Science Spotlights
All Science Spotlights are also available in Russian. Click above to toggle view.
Demographic structure of Chinook populations is shifting
Analysis of several long-term datasets indicates that the age-size class structure of many Chinook populations has changed over the past several decades, with salmon becoming both smaller and younger…
Thermal tolerance of embryonic Chinook salmon may be lower than lab experiments predict
Scientists often use lab experiments to investigate the effects that environmental variation has on natural populations, but such approaches may fail to accurately mimic natural ecosystems…
Diversifying fisheries portfolios stabilizes fishing communities
Many coastal fishing communities the world over focus their fishing efforts on a small number of target species without explicitly maintaining capacity to take advantage of other potential marine resources…
Beaver engineering improves salmonid habitat
Near extirpation of beavers from the Pacific Northwest has contributed to a loss of habitat complexity in many salmon-bearing rivers…
What are the net benefits of salmon enhancement programs?
Enhancement of salmon stocks with hatchery-raised individuals is often used as a means of restoring depleted populations or supplementing healthy ones, but studies of its effectiveness have produced mixed results…
Is shifting climate driving changes in salmon population dynamics?
Prevailing ocean conditions in the North Pacific are highly influenced by complex interactions between various meteorological phenomena expressed across vast spatial scales…
Impacts of the North Pacific Current on salmon productivity
The North Pacific Current (NPC) traverses the Pacific Ocean in an easterly direction, bifurcating into the Alaska and California currents as it nears the west coast of North America…
Pink salmon competition influences productivity of sockeye salmon
Sockeye salmon productivity in the North Pacific has been trending downward for several decades…
Impacts of flood size on salmon spawning habitat in Southeast Alaska
Changes in global climate systems are expected to result in increased rates of precipitation in many areas; in Alaska, precipitation rates are projected to rise by as much as 30% by century’s end…