Saturday, May 31, 2014

Concern over Atlantic salmon numbers in Quebec

                              Concern over Atlantic salmon numbers in Quebec 
                                                         By: Thomas Hall
                                                              Rating: ***

In this article, it talks about the declining population of salmon in Quebec. Almost a decade ago fishing was become less popular due to the scarce amount of salmon that were in the ocean. The 'grilse salmon' (salmon that spend only one year at sea before returning to spawn) suffered a 47% decline in 2013. This rate is considered worrisome because it is detrimental to the entire salmon population. The grilse salmon and the multi-winter salmon hatch from the same eggs and carry the same gene. The difference is that the grilse salmon are smaller and the multi-winter salmon are larger due to feeding separately. The larger salmon, the multi-winter salmon acts as the species 'genetic insurance policy'. This means they act as the salmon that will help populate the population. The general main factors for the declination of their population are, predation, the spread of disease, ocean temperature, and lack of food. Rising ocean temperature is affecting the food source for salmon's. Which requiring the grilse to spend another year at sea to grow big enough to spawn, and thus weakening the genetic safeguard effectThis article is recommended for those who are interested in preserving wildlife such as salmon. 

Hall, Thomas. "Concern over Atlantic salmon numbers in Quebec" Canadian Geographic, Wednesday May 21, 2014 <http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/blog/posting.asp?ID=1164>.

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