Wild Salmon Research Paper

There used to be plenty of wild salmon in the rivers and streams of Pacific Northwest for a long time. states such as Oregon, California, Idaho, and Washington wild salmon population has decreased by almost 40% from their original population with not less than 106 major stocks being extinct. Being a known source of omega 3, the declining population is a big concern because they are known for such other reasons as sustenance for more than 137 other species of fish predators. Their decomposing bodies are a source of nutrients for aquatic trees, which means that their extinction is also a threat to the surrounding ecosystem.
The troubling decline in their population is attributable to a number of factors such as harvest, hatcheries, hydropower …show more content…
In such a scenario, salmon fish will have to live in standing water that is not healthy for the survival of the fresh-water animal. The unfolding events from such an ecosystem have a number of effects on the life of the salmon. First, the water temperatures are likely to rise due to stagnation which will subsequently affect their survival considering their natural habitat (Climate). Such adverse water temperatures impede spawning and may result in pre-spawning mortality. Additionally, the fish have to move upstream in search of cooler spawning environment; the effect of these is using a lot of energy to move upstream which results in smaller body sizes and even …show more content…
Some of the activities of the agricultural irrigation contribute to the depletion or the decline of wild salmon in a number of ways. First, the drawing of water from the river for irrigation often leaves low levels of water in the river tributaries that in turn affects the survival of the salmon. Low levels of water in the tributaries leaves the salmon with little or no water that can facilitate hatching considering they hatch on the floor of the rivers. For example, some areas of John Day River completely dry up in the summer or leave very little water which results in increased water temperature that kills any salmon or eggs left at the bottom of the river

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