A combination of warm waters, bad food and disease have scientists theorizing an answer to declining chinook salmon on the Yukon River.
Published: May. 14, 2024 at 6:52 PM AKDTFAIRBANKS, Alaska - Research on declining populations of chinook salmon on the Yukon River have led scientists to a theory that combines the stress of warm water and the damage of disease.
While these fish have historically been a staple of the Yukon diet, run sizes have decreased in return from the ocean but researchers have also “seen a difference between estimates when they’re counted when they enter the river and when they go into Canada,” explained Herron. “Those estimates do not match and there’s like 40,000 fish potentially missing and there’s been no harvest.”
However, Herron thinks disease is playing a critical role in the decline of chinook salmon in the Yukon River. Specifically a disease called ichthyophonus. “It’s a pathogen, they get it through food,” said Katherine Howard, the Salmon Ocean Ecology Program lead scientist for the Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game . This disease causes a great deal of damage to the muscle tissue in salmon and it has a massive impact on the heart.
The disease is acquired while the chinooks are out at sea. They contract it by eating other fish that are infected with the disease. “But usually other fish are able to clear the disease with time,” said Howard. The chinook salmon on the other hand don’t seem to be as successful and fighting it off.
Yukon River Bristol Bay Canada Keith Herron UAF CFOS College Of Fisheries And Ocean Sciences Alaska Department Of Fish And Game ADFG Fish And Game Ichthyophonus Kathrine Howard
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