Poor Salmon

I knew that the Salmon runs in Oregon had been on a decline, and I guess it would make sense that the same would be happening in California, but the numbers are staggering:

"Five years ago, the peak was 872,700 returning spawners. Roughly 90,000 were
counted in 2007, and only 63,900 are expected to return to spawn in fall 2008."

It's a sad thing to imagine not being able to grill salmon in the summer- that doesn't mean that we all deserve to eat salmon every day, but like many fish, they are good for you, and it would be a shame to not be able to receive those healthy benefits. And without some serious action like:

• dam removal or adjustment
• decrease in pesticide usage
• decrease in fishing off the coast in order for the salmon to feed

But, that means that we would have to make a lot of sacrifices. Less irrigation support, less fishing for other seafood that salmon need to survive and a decrease in pesticides. All of these things come at a sacrifice of another, but isn't the point to keep everything in balance. Just a few changes in these areas could bring our salmon runs back into a middle range. We might not be able to eat salmon every day, but we would spare ourselves the reality of never being able to eat it again.