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16 de Abril, 2008
The Chinook
Categorized under Artivism , Indígena | Tags: Benzene, Chinook Indians, Chinook Salmon, Citizen Journalism, indigenous, MTV, Oregon
THE CHINOOK SALMON are disappearing from the Pacific coast.
With numbers of chinook salmon at historic lows, and fishing likely to be outlawed from California to Washington to protect the remaining fish, a new scientific study paints an even harsher picture of the future of wild chinook salmon.The study, by University of California-Santa Cruz scientists and published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, found that just one in 10 chinook salmon spawning in California rivers are actually wild salmon. The other 90% were raised in hatcheries.
In other words, the fish humans have added to the water have propped up the population, at the same time they have masked the true decimation of the wild resource. The numbers from the study reflect the makeup of the chinook salmon in the Sacramento River in 2002, a year when about 775,000 fish spawned there. This year, fewer than 60,000 are expected, meaning that – if the new science is valid – just 6,000 wild fish remain in the river that enjoys the West Coast's largest salmon run.
The new results could prompt officials to consider listing the fish as an endangered species, rather than just restricting fishing in an effort to bolster its population.
—Chinook Salmon Collapse Worse Than It Seems; Only 1 in 10 Wild Fish Is Truly Wild
I spoke a litte of this in a video I made as part of the secondary application I made to MTV, when applying to become the vlogger reppin' Oregon. In that video, called "This is A Thread I Will Follow" (and I will and am!) I spoke of the harmful effects of the sadly ubiquitous pollutant/toxin Benzene. But dams are a big part of what is killing off the salmon, too. As is commercial harvesting. And Sea Lions, who were recently (almost) under the gun for these eating habits.
Multiple causes, perhaps as many as 40, have been identified as possible agents of the contemporary decline. Many on our list of culprits were identified in 1886 - over-harvesting, dams that stop the spawning movements of salmon, diversion of freshwater to the Central Valley for agriculture and the siltation from erosion (due now to deforestation but in those days caused by the legacy of Gold Rush mining in the foothills). Now, we can add climate change, which warms the oceans and robs young salmon of their foods.—Salmon run will collapse unless we reverse underlying causes of decline
Solutions considered: Outlawing harvesting this season. Killing off Sea Lions, who eat Salmon. Electric barriers. Declaring the Chinook Salmon an endangered and protected species.
"Solutions" like electric barriers and killing Sea Lions disappoint me. Walls, fences, death. As if we admit we cannot understand the world's nature, but are strong enough to control it in the harshest ways possible (we are not). As does the fact that so much human interference has decimated the Chinook Salmon population in the first place. I don't hear much talk of doing away with the dams! But perhaps the fish aren't THAT important to us.
Will the Chinook disappear, no longer to travel their magnificent and enduring journey along the Pacific Coast to the Western coast of Canada? Or will they remain in force despite so many outside antagonists, thriving against the odds, and outside our general attention span like some other Chinook do?
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kick it, ése.