Seattle Post-Intelligencer Oct 25, 08 10:56 CDT
(Newser)
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The orca population in Washington’s Puget Sound is dropping, and scientists think a scarce food supply is to blame, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. A poor year for chinook salmon—and another is in the forecast—forced the killer whales to spend energy searching further afield for food. Two mature females (the least likely orcas to die) and five others were lost this year, the biggest yearly decline since the 1990s.
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Feds can dodge review under rule changes
Oregonian (Portland) Aug 12, 08 3:21 CDT
(Newser)
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Critics are raising an alarm over planned White House changes to the Endangered Species Act, reports the Oregonian . The modifications would give federal agencies such as the US Forest Service more leeway to decide whether activities such as logging would harm endangered species—and such determinations would no longer be scrutinized by outside reviewers.
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Scientists blame global warming for 'white spot disease'
Los Angeles Times Jun 14, 08 7:24 PM CDT
(Newser)
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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.
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Opinion
Populations are decreasing, and farmed specimens aren't healthy
New York Times Jun 9, 08 8:16 CDT
(Newser)
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Salmon is supposed to be the perfect indulgence: low in saturated fats, high in omega-3 fatty acids, cheaper than ever at your local supermarket. But Taras Grescoe thinks you should stop eating it anyway. Wild salmon populations are dying off, he writes in the New York Times , thanks mostly to man-made habitat problems and overfishing. And the farmed salmon that's taken over grocery store shelves is not the healthy alternative it appears to be.
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Feds suspend trapping as they investigate killings
Associated Press May 5, 08 11:43 CDT
(Newser)
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Six federally protected sea lions were shot to death along the Columbia River in Washington yesterday as they lay in traps set to move them to another region, AP reports. Three elephant seals were killed the previous day in California. All were apparently the victims of a battle between fishermen and the animals that feed on endangered salmon. Officials had planned to move up to 85 seals a year out of the Washington area, but have now suspended trapping as they investigate.
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Shocking plunge in numbers a mystery
San Francisco Chronicle Apr 11, 08 5:10 CDT
(Newser)
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In drastic action to stop the collapse of the West Coast salmon population, a federal fisheries council is banning salmon fishing off California and most of Oregon for the rest of the year, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . "This is a disaster," said the council chairman. The number of salmon spawning in California's Sacramento River system has plunged some 94% in six years.
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Incredibly low stocks prompt action from federal agency
San Francisco Chronicle Mar 12, 08 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A shortage of salmon in the waters along the Pacific coast has driven regulators to consider a ban on salmon-fishing this season, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The Pacific Fishery Management Council has never recommended canceling the season before, and about 1,000 commercial fishermen could see their livelihood devastated by a final decision, due in April.
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Fear region's resource will be devastated
Washington Post Dec 25, 07 7:04 CST
(Newser)
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The world's largest sockeye salmon fishery, located in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska, is threatened with destruction by a proposed gold mine, which could become the biggest in North America. The planned Pebble Mine has polarized the state; mining companies, on the one hand, and environmentalists and commercial fishing interests, on the other, are waging fierce lobbying campaigns, the Washington Post reports.
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Sea lice could doom some species to extinction, study says
Washington Post Dec 13, 07 11:01 PM CST
(Newser)
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Fish farming could drive some species of wild salmon to extinction, a new study says. Canadian researchers found a direct connection between the growth of such farms in British Columbia and a sharp drop in wild salmon nearby, the Washington Post reports. They attribute the problem to deadly sea lice that thrives in the farms, then spreads to wild salmon that swim by the netted cage.
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It cites tradition but denies tribe's bid
to fish for salmon
Los Angeles Times Nov 24, 07 3:25 PM CST
(Newser)
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Japan has a ready defense for its internationally maligned whale hunt: Whaling is integral to Japanese culture, embedded in the country's traditional diet, literature, and religion. Yet this argument looks questionable in light of the Japanese government's refusal to allow indigenous people to continue their traditional salmon fishing, writes Bruce Wallace in an analysis for the LA Times .
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Northern Ireland's entire stock destroyed in jellyfish attack
AFP Nov 22, 07 12:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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An attack of killer jellyfish has wiped out Northern Ireland’s only salmon farm. More than 100,000 fish died in the seven-hour attack, causing estimated losses of $2.1 million, AFP reports. The 35-foot-deep wave of jellyfish covered 10 square miles. The mauve stinger normally prefers warmer Mediterranean waters and has never been seen off British shores in such numbers.
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Success shows sterile animals could
become surrogates
for extinct species
Nature Sep 14, 07 6:36 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Cue the world’s most peculiar baby announcement: Masu salmon have produced rainbow trout offspring, with an assist from scientists that could lead to the preservation of rare fish species. Trout sperm stem cells had already been injected into salmon embryos to produce salmon with trout sperm; now the same early sperm cells have been used to produce female salmon with trout eggs, Nature reports.
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As eateries cut costs, watch out for cheap shortcuts
Independent (UK) Aug 22, 07 9:51 CDT
(Newser)
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As the price of food goes up, what cost-cutting measures at restaurants might end up on your plate? The Independent lists 10 shortcuts, swindles and downright lies you should be wary of. Lookalike fish species Supermarket-bought salads Instant powdered eggs and potatoes
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Industrial chemicals raise contaminant levels into range unsafe for eating
Globe and Mail Jul 6, 07 4:23 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Industrial chemicals contaminate many species of fish that populate the Great Lakes, making them too hazardous for safe human consumption, says a Canadian conservation group. "The lakes continue to be polluted to such an extent that human health is threatened," says a report released yesterday that lists industrial pollutants such as dioxins, PCBs, and methyl mercury among the contaminants.
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New study ties nutrient in milk, tuna, salmon to 60% decrease
Associated Press Jun 8, 07 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The first research linking vitamin D directly to cancer prevention shows the nutrient sharply reduces cancer rates in older women. Only 3% of the 1,179 women monitored while taking a combination of vitamin D and calcium developed cancer over 4 years, a 60% lower rate than those given placebos, according to the breakthrough American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study.
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