Northwest Salmon: The Threats Of The Northwest Salmon

950 Words2 Pages

Pinkish in color, with spots on their eight fins and back, thin long body with an average weight of 23 kg and length up to 76 cm, and a distinct back fin called the adipose fin. They are saltwater fish which spawns in fresh water, travelling over 20,000 kilometers in the ocean with speeds of up to 50 km per hour. They can jump more than four meters to climb waterfalls and any obstacles they encounter in the water. The Northwest Salmon is one miraculous fish. However, Northwest Salmon are now on the verge of being protected under the Endangered Species Act due to their dramatic decline in their population in the Northwest region of the United States. Their declines in numbers are causing great problems for their surrounding ecosystem, those that rely on the salmon as a food source, and the fishing industry. All of which humans are contributing to all these by overfishing, either commercial or for sport, and the construction of dams on major rivers. Then with the attempt to fix this problem, fisheries, or farms for fish, end up genetically changing the fish and making them more vulnerable to predator fish. Predator fish that are nonindigenous to the rivers the salmon swim in. Eating the salmon’s food or in most cases, eating the salmon themselves. If all of these acts continue at full force, I predict that the Northwest Salmon will not be naturally running up and down our American rivers within the next 50 years if not everyone is totally aware of their situation.
The salmon have for a long time been the heart of the culture for those who live on the coastal regions of the Northwest. Many people from these areas would hold ceremonies to honor the first return of salmon each year. The salmon nourished the Indian tribes of the Nor...

... middle of paper ...

...il has recommended cutting by half the number of salmon that can be fished off the Northwest Coast this year of 2014. The council stated "[s]mall fishing restrictions in recent years have failed to help the declining numbers of salmon. The only alternative to the new cutbacks, many experts believe, may be a total ban on salmon fishing (PFM Council)." I would totally agree with idea of theirs if they wished to do so. It may only take a few years to bring numbers up dramatically, and in the process giving off so much of their nutrients to the ecosystem. However, the idea of this would never fall through. It would cause a whole fishing industry to fall, mostly all of Alaska which relies heavenly on the salmon for their industries. Then if the law was only in place for the northwest, the Atlantic salmon would begin to be overfished. It's hard to say what a real solution

Open Document