Study tracks how salmon cope with warmer water

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Scientists working with sockeye salmon struggling to cope with warming temperatures in British Columbia’s Fraser River have identified broad genetic traits that can predict which fish will live or die before spawning a new generation.

Oregon State University salmon geneticist Michael Banks, who did not take part in the study, says it represents a breakthrough in tracking how salmon are surviving the new stresses from global warming.

The study combined radio tracking of fish in the ocean and river with a profile of 32,000 genes in individual fish.

It was published in this week’s issue of the journal Science.

Fraser River sockeye represent a $1 billion a year fishing industry that had been declining dramatically until a sudden, unexplained increase last year.