Salmon fry

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the speculation, which was tossed around this week, that a volcanic eruption on an Alaskan island back in 2008 is somehow responsible for the boom in the salmon population this year in the rivers of British Columbia in Canada.

If this speculation proves to be correct, it will help biologist’s to shed some new light on the rather unpredictable sizes of the populations of salmon year in and year out. It will also lend credence to the controversial idea of seeding the oceans of the world with iron to help lend a helping hand to other fish species, who have seen a decline in their populations. However, some scientists, who were contacted by Nature, have cautioned that the theory is “far fetched”.

After the salmon population took a nose dive back in 2009, the sockeye salmon made a big comeback in British Columbia’s Fraser River this year. It has been suggested that the reasoning behind this is that the iron in the ash from the volcanic eruption on Kasatochi island, which created a rather huge influx of phytoplankton, may have indirectly provided the salmon with the food they needed to stage a miraculous comeback. This suggestion was made by Tim Parsons, a prominent Canadian scientist, and has a government-awarded medal named after him for ocean scientists.

It looks like he may be getting yet another feather in his hat, if the scientific community chooses to explore this theory further. If its possible to refurnish fish stocks around the globe by seeding the ocean with some iron, we should take the opportunity.

Credit: NMFS File Photo

Russia has proposed a five year long ban on fishing sturgeon in the Caspian Sea, News.com.au reports. According to non-governmental organisation Caviar Emptor, the Beluga Sturgeon population has declined by 90 percent during the last 20 years. Russia has suggested that all countries bordering the Caspian should impose a ban and that the ban should last for at least five years. According to Andrei Krainy, head of Russia’s state fisheries agency, Russia is ready to ban even scientists from fishing sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea is home to roughly 90 percent of the total sturgeon population. The sturgeon is primarily fished for its caviar eggs, a world-famous delicates.

You can read the full article here: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23444657-1702,00.html

The Caspian Sea is an enormous body of water without any outflows. Its coastline is shared by Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Its salinity is about 1.2%, while the average salinity of the ocean is 3.5%. The Caspian Sea is fed by over 130 rivers, including the famous Russian river Volga which is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, watershed and discharge. The Caspian Sea is home to several endemic species of fish, such as the Caspian roach and the Caspian white fish (also known as Kktum). The Caspian Sea is also where you will find the Caspian seal, one of very few seal species that live in inland waters instead of living in the ocean.