Salmon Recovery Questions

Bangor Daily News:

"The surge of Atlantic salmon that returned to the Penobscot and other Maine rivers to spawn this year appears to be the result of improved fish survival in the ocean rather than any changes to the state’s stocking program, biologists said Thursday.

Exactly why salmon seem to be faring better during the life stage they spend at sea is still open to debate, however.

More than 2,100 Atlantic salmon were counted making their way upriver in the Penobscot earlier this year. That was the largest return since 1992 and more than double the previous year’s figure.

The number of adult sea-run salmon returning to Maine’s other rivers was still tiny by comparison. But in almost every river, biologists observed more salmon returning this year than the five-year average.

In the Saco River, for instance, 62 adult salmon returned in 2008, compared with 24 last year. Figures were also impressive on the Aroostook, where the 44 fish represented a welcome change from the five-year average of eight fish.

Rivers in Canada, Scotland and Ireland also saw larger returns this year, according to Joan Trial, a biologist with Maine’s Bureau of Sea-Run Fisheries and Habitat.

“This year was an exceptional year. I wish we knew why,” Trial told members of the state’s Atlantic Salmon Commission on Thursday." ... more