NOAA: Chinook and Chum Salmon Decline Related to Diet, Disease, Ocean Warming, and Bycatch
In an overview of what could be causing the decline of Chinook and chum salmon stocks in Alaska, NOAA Fisheries published a summary of current and past research that pointed to four potential culprits:
• poor diet and changes in metabolism in young Chinook and chum salmon;
• low thiamin (vitamin B1) levels in Chinook salmon that increase mortality and an increase in a parasite that attacks Chinook returning to the lower Yukon;
• diseases that lead to more salmon dying before they reach adulthood; neurological impairment as adults...
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