Even though the Chinook are the largest member of the salmon family in North America, their population size is dwindling. In the Columbia River System these salmon are a keystone species. According to this article, keystone species are vital for their ecosystem and act as the glue that holds everything together. Without that glue, everything would fall apart.
An article in The New York Times addressed how 8 large dams are involved in the decrease of the keystone species. The 8 large dams hinder the migration route of the Chinook. Chinook are anadromous meaning they start their lives in freshwater, then migrate to the sea for 1-7 years, then migrate back to freshwater to deposit their eggs. The Chinook travel hundreds of miles in their lifetime and the 8 large dams are making it a more difficult and dangerous journey for the salmon. The dams added more slack water to the migration route, allowing more predation to occur before the salmon can make it to the ocean. The dams also decrease the current of the water heading out towards the sea from 6-10 miles per hour to 1.5 miles per hour. This decrease in current can cause the salmon to go through smoltification too early. Lastly, the dams cause the water temperature to increase. Increased water temperature is detrimental to salmon according to this article.
With the Chinook population decreasing, it threatens the other populations that rely on the salmon as a food source. Chinook are the main food source for animals varying from eagles, to bears, to the southern resident orcas. Many fisheries scientists are standing behind the removal of 4 of the 8 dams to try and regrow the Chinook species to help save other species like the southern resident orcas. The southern resident orcas are already on the endangered species list according to this website. These orcas survive in the winter and spring by eating large amounts of the wild salmon. Sometimes up to 30 a day according to the article in the New York Times. Federal agencies are against removal of the dams and are saying that hatchery-reared fish will be able to compensate for the loss of the wild salmon. This however is false. The Chinook are bigger and have more fat compared to the hatchery-reared fish. The Orcas would have to catch double the amount of fish and do double the work. Also, wild fish can lose traits by mating with hatchery-reared fish. Traits that may be important later on for climate change adaptation.
The Chinook are considered an ESA threatened species according to this website. The king salmon is not endangered yet but it is quickly approaching that stage. It is time for actions to be made. Many organizations are in favor of removal of the 4 lower Snake River dams. For the sake of the Chinook, and many other species, hopefully actions can be made to move forward with this removal.
Posted by "Sophie DeRepentigny" (1)
I completely agree with you that action needs to be taken in order to restore healthy population sizes of Chinook. Any ecosystem where a keystone species is threatened could face crippling effects should its population fail to recover. If not in the interest of other species, we should still be concerned for our own sake. If certain species cannot sustain themselves after a keystone species becomes threatened/endangered/etc, our food sources or habitats could be affected as a result.
ReplyDeletePosted by "Meagan Gustafson"
Something definitely needs to be done about this. This situation could have easily been prevented if the dams were not built in the first place. It is incredible that people have little regard for how much damaging the population of one species can have a cascading effect on many other species. As you said, the Orcas that are already considered endangered are now facing more problems that can be prevented. What happens if these animals go extinct because of food shortages, when will people begin to care? Four of the dams should definitely be removed for the sake of the Orcas and other species in the area that are also going to experience problems.
ReplyDelete-Brianna Luciani
I completely agree with the comments above mine, saving this species is imperative to not only the species itself, but the entire ecosystem as a whole. Recently, I watched a video that describes how some dams have added a “salmon cannon” that allows the fish to pass over the damn in seconds, rather than days. While I doubt this idea is even past the first testing stages, it provides me a sense of comfort knowing that there are actually a number of people dedicated to solving this fairly overlooked issue. Overall, this post was a fantastic read and I look forward to seeing how this issue ends up being resolved.
ReplyDeletePosted by James Levangie
Thank you for your comment. I have not heard of the "salmon cannon" but I am going to look into it and the effects it can have on the efficiency of salmon migration. I hope that this idea can be brought forward to those in favor of preserving the dams and the Chinook. I feel like this "salmon cannon" might be a nice middle ground for both sides of the argument. Thank you for sharing this news with me! hopefully something can be done soon to save the Chinook.
DeletePosted by Sophie DeRepentigny
I took an ecology course last semester and learned so much about the importance of keystone species. Like it was aid in the comments above, without a species like the chinook salmon, the whole ecosystem can fall apart. Now a days some people rather not face the real problems we are having in our environment. I am glad to read that somethings are trying to be done about this. I hope that the "salmon cannon" project really does work because this can really help change this problem.
ReplyDeletePosted by PamJimenez
I completely agree with your comment. I feel like a lot of people turn away when faced with the environmental issues. I hope that the more people start talking about things like keystone species becoming threatened the more people will begin to realize just how truly devastating the environment actually is. Action needs to happen fast in order to restore many species like the Chinook who are threatened. I think more people need to pay attention to what is happening in the environment.
DeletePosted by Sophie DeRepentigny
After recently learning about keystone species in my Ecology class, I can see the magnitude of the issue that we are facing here as the dwindling population of the Chinook salmon has the potential consequence of entire ecosystem collapse. Upon reading this, I believe that greater conservation efforts should be made on this species especially considering the dire effects that may occur without.
ReplyDeletePosted by Brian Lee (1)