Sunday, April 28, 2013

Warmer oceans are hostile environments for some species of fish.

This is a Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta). You could say it is a fish out of water in Seattle, Washington.

Whatever it Takes (click here)
by Jim Ames

...In the photo above (to the left), a large male chum salmon is attempting to cross a flooded roadway in the lower Skokomish valley. Behind it, a dozen or so other salmon are awaiting their chance at a crossing. Many of these chum salmon will be successful in reaching their upstream spawning grounds, but others will be stranded by the receding flood waters and may die before spawning....


These are temperature predictions from Canada. (click here) One might notice the warming trend including the coastal waters of the Pacific northwest and the waters near Alaska. I could not find such maps for the USA, but, Canada is good enough. These warming trends are not exclusive to Canada alone.

In the index at the top right of the top image it is noted the red color means it is above normal temperatures. Why would that matter?

From NOAA:

One of the lower-priced (click here) Pacific salmon at the market, chum salmon, a.k.a. keta, is a leaner, less oily salmon mainly harvested in Alaska fisheries. Chum salmon populations can vary dramatically in abundance from year to year. They’re generally healthy in Alaska, but some groups of chum salmon in the Pacific Northwest have declined to the extent that they’re now protected under the Endangered Species Act. There are no directed fisheries for chum salmon in federal waters in this area. There are chum fisheries in inland waters of the Pacific Northwest, but they only target healthy stocks of chum salmon. Scientists actively monitor salmon populations, and managers adjust regulations for salmon fisheries every year, and often in-season as well, according to changes in salmon abundance and other conservation considerations....

The climate is effecting the temperatures of the oceans which are effecting the outcomes of the fisheries.