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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Chinook Salmon’s Last Meal?<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>A cooler ocean is
feeding hungry salmon, but their ultimate survival remains uncertain.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Scienceline, NYU
– 11/7/08<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>By <a
href="http://scienceline.org/author/lynne-peeples/"
title="http://scienceline.org/author/lynne-peeples/
Posts by Lynne Peeples"><font
color=black title="http://scienceline.org/author/lynne-peeples/"><span
title="http://scienceline.org/author/lynne-peeples/"><span style='color:windowtext'>Lynne
Peeples</span></span></font></a>, posted November 7th, 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'><!-- related items? -->Young <a
href="http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/chinooksalmon.htm"
title="http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/chinooksalmon.htm">Chinook
salmon</a> entering the <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Ocean</st1:place> this
year are finding cooler waters and more plentiful meals than the sea provided
their parents. Because of these improved conditions, fisheries scientists
forecast a rebound in coming years for the West Coast’s most famous fish.
But some researchers and fishermen believe the respite will be temporary, and
warn that future generations of Chinook could face even more devastating
declines than their ancestors did.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'>“Things are definitely looking up.
I’m pretty optimistic,” says Bill Peterson, an oceanographer at the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, whose ocean
monitoring detected the changing environment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'>The good news is a welcome change from
the latest Chinook headlines. Despite unprecedented <a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/02/BABT10F7PE.DTL"
title="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/02/BABT10F7PE.DTL">fishing
restrictions</a>, only 54,000 Chinook are expected to return to the <st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> this fall, according to NOAA. Just five
years ago, 775,000 came back to the river, and historic numbers—before <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>’s
population boomed with the Gold Rush of 1849—are thought to have been
between 1.5 and 2 million.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'>Three years ago, the <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific
Ocean</st1:place> was in particularly poor shape. Researchers documented large
numbers of dead sea birds and skinny whales, along with fewer small fish,
shrimp and squid for salmon to eat. “It was horrid,” says Peterson.
“Salmon went to sea in 2005, [then] probably died within a couple weeks
of getting there, and that’s why there weren’t any fish to come
back last year and this year.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'>But a recent shift in atmospheric
conditions, known as the <a
href="http://www.oceansatlas.org/servlet/CDSServlet?status=ND0xMjczNy40MDI3NiY2PWVuJjMzPXdlYi1zaXRlcyYzNz1pbmZv#koinfo"
title="http://www.oceansatlas.org/servlet/CDSServlet?status=ND0xMjczNy40MDI3NiY2PWVuJjMzPXdlYi1zaXRlcyYzNz1pbmZv#koinfo">Pacific
Decadal Oscillation</a>, is pushing cold water from the Gulf of Alaska south to
the Pacific Coast this year, and with it plenty of plankton—the
foundation of the aquatic food chain on which salmon rely. This food source is
crucial for oceangoing Chinook that typically spend three years at sea before
returning to spawn in freshwater. Returns are therefore expected to fully
reflect the ocean’s shift in another two or three years.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'>Longer-term projections of the Pacific
Decadal Oscillation, however, are becoming increasingly difficult. What used to
be a relatively predictable cycle of 20- or 30-year warm and cold phases has
shortened to 4-year shifts in the past decade. Whether or not these phases are
being influenced by climate change remains uncertain. “Maybe in 20 years
we’ll look back and say, yeah, this is global warming . . . all the
cycles have been upset,” says Peterson. But for now, his attention is on
the pending effects of ocean cooling.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'>The favorable ocean currents “will
buy us some time,” says Glen Spain, Northwest regional director of the
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “But we have
to deal with the problems inland in the meantime.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color="#222222" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#222222'>The list of freshwater issues is
daunting. Hydroelectric dams and water diversions have dried up the
Chinook’s traditional migratory paths and spawning grounds. The rivers
and streams that remain run shallow and warmer—uncomfortable conditions
for salmon. Soil erosion and pollution, as well as natural floods and droughts,
further destroy viable habitat. On top of all that, the salmon also face
overfishing and an altered ecosystem that includes non-native predators and
farmed fish.#<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Byron</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, JCT</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a>
(secondary)</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="http://fotr.org">http://fotr.org</a>
</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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