• 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
EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit August 15, 2022
Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature August 15, 2022
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Pacific Salmon Face Massive Die-Offs as Temperatures Rise

July 27, 2021
Reading time: 3 minutes

Oregon State University/wikimedia commons

Oregon State University/wikimedia commons

1
SHARES
 

This story includes details about the impacts of climate change that may be difficult for some readers. If you are feeling overwhelmed by this crisis situation here is a list of resources on how to cope with fears and feelings about the scope and pace of the climate crisis.

With massive die-offs predicted for salmon populations across North America’s West Coast, as both home and migratory waters grow too hot for their survival, efforts are intensifying to restore and protect habitats and restrict the annual harvest.

From California’s Sacramento River to British Columbia’s Okanagan, and in some coastal waters as well, heat and drought are dealing a fatal blow to millions of salmon, both young ones, and older migrating ones, with none able to withstand rising water temperatures in once-cool streams, rivers, and oceans, reports CBC News. 

Off-the-charts ambient temperatures, combined with drought, could mean the entire population of juvenile salmon currently in the Sacramento River will die this summer, while sockeye salmon have halted their annual migration up the Okanagan River, with the cold-water fish sensing a death trap in waters currently above 23°C. 

The year’s entire salmon run may well be “doomed by heat,” Jesse Zeman, director of the B.C. Wildlife Federation’s fish and wildlife restoration program, told CBC. 

That news is part of an ongoing pattern, with warm temperatures blamed for low spawning populations on the Fraser River in 2016, and for heat-related die-offs in both Alaska and Newfoundland in 2019.  

“Many populations of both Pacific and Atlantic salmon have been in gradual decline for decades,” CBC adds, “and scientists say warmer temperatures and other aspects of climate change have played a role.”

That’s partly because warmer temperatures mean warmer water, which holds less oxygen, leaving the fish struggling to breathe. And in a vicious feedback loop, “warmer temperatures speed up their metabolism, causing them to require more oxygen and food, and also forcing them to swim to find cooler waters, consuming more energy.”

The rivers in which the salmon live as juveniles, and where they will later spawn, are also growing more shallow as glaciers melt, winter snows become uncertain, and spring comes earlier each year. 

And with drought prompting human populations to divert more water for their own use,  “by the late summer, rivers are running low and becoming lethally hot for salmon,” said Aaron Hill, executive director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society. 

North America’s oceanic salmon populations are also suffering on both east and west coasts, CBC adds, as marine heat waves cause “the large, fatty northern zooplankton” to be replaced with less nutritious southern species. The change in diet weakens the fish, leaving them more vulnerable to predation. 

Ottawa’s recently-announced C$647.1-million Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, as well as ongoing efforts by provincial organizations like Nova Scotia’s Margaree Salmon Association and New Brunswick’s Miramichi Salmon Association, are part of a groundswell response to the plight of the heat-stressed salmon. 

Strategies include planting shade trees to further shelter naturally cooler pools in rivers, as well as enlarging the existing pools. Conservationists also stress the need for better land use planning, licencing and regulation of groundwater use, careful monitoring of fish stocks, and the closure of both commercial and recreational fisheries as necessary. 



in Biodiversity & Habitat, Canada, Climate & Society, Climate Impacts & Adaptation, Community Climate Finance, Heat & Temperature, Jurisdictions, Legal & Regulatory, Supply Chains & Consumption, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

TGEGASENGINEERING/Wikimedia Commons
Energy Politics

EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit

August 15, 2022
748
Steve Jurvetson/flickr
International Security & War

The Other Kind of Climate Change: Even a ‘Limited’ Nuclear War Would Trigger Starvation, Kill Billions

August 15, 2022
2
/Pikist
United States

Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature

August 15, 2022
221

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

TGEGASENGINEERING/Wikimedia Commons

EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit

August 15, 2022
748
Brocken Inaglory/wikimedia commons

State-Wide Megastorm Driven by Global Heating Could Drench California for a Month

August 15, 2022
437
/Pikist

Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature

August 15, 2022
221
Vinaykumar8687/WikimediaCommons

Solar On Track for ‘Staggering’ 30% Growth This Year

August 15, 2022
157
UK Black Tech/wikimedia commons

U.S. Tech Workers Leaving High-Paying Jobs to Focus on Climate Crisis

August 15, 2022
122
United States Marine Core/Wikimedia Commons

Distributed Energy Gains Ground With Mobile Microgrids, Vehicle-to-Grid Technology

August 15, 2022
114

Recent Posts

Steve Jurvetson/flickr

The Other Kind of Climate Change: Even a ‘Limited’ Nuclear War Would Trigger Starvation, Kill Billions

August 15, 2022
2
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Arctic Warms 4 Times Faster than Global Average, Surpassing Estimates 

August 15, 2022
116
rawpixel

Common Medications Foil Body’s Ability to Cope with Hot Weather

August 15, 2022
92
Max Pixel

Slashing Nitrogen Dioxide Pollution Can Improve Crop Yields, Study Finds

August 15, 2022
50
David Hawgood/Geograph

E-Bikes a ‘Faster and Fairer’ Emissions Solution than Electric Cars

August 15, 2022
103
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region/wikimedia commons

Researchers Study Carbon Loss, Forest Impacts of Northwest Territories ‘Zombie Fires’

August 15, 2022
23
Next Post
ADD / Pixabay

Heat Wave Stresses Pacific Northwest Utility Grids, Shows Value of Demand Response

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}