[7] Fraser River Runs Pink
This year's Fraser sockeye run was a major disappointment, but the pink run has returned in numbers better than expected. On Sept. 11, the Pacific Salmon Commission announced it had boosted its estimate of the Fraser pink salmon run to 19.5 million fish, up nearly 2 million fish from its preseason forecast.
The boost in run size has allowed more commercial fishing on the pink run in both US and Canadian waters. Close to 3 million pinks had been caught by commercial fishers by Sept. 11.
The Commission said the fish are about a half-pound smaller than average, but that's a condition likely associated with the large run size. A large pink run has headed into Puget Sound streams as well. About two-thirds of the Fraser run has followed a route around the southern end of Vancouver Island, with the rest heading down the inside through Johnstone Strait. Warmer ocean temperatures usually means more salmon are diverted to the inside route.
Recent weather systems packing southerly winds have raised temperatures in some coastal waters, and mackerel have been reported caught inside the mouth of the Columbia River. In early August, hundreds of Humboldt squid, normally found in warmer waters off California and Baja, were found beached along the west side of Vancouver Island.
El Niño forecasters from Australia say that the current warming event will likely turn out more moderate than previous forecasts had indicated. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center said on Sept. 10 that current trends point toward a moderate El Niño event continuing through the winter.
"Expected El Niño impacts during September-November 2009 include enhanced precipitation over the west-central tropical Pacific Ocean and the continuation of drier-than-average conditions over Indonesia. Temperature and precipitation impacts over the United States are typically weak during the Northern Hemisphere summer and early fall, generally strengthening during the late fall and winter." -B. R.
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beached squid video
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