The Follies of Salmon Enhancement - Lessons from British Columbia’s Past
Hot Salmon Summer
In a world full of breaking news that comes and goes, one story held throughout the year. That story was that 2023 was the hottest year for both land and sea temperatures world-wide ever recorded since accurate data has been kept beginning in 1850.
The story played out in a seemingly unending series of extreme and often tragic weather events. In India, a piece of the Uttarakhand Glacier broke off in the Himalayan Mountains, triggered by heavy rains, causing a glacial lake outburst and subsequent flooding that killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands. In Libya, two dams collapsed from the force of heavy rainfall and flooding, combined with a lack of proper maintenance of the dams by the Libyan government. Human casualties were estimated to be anywhere from 5,300 to 20,000 people. (See the news story on page 21 of this issue warning about the increasing potential for more such events.)
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
• EEL RIVER DAMS, RECONNECTING CALIFORNIA’S LOST COAST
• SPECIAL REPORT: WINCHESTER DAM DAMAGE, NORTH UMPQUA RIVER
• KLAMATH DAMS REMOVAL MOVES FORWARD
Flooding and extreme hot temperatures were rampant throughout Europe, with some countries, such as Greece, experiencing some of their worst wildfires ever.
North America wasn’t spared. Canada had a record-breaking wildfire season in 2023. By early October, more than 6,000 fires had burned 45 million acres of forest affecting all 13 provinces. Heavy smoke drifted into populated areas of the upper midwest and northeastern parts of the US render- ing the air unfit to breath.
Unprecedented flooding in New England and the southeast, and summertime temperatures, particularly in Arizona and Texas, into triple digits.
For wild fish advocates, it is not news that these changes in climate and resulting weather responses are going to affect salmonids — mostly for the worse.
The Osprey has been reporting on Climate Change and wild fish for years, going back to when the national media still presented it as “unproved science.” We’ve published stories on how ocean species have shifted ranges northwards, impacting the sea’s food chain, the complexities of wildfire on salmon and steelhead and their habitat, the dynamics of melting glaciers on river systems and more.
The Osprey will continue to be a leader in informing its readers about Climate Change and its effects on wild salmon and steelhead, and their prospects for continued survival.
There is a corny old saying that you have probably heard, “Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” In the case of a changing climate, we can do something about it, if only we can muster the political will before it really is too late.