UK: Shrinking age distribution of spawning salmon raises climate resilience concerns
연어
수산물
영국
게시됨 2023년 2월 28일
Tridge 요약
By returning to spawn in the Sacramento River at different ages, Chinook salmon lessen the potential impact of a bad year and increase the stability of their population in the face of climate variability, according to a new study by scientists at UC Santa Cruz and NOAA Fisheries.
원본 콘텐츠
Unfortunately, spawning Chinook salmon are increasingly younger and concentrated within fewer age groups, with the oldest age classes of spawners rarely seen in recent years. The new study, published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, suggests changes in hatchery practices and fishery management could help restore the age structure of the salmon population and make it more resilient to climate change. The researchers focused on Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon, which contribute heavily to the salmon fisheries of California and southern Oregon. This population is particularly susceptible to the effects of increasingly severe drought conditions driven by climate change. "As we get more variable climate conditions, with greater extremes of rainfall and drought, we are going to see more 'boom-and-bust' population dynamics unless we start to restore the age structure of the population, which can spread out the effects of good and bad years across time," ...