Yukon River Chinook salmon have been declining for decades. These declines have limited salmon harvest and posed hardships for local communities that depend on these fish for their food sovereignty, culture, and livelihoods.
Adult run sizes recently reached their lowest point ever following a downturn from 2019 to 2023. The causes were unclear. But a new study identified a heatwave-associated increase in natural mortality as an important driver of this most recent and particularly severe decline.
Continue reading at fisheries.noaa.gov.
