Pacific Salmon

There are 7 types of pacific salmon. The most common type of fish in each category are Chinook, Coho, Sockeye, Chum, Pink, Rainbow trout, and Cutthroat. In order to maintain sufficient genetic variation in today’s society, these fish must be preserved. Furthermore, salmon are a keystone species, this means they have a disproportionate effect on the ecosystem as a whole. They are a source of food for many predators, and without salmon for food, the predator populations also drop.

            Currently, there are over 200 species of Pacific salmon that are in at least moderate danger of going extinct. Furthermore, unlike in the past, anthropogenic causes such as pollution and damns are speeding up this process of hurting the fish. In the most recent years, catches have declined by 50% or more, mainly due to climate change effects. Another detriment to wild pacific salmon comes from the aquaculture industry. Although aquaculture exists with the intent of feeding an ever increasing population, it spreads diseases to wild salmon that really hurts their population. Specific species of salmon are not in serious danger, but stocks of salmon are projected to have a continual downward trend over the next century.

            Understand the historical patterns of salmon runs can help project the future ones. In the past couple centuries records from harvesting and canneries as well as current field studies help. However before the 1800’s it is hard to know what happened. It is known that in the past 4000 years, prior to European inhabitants in the region, salmon stocks were on a continual increase. Aboriginal fishing techniques were extremely efficient and actually very similar to the practices we use today. The difference is that they didn’t take as many fish as we did. Although their technologies allowed for them to have many more fish than they took, they didn’t take them all. Furthermore, unlike today, aboriginals, as Lackey refers to them in his article, lacked the technologies that we have that harm salmon habitats. Some of these technologies include dams, development and motor-powered boats. When European colonization began to take place in the Pacific region, most of the natives to the area were decimated by Old World diseases such as measles and smallpox. From about the 1500s and on, the decline in salmon stocks are due to Europeans.

            Up until now, I’ve mainly discussed the biological factors affecting the declining salmon runs. As important as that may be, there are also ethical and cultural aspects that much be taken into consideration. From the general summary I gave of Pacific salmon, it seems apparent that salmon stocks were generally increasing up until the entrance of European influence. For thousands of years the salmon were fine, and now within the last couple hundred, things have taken a turn for the worse. It would be ideal if we could take lessons from the people native to the region. We are taking more salmon than we have, and we’re annihilating salmon stocks with our new technologies. We must have respect for the salmon so that they can begin to replenish.

 -Rebecca Teel

Lackey, R.T. 2006. Wild Salmon in North America: Historical and Policy Context. Chapter in Salmon 2100: The Future of Wild Pacific Salmon. R.T. Lackey, D.H. Lach, and S.L. Duncan, editors. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, MD. pp.19-28

Tualatin River gets a Clean-Up

http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/sustainable/story.php?story_id=128924914104586500

The above picture is of Oregon's Tualatin River. If you go read the past the first few sentences of the attached article, it becomes apparent that the Tualatin was only recently far from this idyllic scene.

The article explains how a careless attitude led to the nadir of the River, and how it slowed to small trickle that a human could stand over.  Not only did the negligence of the River's health directly  hurt its apperance and flow, it also turned into a disgusting liability for the surrounding area.  The article describes how the river was siphoned as a drinking water source, while simultaneously used for dumping municipal and industrial waste.

However, the story of Tualatin River is one that is working towards a happy ending!   It serves as an example of how "environmental gains can go hand in hand with — not conflict with — economic prosperity."  I know that much environmental good is waylaid because of monetary concerns, but looking to the Washington County's decision to enforce the Clean Water Act, it is apparent that cleaning up your own mess leads to economic benefits.

By elevating the health of their natural resources to a level of Municipal awareness,  the people living along the Tualatin have not only restored the beauty that once was, but have also discovered a touchstone for the entire community, a pride in their lovely environment.

~~Danny Gibson

Sustainable Fisheries, Consumers, and Choices

Every time we step into a grocery store to buy food, we are making a statement with our money.  Some consumers who have the funds and the will to buy sustainable foods will now be able to know whether the fish they are buying in Whole Foods is sustainable or not.  Whole Foods partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program and the Blue Ocean Institute in order to start labeling fish according to its degree of sustainability.  The labels will be color-coded and include green for most sustainable, yellow for second best choice, and red for least sustainable fisheries.  These labels will provide consumers with another tool for protecting the environment and spending their money wisely.  Whole Foods instated the new system in September 2010, and has pledged to eliminate red labeled fish from their stock by 2013.

While Whole Foods is taking a step forward in the battle to protect our fisheries, most supermarkets do not label their fish.  Since many people cannot afford to shop at high end grocers such as Whole Foods, more grocers must join the movement to label their fish and eventually eliminate non-sustainable fish from their shelves. If they choose not to do their part to protect the world's fisheries, the selection of fish will rapidly dwindle.

-Janet Pasko

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/seafood.php