In this post, I will be reviewing literature stemming from the other powerhouse of salmon production in the world: the northwest coast of North America. During my work over the summer of 2015 at Chugach National Forest in Alaska, I discovered the prominence of the salmon industry (and all things salmon-related) in Alaska. Naturally, I decided to include Alaska, Canada, and the USA as the second geographic location I will examine in my concentration. Again, while all literature mentioned below were given equal examination, some were more relevant than others, contributing to an unequal expansion on each study.
North America
Unlike Scotland, the government in the USA plays a much more obvious role in the story of salmon in North America. Federal agencies including the US Forest Service (USFS), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Fish and Game Departments of each US state handle many aspects of salmon in this region (indeed, there is a USFS salmon hatchery just east of Portland), and this generally comes to great benefit for the wild salmon. Additionally, the salmon scene in the west coast of North America benefits from the enormously productive Pacific Ocean, which historically seems to have been capable of supporting populations of wild salmon far greater than the numbers that remain today. In continuing your reading of this and future posts, please keep in mind these artificial and natural differences between the salmon scene in Scotland and in North America.
The Buzz for Hatcheries
This review of hatchery programs in Alaska paints a useful picture of the historical events leading to the USA’s dominance in salmon hatchery programs of the world. In 1974, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game decided to help dwindling wild salmon populations by boosting hatchery programs. The result today is an annual release of over 500 juvenile pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, which ranks the state-supported Alaskan hatchery program to be one of the largest – and most important – in the world. Much of this is run by the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation (PWSAC), a private nonprofit overseeing the largest hatchery program in North America. The same review examines the effect of hatched and released fish on wild populations of fish and concludes that, although widely contested, there is a high probability that introduced fish are harming wild populations. As mentioned in this review of the success of Alaskan hatchery programs, It is important to distinguish that hatchery programs in the USA exist not to supplement wild stocks of salmon but rather to support the fishing industry. Another important note is the species diversity and richness of the North American west coast salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) with seven species (O. gorbuscha, O. keta, O. kisutch, O. masou and various subspecies, O. nerka, O tshawytscha) compared to east coast salmon (genus Salmo) with two species (S. labrax, S. salar).
Heard, W. R. 2003. Alaska salmon enhancement: a successful program for hatchery and wild stocks, p. 149-169. In Y. Nakamura, J. P. McVey, S. Fox, K. Churchill, C. Neidig, and K. Leber (editors), Ecology of aquaculture species and enhancement of stocks, Proceedings of the 30th U. S.-Japan Aquaculture Panel, 3-4 December 2001. Florida Sea Grant TP-128, Mote Marine Lab, Sarasota, FL.