A recent study that dove into more than 60 years of records from the Alaska Department Fish and Game found that salmon returning to Alaska’s rivers are on average smaller than they were in the past.
The study, headed up by biologists from the University of California Santa Cruz and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, attributes declines in salmon size to “shifting age structures associated with climate and competition at sea.”
The smaller fish are largely a result of salmon returning to their natal streams at a younger age, according to the report, although some salmon may be developing less body mass over the same amount of time…
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