Subsistence News-12/16/94 C

To   Subsistence 2

From:      Larry Roberts:R10F02A

Postmark:  Dec 16,94  8:04 AM          Delivered: Dec 16,94 10:01 AM

Status:    Previously read

Subject: Subsistence News-12/16/94

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Message:

*Preliminary research by Brian Bigler and Jack Helle suggest weight measurements from 45 separate runs of King, coho, sockeye, chum, and pink salmon indicate a 10% to 30% weight decline over a 20 year period.

*Favorable weather conditions, better management of wild stocks, and huge increases in hatchery salmon have pushed North Pacific salmon populations to the highest levels in at least 50 years.

*These abundant populations of salmon may be straining the limits of North Pacific grazing areas_mid-ocean pastures where both Asian and Pacific American salmon spend most of their lives foraging on zooplankton and other feed.

*These researchers believe that since the salmon can’t find as much to eat as they used to, they are smaller in size at maturity.

*These smaller fish could mean less successful spawning, fewer eggs and weaker offspring, and perhaps drastically smaller salmon runs.

*What this means to Alaska subsistence is not yet clear. Researchers estimate it will take 10 years to complete their studies. What they hint is that we have reached the carry capacity of the oceans. Obviously, there are those who disagree with their suggested conclusion.