According to the Register-Guard, this year’s spring chinook salmon run on the Willamette River is the lowest since 1996. This isn’t news to people who’ve been out fishing for them lately. Oddly enough, only the hatchery fish are missing. The wild portion of the run is actually stronger than it had been in previous years. Good news for Trout Unlimited and other conservation groups, bad news for the hatchery fans. Maybe the wild salmon were smart enough to avoid swimming into the dead zones floating around off the Oregon Coast last year.
Hi Matt,
I think you might have something in terms of the wild salmon. They have certainly had learning opportunities in their lifetimes that farmed salmon have not. The Northwest’s first peoples might say there is something to that in terms of the retention of wiliness! At http://holdenma.wordpress.com/
these posts tell a bit about the conservation strategies of native peoples whose elders I have had the great good fortune to spend time with:
“‘The One that Got Away” (for fish); the history of Willamette Valley resources: “The Gourmand’s Paradise: The Once and Future Willamette Valley?” and “Re-storying the Northwestern Landscape”.
Many things on your reading list are favorites of mine as well; I cite McDonough (co-author of Cradle to Cradle) in my own blog.
Cheers,
Madronna