May 24, 2004

Fake Fish are not Real Fish: Congressmen call for reason on salmon counting

It continues to shape up as a major battle line for NOAA Fisheries. The same guys who came out with the headlines last May of, "Another year of improving fish stocks in the U.S.," literally the day after the Myers and Worm Nature paper declaring no big fish left in the sea, are now wanting to count hatchery-born salmon among the natural population.

If you wondered how well the salmon industry is doing, check out this except from the article on ENN. And notice that this is yet another example of the "less than ten percent," indicator that seems to pop up in so many of the studies on what remains in the oceans.


Salmon in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California were once the cornerstone of this region's resource-related jobs, economy and culture. However in recent years, the commercial and sportfishing industries have endured the loss of more than 35,000 jobs while watching salmon numbers dwindle to less than ten percent of their historical numbers. In addition, both industries have seen more and more restrictions placed on fishing seasons and catch limits in order to make up for the pressures put on the already overstressed river system.

Posted by Randy Olson at May 24, 2004 05:06 AM