• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: 40% of Fossil Fuels Now Under Development Must Stay in the Ground May 17, 2022
Rocky Mountain Glaciers ‘Past Tipping Point’, with Some Expected to Vanish by 2030 May 17, 2022
UK Activists Block Russian Oil Tanker From Docking in Essex May 17, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: Bid to Revive Doomed Nova Scotia LNG Project Collides with Germany’s Net-Zero Plans May 16, 2022
3,800 Residents Ordered to Evacuate after Flooding in Hay River, NWT May 16, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Jurisdictions Arctic & Antarctica

Southern Salmon Migrating to Northern Waters as Arctic Melts

July 15, 2018
Reading time: 2 minutes

Wilson Hui/Flickr

Wilson Hui/Flickr

 

State-of-the-art DNA analysis—and the traditional knowledge and first-hand observations of resident communities—confirm that salmon species are increasingly appearing in northern waters that 15 years ago would simply have been too cold for them.

Whereas only the occasional “pulse” of pink or chum salmon would appear in the Mackenzie River Delta, or points north, as recently as 14 years ago, “now all of the communities in the Inuvialuit Settle Region (along the Arctic coast)” are catching the iconic southern species “every other year,” said research scientist Karen Dunmall, who’s overseeing a community-based Arctic salmon research project for the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans

“And it’s not just pink and chum salmon anymore,” reports The Narwhal. “Other southern species including coho, sockeye, and Atlantic salmon are starting to show up, as well.” Anxious to get a clearer picture of where these migratory creatures are headed, “Dunmall has begun applying a cutting-edge technology called environmental DNA, or eDNA,” a technique which involves testing water samples for “free-floating bits of genetic material, things like skin cells or scales that have been shed.”

A “brand new way of determining which creatures are in a body of water without ever seeing them,” writes The Narwhal, eDNA is “especially useful in the vast and remote Arctic.” Moreover, “anyone with a little training” can collect water samples, said Robert Bajno, the Winnipeg-based DFO scientist who is developing the technology.

But Dunmall’s work is about more than just DNA. “Whenever I can, I talk to people about salmon,” she told The Narwhal.

Amongst the things she has learned: “Some Indigenous languages along the Mackenzie River have words for salmon, but not all. And among those that have a word for the fish, it’s only chum that is named.” She said she knows of no local Indigenous words for chinook or coho salmon, and she’s also been told that the “years when big pulses of chum salmon would show up in the communities of the Mackenzie River…are becoming more frequent.”

Now, moving between the lab and local Arctic communities, “Dunmall is piecing together what looks like a steady yet substantial change in the species makeup of Arctic fish populations,” The Narwhal notes. “Pacific species have been found as far east as Cambridge Bay, while Atlantic salmon have been making their way northwest through Nunavut.”

With accelerating warming of the Arctic drawing more and more fish species north, scientists anticipate interbreeding with Arctic fish stocks, leaving “the ecosystems and people that exist there today to reckon with the consequences.”



in Arctic & Antarctica, Biodiversity & Habitat, Canada, First Peoples, Oceans

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

@Olihorn1/Twitter
Severe Storms & Flooding

10 Dead, 300,000 Without Power as Sudden Storm Ravages Southern Ontario, Quebec

May 23, 2022
152
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/Energy/tarsands/
Climate Denial & Greenwashing

Alberta Fossils Log Emission Cuts by Exporting Them

May 23, 2022
104
Province of B.C./flickr
Energy Subsidies

B.C. Eliminates ‘Broken’ Royalty System, Offers Fossils a ‘Money-Back Guarantee’

May 23, 2022
74

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

MustangJoe/Pixabay

Newfoundland Opens New Round of Offshore Oil Bidding

May 19, 2022
278
John Englart

Australia’s Climate Election: Voters Kick Morrison to the Curb

May 23, 2022
259
@Olihorn1/Twitter

10 Dead, 300,000 Without Power as Sudden Storm Ravages Southern Ontario, Quebec

May 23, 2022
152
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/Energy/tarsands/

Alberta Fossils Log Emission Cuts by Exporting Them

May 23, 2022
104
Shutterstock

Greenhouse Gases Trap 49% More Heat than in 1990, NOAA Index Concludes

May 23, 2022
97
Can Pac Swire/flickr

Critics Pounce, HSBC Disavows Exec Who Cautions Against ‘Unsubstantiated, Shrill’ Climate Warnings

May 23, 2022
80

Recent Posts

Province of B.C./flickr

B.C. Eliminates ‘Broken’ Royalty System, Offers Fossils a ‘Money-Back Guarantee’

May 23, 2022
74
fda54 / Pixabay

ESG Investors Urge Livestock Industry to Diversify, Innovate to Dodge ‘Apollo 13 Moment’

May 23, 2022
60
/pxfuel

Study Finds ‘Ironic’ Link Between Reduced Pollution, More Hurricanes

May 23, 2022
73
Pexels/Pixabay

$8.5B in Debt Guarantees to Help South Africa Phase Out Coal

May 23, 2022
41
Asurnipal/wikimedia commons

Economic Opportunity, ‘Freedom’ Drive Red State Buy-In for Renewables

May 23, 2022
43
Wikimedia Commons

Bahamas to Offer ‘Blue Carbon’ Credits for Ecosystem Protection

May 23, 2022
67
Next Post
ilker/Wikipedia

Ontario Cancels Renewables Projects and Cycling Funds, Pushes On with Nuclear Relicencing

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}

2022 ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION

KEEP UP WITH ONTARIO’S CLIMATE CHANGE ELECTION

election-checkmark
Get Election Notifications

2022 ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION

KEEP UP WITH ONTARIO’S CLIMATE CHANGE ELECTION

election-checkmark
Get Election Notifications
The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

2022 ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION

KEEP UP WITH ONTARIO’S CLIMATE CHANGE ELECTION

election-checkmark
Get Election Notifications

2022 ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION

KEEP UP WITH ONTARIO’S CLIMATE CHANGE ELECTION

election-checkmark
Get Election Notifications
The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

2022 Ontario General Election

Keep up with Ontario’s Climate Change Election

election-checkmark
GET THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST

2022 Ontario General Election

Keep up with Ontario’s Climate Change Election

election-checkmark
GET THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST
The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

2022 Ontario General Election

Keep up with Ontario’s Climate Change Election

election-checkmark
GET THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST

2022 Ontario General Election

Keep up with Ontario’s Climate Change Election

election-checkmark
GET THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST
The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?