ahunatti river which has never been logged and has cold waters is sterile of life. So when you get out into the real world there is valuable information which has been overlooked and many people have become so complacent as to just believe the headlines. Even many of the "experts" have gone this route of disconnect from aquatic ecology and field evidence. I could list off many other streams with similar productivity variables but too much typing. This whole ocean vs fw survival perception you are grasping is lacking the many variable parameters other then temperature, the fact that fw effects do not just end in an estuary or include the ever changing water source in fw being precipitation. IMHO it is extremely lacking scientific integrity.

I am not interested in confronting the many researchers who have done good work in the past in regards to stream productivity on this coast. Just because their work bypasses any long term water quality inclusion doesn't make it invaluable. They are also not the ones who are continuously promoting the climate hysteria on the internet. As you repeatedly seek and post any articles intended to sell the fear of climate change I feel obligated to let others know not to faithfully believe the media driven fear tactics. There is a far different truth in the real world if you just look.

 

[agentaqua]

If you believe that global warming and it's effects on fish are instead a conspiracy concocted by a poster on the BC Sportsfishing Forum - even after all the news and data posted on this thread and others - well...

Good luck w that, FM.

In the "real world" we will keep on addressing real issues and looking for solutions and adapting where/when we all can.

 

[Fishmyster]

LOL! There is an engo conspiracy which you are always promoting and it is to instill FEAR of the effects of global warming!!!
Warming climate should in theory alter species ranges but not doesn't explain the die off in productivity in many of our more colder streams which is an indicator of other water quality parameters being involved. All the news and data you post is just more evidence of media hype used to manipulate public impressions.

Your version of the real world is somehow unable to comprehend that the die off in insects, changes in algae species, changes in decomposition and thirty years of acidic precipitation will have negative effects on salmon populations. Yes your real world you seems to think there is no time to consider any other water chemistry parameter, bacterial state or entomology assemblages other than just warming waters! Let's just keep this general and call it Climate Change and Global Warming to make things easy on our selves. Right?

It's funny how you do not have any comment on the videos I posted. Do the videos of high profile salmon streams barren of invertebrates not seem real? Do you believe that in the real world stream invertebrate assemblages have no importance to fish propagation? Do you live near any of those streams and ever look for yourself???

 

[wildmanyeah]

The Liberals have had 4 years of a majority government and the survey says....

Canada’s climate change plan among worst in G7: report

https://globalnews.ca/news/5801530/canada-climate-change-plan-g7/

"the Climate Action Network ranks Canada’s climate plan as having the same impact on global warming as the policies of the United States, where U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected the Paris agreement."

 

[dradons]

Do we know factually why the invertebrates have died? Could temperature and climate change actually be impacting them too or is it just PH?

 

[Fishmyster]

Do we know factually why the invertebrates have died? Could temperature and climate change actually be impacting them too or is it just PH?

pH is just one water quality parameter that effects water quality. Changing pH can cause heavy metals suspended in water or precipitated on substrate to dissolve and become toxic to ecology or strip waters of essential calcium and magnesium. There is very little local or recent research done to investigate the effect on salmon productivity. However there is plenty of documentation of the destructive effects dissolved heavy metals have on insects. If anyone looks into the epa water quality database or municipal water testing records they will see there are many times where water quality parameters are surpassed levels deemed safe for ecology in the Canadian and U.S. guidelines for water quality. For some reason nobody seems to care about putting it all together. I personally watched the insects die off in my local stream back in the mid 1990s during the winter high waters. Back in the mid 1990's rain pH was averaging in the mid 4's which is considered "acid rain". Back then the rain pH sometimes dipped into the mid 3's. so says reports from the environmental monitoring station at Saturna island. For some reason the modern day scientists don't look into water quality history, monitor invertebrate populations, acknowledge changes in algae species or consider bacterial composition to be of importance to salmon productivity. It all happened during rain storms when everyone is inside staying warm and dry. So for that reason there is no documentation of pH being a cause or even acknowledgment of the insects even being absent.

In contrast there is just as little evidence where warmer climate has been the cause any insect decline because the long term monitoring and testing on that front is just as neglected.

 

[agentaqua]

ENGOs are not responsible for any alleged global warming conspiracy. GW is real. Only a detached and inexperienced person would believe the denier PR machine. In the real world - esp. up North - there is no doubt of the effects of GW - or the lunacy of not addressing it

 

[Fishmyster]

ENGOs are not responsible for any alleged global warming conspiracy. GW is real. Only a detached and inexperienced person would believe the denier PR machine. In the real world - esp. up North - there is no doubt of the effects of GW - or the lunacy of not addressing it

The people who can only believe gw is caused by human activities are the ones who are detached and inexperienced. Anyone who has the integrity to research climate history has the understanding that gw is cyclical and has happened many times before humans existed on the planet. It is the engo's who solicit man caused gw because they make money selling the notion. GW is real just like changing global chemistry change and is something which has been happening as long as this planet has been around.

 

[agentaqua]

Cyclical. Ya - follows cycles of high CO2 followed by mass extinctions. Lesson to learn there son.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Don’t need to convince conservatives about climate change it seems the liberals need convincing too. Four years of a majority government and they have one of the worst records on climate change.

Perhaps more time should be spent trying g to get the liberal MLAs to do something about it. They are very opinionated in public about it but it seems that’s all they are doing about it, talking about it.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5801530/canada-climate-change-plan-g7/

 

[agentaqua]

Alaskan Salmon Deaths Blamed on Record High Temperatures
https://time.com/5661024/alaska-high-temperatures-salmon-deaths/