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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Alaskan Salmon Sick of Climate Change

Scientists blame global warming for 'white spot disease'

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(Newser) – Alaskan king salmon are getting sick, and experts have named a culprit: global warming. Marine ecologists say that a rise in "white spot disease" is tied to a 3-decade trend of higher temperatures in the Yukon River, the Los Angeles Times reports. With cold-temperature barriers melting, parasites and bacteria are moving north—and threatening Alaska's prized salmon stock.

"Everything is getting warmer, and that's how climate change is going to redistribute all kinds of disease,” one scientist said. Alaskan state officials are playing down the issue, but fishermen are at their wit’s end. "I don't want to kill fish for the sake of killing them," one said. “I want to use the damned things."

Salmon sit on ice at the Pike Place Market in Seattle.
Salmon sit on ice at the Pike Place Market in Seattle.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
A fishmonger carries a 35-pound Copper River salmon off an Alaska Airlines cargo plane, fresh from Cordova, Alaska.
A fishmonger carries a 35-pound Copper River salmon off an Alaska Airlines cargo plane, fresh from Cordova, Alaska.   (AP Photo/Marcus R. Donner)
An Alaskan Copper River salmon is displayed in Seattle after a flight.
An Alaskan Copper River salmon is displayed in Seattle after a flight.   (AP Photo/Marcus R. Donner)
A fisherman and his sockeye salmon during an opener at the Main Bay Hatchery on the western shore of Prince William Sound, Alaska.
A fisherman and his sockeye salmon during an opener at the Main Bay Hatchery on the western shore of Prince William Sound, Alaska.   (AP Photo/Bob Martinson)
Workers dressed in gowns dress salmon.
Workers dressed in gowns dress salmon.   (AP Photo)
Bob Sterns holds a 50-pound King Salmon as Mike Gorton removes the hook on the Goodnews River in Alaska.
Bob Sterns holds a 50-pound King Salmon as Mike Gorton removes the hook on the Goodnews River in Alaska.   (KRT Photos)
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