Alaska salmon may bear scars of global warming

[bronxiteforever]

By Kenneth R. Weiss, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 15, 2008

More Alaskan salmon caught here end up in the dog pot these days, their orange-pink flesh fouled by disease that scientists have correlated with warmer water in the Yukon River.

The sorting of winners and losers at Moore's riverbank fish camp illustrates what scientists have been predicting will accompany global warming: Cold-temperature barriers are giving way, allowing parasites, bacteria and other disease-spreading organisms to move toward higher latitudes.

"Climate change isn't going to increase infectious diseases but change the disease landscape," said marine ecologist Kevin D. Lafferty, who studies parasites for the U.S. Geological Survey. "And some of these surprises are not going to be pretty."

The emergence of disease in Alaska's most prized salmon has come as a shock to fishermen and fisheries managers. Alaskan wild salmon has been an uncommon success story among over-exploited fisheries, with healthy runs and robust catches that fetch ever higher prices at fish markets and high-end restaurants in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo and London.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ichfish15-2008jun15,0,587682.story

[bluedawg12]

1. This is tragic. Frightening too, as our food supply is

being stressed.

Of course there is no global warming--stupid tree huggers. :sarcasm: