Invasives threaten salmon in Pacific NorthwestMarch 02, 2009Survey of non-indigenous species finds they may outrank established dangers Many native fishes in the Pacific Northwest are threatened or endangered, notably salmonids, and hundreds of millions of dollars are expended annually on researching their populations and on amelioration efforts. Most of the attention and funding have been directed toward to the impacts of habitat alteration, hatcheries, harvest, and the hydrosystem-the "all H's." A study published in the March 2009 issue of BioScience concludes, however, that nonindigenous species, notably invasive fishes, appear to pose at least as much of a threat to native salmonids as the all H's, principally through predation. The study, by Beth L. Sanderson of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Washington and two colleagues, made use of a spatially explicit database that identified the presence of invasive species in roughly 1800-square-kilometer, hydrologically connected areas throughout Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The number of invasive species in each area ranged between 86 and 486, the majority being plants and fish. Sanderson and colleagues assembled reports of predation by six nonindigenous fish species: catfish, black and white crappie, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, and yellow perch. Hundreds of thousands to millions of juvenile salmonids were being consumed by these species at just a handful of sites, and for some of the species, salmonids constituted a large fraction of their diet. Yet despite the clear evidence of a substantial impact of invasive species on economically important salmonids, only a very small percentage of research funding is devoted to the potential harms to salmon resulting from invasives. American Institute of Biological Sciences |
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| Related Salmon Current Events and Salmon News Articles Tags reveal white sharks have neighborhoods in the north Pacific, say Stanford researchers The white shark may be the ultimate loner of the ocean, cruising thousands of miles in a solitary trek, but a team of researchers has discovered that the sharks have maintained such a consistent pattern of migration that over tens of thousands of years the white sharks in the northeastern Pacific Ocean have separated themselves into a population genetically distinct from sharks elsewhere in the world. Living, Meandering River Constructed In a feat of reverse-engineering, Christian Braudrick of University of California at Berkeley and three coauthors have successfully built and maintained a scale model of a living meandering gravel-bed river in the lab. A new chemical method for distinguishing between farmed and wild salmon Wild salmon and farmed salmon can now be distinguished from each other by a technique that examines the chemistry of their scales. Northern brown bears discovered feeding on whitefish runs The discovery of brown (grizzly) bears feeding on migrating broad whitefish in a stream in Mackenzie Delta region of the Northwest Territories has researchers advising increased care in petroleum extraction and infrastructure development within the area. Bugs in Boxes Shed Light on Biological Invasions Bugs in boxes are helping UC Davis researcher Alan Hastings improve scientific tools used to predict the spread of invasive plants and animals. Salmon migration mystery explored on Idaho's Clearwater River Temperature differences and slow-moving water at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers in Idaho might delay the migration of threatened juvenile salmon and allow them to grow larger before reaching the Pacific Ocean. Northwestern United States could face more tamarisk invasion by century's end If the future warming trends that scientists have projected are realized, one of the country's most aggressive exotic plants will have the potential to invade more U.S. land area, according to a new study published in the current issue of the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management. Widespread Occurrence of Intersex Bass Found in U.S. Rivers Intersex in smallmouth and largemouth basses is widespread in numerous river basins throughout the United States is the major finding of the most comprehensive and large-scale evaluation of the condition, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research published online in Aquatic Toxicology. River flow and temperature limit trout numbers Over a 23-year study, Javier Lobon-Cervia has found the mechanism that controls the number of salmonids found each year in Cantabrian rivers. Half of the fish consumed globally is now raised on farms, study finds Aquaculture, once a fledgling industry, now accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new report by an international team of researchers. And while the industry is more efficient than ever, it is also putting a significant strain on marine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea, the authors conclude. More Salmon Current Events and Salmon News Articles |
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