Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is an ecologically and economically valuable species that is found along the Pacific coastlines of Asia and North America. Unfortunately, many Chinook populations have been steadily declining during the last century, primarily due to a variety of human activities. These threats include hydroelectric dams, chemical pollution from planes (Dietrich, et al., 2012), and sound pollution from industry (Halvorsen et al., 2012). North American governments and hatcheries have implemented a variety of intervention measures to help restore this species, but the salmon are still struggling to recover in certain parts of their range. As a result, salmon-dependent marine organisms, especially the endangered Southern
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For example, wild salmon that have been reared in hatcheries can successfully reproduce, but they are significantly smaller (p < 0.0001) than their wild relatives (sometimes by a difference of over 40 centimeters), and produce fewer surviving hatchlings (Stark, Atkinson, and Kozfkay, 2014). Likewise, certain fish passages achieve nearly seventy percent success in transporting salmon, but even these thoroughfares fail to meet the minimum goals set by certain governments (Noonan, et al., 2011). The third strategy, dam alteration and removal, is a drastic approach, but it appears to mitigate some of the greatest difficulties faced by the other two methods; moreover, Bednarek (2001) reports that removing dams usually has positive effects on entire river ecosystems. Thus, my research indicates that this strategy may be the most ecologically holistic and effective means of salmon restoration, and I propose that further research should be directed toward dam modifications (and removals, when possible) in crucial Chinook-spawning rivers. Although the removing dams is a socially and economically challenging process, restoring Chinook populations is essential for the well-being of the humans, Southern Resident orcas, and ecosystems that depend on these fish for the nutrients and services they
For example, wild salmon that have been reared in hatcheries can successfully reproduce, but they are significantly smaller (p < 0.0001) than their wild relatives (sometimes by a difference of over 40 centimeters), and produce fewer surviving hatchlings (Stark, Atkinson, and Kozfkay, 2014). Likewise, certain fish passages achieve nearly seventy percent success in transporting salmon, but even these thoroughfares fail to meet the minimum goals set by certain governments (Noonan, et al., 2011). The third strategy, dam alteration and removal, is a drastic approach, but it appears to mitigate some of the greatest difficulties faced by the other two methods; moreover, Bednarek (2001) reports that removing dams usually has positive effects on entire river ecosystems. Thus, my research indicates that this strategy may be the most ecologically holistic and effective means of salmon restoration, and I propose that further research should be directed toward dam modifications (and removals, when possible) in crucial Chinook-spawning rivers. Although the removing dams is a socially and economically challenging process, restoring Chinook populations is essential for the well-being of the humans, Southern Resident orcas, and ecosystems that depend on these fish for the nutrients and services they