Clean up rivers and Atlantic salmon will come |
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Things are bad for wild Atlantic salmon all over, but that doesn't mean people should stop trying to help the fish, which are classified as endangered in Maine in eight rivers. That was the message at a salmon habitat workshop at the University of Maine that drew experts from the West Coast, Canada and Europe. Maine has the last wild Atlantic salmon in the United States. Of the 2,005 known wild Atlantic salmon rivers in the world, nearly 300 have lost their fish completely. Another 403 have populations that are endangered and populations are in critical conditions on another 236 rivers. Salmon have become extinct in 294 rivers Things are bad for wild Atlantic salmon all over, but that doesn't mean people should stop trying to help the fish, which are classified as endangered in Maine in eight rivers. That was the message at a salmon habitat workshop at the University of Maine that drew experts from the West Coast, Canada and Europe. Maine has the last wild Atlantic salmon in the United States. Of the 2,005 known wild Atlantic salmon rivers in the world, nearly 300 have lost their fish completely. Another 403 have populations that are endangered and populations are in critical conditions on another 236 rivers. Salmon have become extinct in 294 rivers. The vast majority of the healthy populations are in only four countries - Norway, Iceland, Ireland and Scotland. These figures are from a just released report on the status of salmon put together by the World Wildlife Foundation. One success story happened on the River Tweed in Scotland. The Tweed Foundation, a charitable group set up by the government to care for the river, has devoted much of its money and energy to removing impediments to salmon's upstream travel. It disassembled dams, rebuilt bridges and dug up culverts. In some cases salmon returned to the river just a year after the impediment was removed, said Duncan Glen, the foundation's director. Increasing the number of fish in the River Tweed was important because it had a direct financial impact on the local economy, he said. The rural area is heavily dependent on tourism, and fishing accounts for 70 percent of the region's outdoor recreation. Up to 10,000 Atlantic salmon are caught in the river each year. |
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