From The Salmon's Mouth

SALMON: INDICATORS
OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Traverse Fresh & Saltwater

aquatic canary

-------

.. The good folks at ANS, (Protect Your Waters,) have clued us in to the role of salmon as, "one of the natural world’s most sensitive indicators of the biological and chemical effects of climate change."
.. The note at FISHupdate.com cites the work of Dr. Ken Whelan of the Irish Marine Institute.
.. Whelan recently delivered the results of his team's findings to the Royal Irish Academy, (RIA,) in Dublin.
.. In classical understatement the address points out that salmon are and ideal indicator species for climate change.
.. By responding to the results of changing climate in both fresh and saltwater the salmon is an ideal bio-monitor to: ". . . track and trace climate change from remote mountain streams to distant zones in the Artic (sic) seas."
.. In a world that is billions of years old, both climate change alarmists and nay-sayers generally speak from the perspective of decades. The salmon, with generations of adaptive responses in the same time period provide behavioral data that spans the world's waters.
.. In the salmon's odyssey, from their mountain streams to the ocean depths, these fish ". . . collect and store a wide range of physical, chemical and biological information."
.. The research is complex and is carried out by multinational teams of scientists under the auspices of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO).
..Dr Ken Whelan is director of the Marine Institute’s Aquaculture and Catchment Management Services Team, based at Newport, Co. Mayo.

MONEY QUOTE

“Although the science is complex the take home message is clear. Adaptation to climate change is in our hands. Combating climate change requires a clear and unambiguous focus on: monitoring change, responding to change, conserving populations of animals and plants and relieving man made stresses on the environment.”

-------