one salmon among many

Barbara's Journal - one salmon among many

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July 19th, 2005

02:09 pm

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one salmon among many
I heard a report on the radio yesterday about fisheries management. Most people probably know about the salmon life cycle-- a short summary: eggs hatch in streams, fish go downstream, grow up in ocean, and come back upstream to lay eggs (or fertilize eggs) and die. Pretty straightforward, but there is one added step in there that complicates it from the human persective-- harvest. We want as many as necessary to get upstream to reproduce, but at the same time, we want to be able to siphon off the maximum harvest that can be sustained.

It works because nature is so liberal with the supplies. I don't have numbers, but at each step of the way, a tremendous percentage of the population is lost. There are only a certain number of suitable places to lay the eggs-- most of the eggs don't even land in good spots, and they die; some eggs are eaten; if they hatch, bunches of the youngsters get eaten by predators; of the ones that make it to the ocean, another large percentage never makes it to adulthood because of the larger predators there; I've read that killer whales eat tons of salmon. But finally, despite losses, far more fish than are actually "needed" to reproduce begin the journey upstream. It's just a matter of knowing how many "extras" there are to be harvested. It must be a complex science.

I'm interested in such things because... well maybe only because I am-- but I attribute my interest to my Grandpa having been with the Idaho Fish and Game department. He ran fish hatcheries and planted fish-- sometimes even backpacking them in to remote lakes in the wilderness of Idaho. Fish have a certain mystique, in my eyes, so fish stories (of this sort, not necessarily about catching them) appeal to me.

Here too fish hatcheries help out nature by harvesting salmon eggs and milt, fertilizing eggs artificially, rearing the fry, and then releasing the tiny fish in the spring. The babies then are ahead of the game since they've bypassed all the risks that true wildlings face right at the beginning.

The schools get in on this too. Each year the school children go off on field trips with the fisheries people to harvest salmon eggs. They take the fertile eggs back to the school and set up their own little hatchery in an aquarium.

The Sutton Elementary school kids got raise their own batch of salmon this last school year. They had the aquarium right in the entry of the school proudly displayed. Each day a different child had the privilege of being the fish tender-- checking temperatures and feeding them. Staff people came in on the weekends to check on them.

All went well until spring break. Fortunately it happened while a staff person was on duty-- had it happened during the week-- pity the poor child who'd been the day's fishkeeper! The thermometer somehow leaked into the water, contaminating it with mercury. All the fish died except two. Thanks to the heroic efforts of one teacher, those two were rescued, the aquarium replaced, and though many children were probably heartbroken, the fish raising effort went on.

Finally the time for the big field trip approached. The very next week, all the school kids in the area were going to release their fish in the same place at the same time. At this point-- at the last hour-- one of the two survivors succumbed.

So, on the appointed day, buses were loaded with excited children and they rendezvoused in the appointed place with all the other fish keepers in the district. Chidren and adults from other schools were lugging one five gallon bucket after another from the parked buses toward the stream; ours disembarked with their tupperware dish, containing one, count it: one baby salmon.

From what I hear, the kids took it pretty well.

I like to think now of that mighty little salmon living in the wild, working his way downstream-- seemingly just one among millions. But the odds are in his favor now-- he hatched successfully, so he's ahead of most. He lived to start the journey downstream-- many more don't make it that far. He didn't die of whatever got his aquarium mate, so that indicates a rugged constitution, and most important I think: he has an ace up his sleeve (if salmon had sleeves)-- he is carrying whatever genes might be related to immunity to mercury toxicity; he's invincible in a world laced with heavy metals.

I suspect the Sutton Elementary Salmon is the salmon of the future-- as oceans become more polluted, the whole species will be saved thanks to the legacy of this one tough little salmon passing his immunity to toxins on to future generations. What seemed a catastrophe was in fact natural selection beginning before the little fish even left the school. He won't suffer from competition from a bunch of also-rans who couldn't take the metal. He's the number one fish in his school now.

So, our little salmon-to-save-all-salmon, as you head out into the ocean-- may God go with you, and watch out for whales!

Tags: alaska

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From:	seraphimsigrist
Date:	July 19th, 2005 11:15 pm (UTC)

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very interesting and enjoyable!
I like salmon, on the plate, very well
and a treat of visiting eastern Hokkaido which
was in my diocese was that there would be
some salmon dishes... even the raw salmon
(sashimi) with hot rice was very good.

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From:	barbarakelley
Date:	July 19th, 2005 11:31 pm (UTC)

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I think I'd be a little squeamish about the raw salmon, but on the plate cooked-- yes, that is good. If it's fresh. My parents go dip netting every year and usually bring home as much salmon as we can eat. It's wonderful at first, but it doesn't stay good in the freezer for as long as we'd like... gradually we begin dreading it.

One of the treats at St Innocent cathedral is Lenten potlucks-- with an abundance of salmon prepared well.

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