Introduction
The topical focus of this paper is the Atlantic salmon fishery. In particular, this paper looks at habitat loss and salmon farming both of which have had major impacts on the sustainability of the fishery. Several efforts have been made to restore Atlantic salmon to their native habitat, specifically in Maine and New Hampshire. This paper reviews the policies that have been implemented, not yet implemented, and a proposed policy.
Historical Background of Atlantic salmon
In 1758, a Swedish naturalist named Carolus Linneas gave the Atlantic salmon its scientific name, Salmo salar which Latin for “the leaper” (Atlantic Salmon Museum, 2014). Today, it still continues to be a well-known and vital part of oceans ecosystems. They are sometimes referred to as the ‘king of fish’ (The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization, 2014).
Atlantic salmon belongs to the family of Salmonidae (U.S. Food And Drug Administration, 2013). Also, it is in the order of Salmoniformes, which include all salmons, trouts, whitefishes, and smelts (Webb, 2009). A common characteristic of salmonides is the presence of an adipose fin. Atlantic salmon are indigenous to the Atlantic Ocean. Generally, the Atlantic salmon is composed of three different species: North American, European, and Baltic (U.S. Food And Drug Administration, 2013).
The Atlantic salmon fishery
Native Americans and U.S. commercial fisheries started catching Atlantic salmon in the 1600s. The catches in Maine exceeded 90 metric tons in the late 1800s and 45 metric tons in the 1900s. However since 1948, U.S. commercial fisheries have remained closed. For recreational purposes, fishermen have angled Atlantic salmon since 1932. In the Dennys River in Maine,...
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...14, from http://www.nasco.int/atlanticsalmon.html
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U.S. Food And Drug Administration (2013, July 23). An overview of Atlantic salmon, its natural history, aquaculture, and genetic engineering. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/VeterinaryMedicineAdvisoryCommittee/ucm222635.htm
Webb , L. (2009, April 15). Salmo salar. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/webb_laur/classification.htm
Defenders of Wildlife (n.d.). Salmon | Basic Facts About Salmon | Defenders of Wildlife. Retrieved from http://www.defenders.org/salmon/basic-facts
Hägglund, Å., & Sjöberg, G. (1999). Effedts of beaver dams on the fish fauna of the forest streams. Forestry Ecology and Management, 115, 259-266.
In the past, because the glaciers disappeared slowly can make people have a low temperature, clean water during the summer, but at the same time the salmon begin and end their lives. With temperature getting warmer and our glaciers melting, every stage of salmon’s life cycle is getting hurt.
The PBS documentary begins by explaining the normal life cycle of salmon, focusing primarily on the sockeye salmon population. This Pacific salmon once was found abundantly in the Columbia and Snake River, but as rivers were straightened and dams were built to meet the needs of population growth the fish population has diminished by the thousands.
Cod stock analysis showed that until the 60’s fish landings had never surpassed 300 tons, however by this time more and more foreign fleets had been starting to arrive in the Northwest Atlantic area to catch cod. One reason of this heavily growth in the landings, according to Higgins (2009), was the fact that fishing technology rapidly evolved. The striking growth of factory-freezers trawlers, which could stay for months on the sea storing hundreds of tons of fish on-board, is an example of this fishing evolution. In 1968, an historical catch records that 810 tons of cod was landed, more than twice times the amount of early 60’s. Atlanti...
The stories of each fish flow together as each story shows how humans have pushed to gain more control over the ocean and the delicious animals that swim in it’s depths. Greenberg starts in the free-flowing rivers where salmon are commonly found. It is there that early humans of the Northern Hemisphere most likely began their infatuation with fish. Greenberg puts it as, “It(salmon) is representative of the first wave of human exploitation..” (170) Once Europeans learned to fish, they had the ability to fish in shallow ocean water which is where sea bass are usually found. Later, fishermen s...
Rosenau, Marvin Leslie, and Mark Angelo. Conflicts Between Agriculture And Salmon In The Eastern Fraser Valley / Prepared By Marvin L. Rosenau And Mark Angelo. n.p.: Vancouver : Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, c2005., 2005. UFV Library Catalogue
The salmon are all sterile females which are grown in contained land-based systems, therefore they will not be able to breed among themselves or with other fish. So it is unlikely that the fish will have an impact on wild populations.
In the early 1900s people from Italy started to arrive on ship. They first arrived in Detroit, Michigan and later immigrated to Gloucester, to fish like they did back in the old country. Children, as young as ten years old went fishing to make a living for their family. When they first came the fishing industry was booming. There was no limit to how long you could fish or how much you could catch. Many men went fishing for weeks at a time. When Italian fishermen came upon the Atlantic off what is now Cape Cod, the waters churned with schools of fish. When they came nearly 800 of them in Boston and Gloucester combined became fishermen. In New England, cod was king. Enriched by a West Indies trade of fish for molasses, boat owners were referred to as the "codfish aristocracy. Sadly in the late 1990s the fishing industry went downhill and changed for the worst. (.)
...tivists are hoping for, especially when these threats are aimed at families and children. Salmon, like most of the tiny Idaho towns, is centered on family and community, and its residents do not take kindly to having either endangered; no child's life is worth than of an animal, no matter how beautiful, noble or majestic that animal may be.
With a coastline of over 202 000 km and over a fourth of the world’s freshwater resources, it is no wonder why Canada’s fishing industry is a huge part of its economy.1 Canada exports more than 75% of its fish to over 130 countries worldwide. Many of the 7 million people who reside on the coast depend on the ocean’s resources. In total, Canada’s entire fishing industry is worth around 5$ billion dollars a year, being one of the world’s most valuable. However, the coasts have not been treated by respect; overfishing, over consumption, and wasteful practices has deteriorated, not only the industry, but the ecosystems and fish populations. This is a huge global issue; the worldwide collapse of fisheries has been project for 2048. Slowly, as the trends continue, we will inevitably see many fish species start to disappear. In fact, the ill-treatment of species on the Canadian border has already devastated a large specie, the cod.
Generation after generation gathered food off the land, people are continuing to practice this in our modern world today. Societies expressly continue to gather their own food as it provides an inexpensive, delightful tasting meal. One of the techniques of our historical past that is still in use today, that has been used for generation after generation is “netting” fish. Netting is a classic technique that has not faced as many revisions to its practice. It persists from one generation to the next due to the fact, that many do not understand it to be harmful to the environment; others may enjoy the idea of letting commercial fisheries catch large numbers of fish as it continues to keep some of Americans favorite meals low cost. Devastating fall out from neglectful thinking about netting will occur in the future if preservative action toward this way of life is not taken. Minimizing the use of nets in waterways will ensure salmon and other fish survive for many more generations to come, allowing this plentiful food source given to us by Mother Nature to be exploited and enjoyed by our future kin. With food sources now readily available, fishing with nets should be reevaluated as follows; who is allowed to fish with nets, what are their purposes, and how will this effect tributary fishing populations.
There is one species of Atlantic salmon and five species of Pacific. Atlantic salmon account for almost 95 percent of the farmed salmon produced, and most of them are farm-raised on the pacific coast. Pacific species account for all of the wild salmon caught in the Americas and some of them are also farm-raised. No wild Atlantic salmon are fished commercially in North America, as they are an endangered species.
Zohar, Y. (2010, September 22). Genetically modified salmon is fit for the table. Retrieved from articles.cnn.com/2010-09-22/opinion/zohar.genetically.engineered.salmon_1_fish-and-seafood-wild-stocks-wild-atlantic-salmon/2?_s=PM:OPINION6
“The Great Bear Rainforest is home to over 2,500 salmon runs.” (Temple, 2005) At the moment, the Pacific salmon is the evident species inhabiting the forest. Salmon are keystone species. This means that they play a vital part towards the ecosystem together as a “critical food source for many wildlife species and as an upstream vector in the distribution of marine-deprived nutrients through the forest.” (David Suzuki Foundation, 2005) When this forest gets cut down, the entire ecology of the nearby water bodies drastically changes in a negative m...
Fishing is one of the most popular forms of outdoor recreation in the United States. Estimates of the rate of participation and number of persons 16 years and older participating range from 17% or 35.2 million to 29% or 57.9 million (USDOI and USDOC 1997; Cordell et al.1999).Fishing is popular outdoor activity than other activities because it low cost and physical demands. From an economic demand standpoint, more anglers to choose destinations that are similar in quality, nearby, and at lower cost so they can make more trips than they would to more distant destinations (Loomis and Walsh 1997).