The 6th H of salmon abundance: Heat
The clipping below is from a Daily Astorian article on an EPA report regarding global warming’s potential influence on Northwest salmon. Of most import for killer whale conservationists are the implications of what James Martin calls a “perfect storm” for salmon: low snow pack with low, warm flows in the summer.
Martin provides a nice quote regarding the economic impact of such a storm:
“In Oregon, Washington and Idaho, it’s a 35,000-job industry, and it’s worth $3 billion dollars per year,” he said. “So it’s a lot more than just a hobby. There’s a lot at stake.”
That’s about 30x the $100M estimate of ecotourism value associated with the southern residents.
The article also mentions a report co-authored by Martin and Patty Glick called A Great Wave Rising. Dan Drais of Save Our Wild Salmon recently handed me a copy and it looks like an admirable, balanced attempt to bring climate science into the on-going struggle to devise a legal federal plan for recovering endangered fish in the Columbia/Snake basin. I particularly like that it is rich in reputable citations with which I (and global warming skeptics) can understand the uncertainties in the trends and projections.
A quote from Glick suggests that “Heat” should be added to the 4 H’s that govern northwest salmon abundance: harvest, hatcheries, hydropower, and habitat. But just last night, David Montogomery claimed the 5th H should be “History” — the history of salmon-human interactions, particularly in Britain and in the Northeast U.S. So, for me “Heat” has become the 6th H and I’m even more convinced that salmon recovery (linked with killer whale recovery) is one of the most complex, grand environmental challenges of our time.
|
| 3.2 |
New research money related to Navy sonar
Not sure what this means for southern residents and funding for their researchers, but this is surely good news for beaked whales, as well as killer whales when they may transit Navy training areas in the Salish Sea or off the Washington coast. Thanks to Val Veirs for the tip on this press release.
|
| 3.2 |
No new orcas in late 2008
This is a pretty general treatment of endangered species with a nice from-the-field synopsis of prey/fecal sampling by KUOW intern Irene Naguchi, but it didn’t deliver what I expected — new information derived from the fecal sampling. The main news I caught from Brad was that they, Ken, and Mark haven’t noted any new calves in J, K, or parts of L pod this late fall/winter. Nice work getting an intern out on the water, Brad! (There is a link to the archived podcast at the bottom of the clipping…)
I was impressed with Pimm’s unwavering focus on delivering a positive message about the global extinction trend and with LaBorde’s careful statements about Northwest salmon recovery progress in 2008. Sara surprised me with the fact that 75% of Washington State is home to one of the 28 listed evolutionarily significant units of salmon.
(Thanks to Val for the head’s up about this programming.)
|
| 3.2 |
scottveirs

