The Times Tides They are a Changing

The Coho run we were hoping to have here in Washington State is not materializing, much to many an anglers disappointment.  Initial reports from teh people who are supposed to be in the know were little more than shoulder shrugging and confused mumbling sounds.  So I am guessing that wehn they opened their papers this week and read the article on how a shift in ocean currents is bringing too much warm water North and screwing things up, they all cried "Ah HA!" in unison.

You can read the full article Warmer Oceans May Be Killing West Coast Marine Life if you like, but the main point is that as ocean temperatures rise as they are doing, things will start changing.  In this case the sum total of the effects is that the plankton that drives the ocean's food chain wasn't available for young fish to eat this year.  So, no plankton, no food for little fish.  No little fish means no food for bigger fish and a dwindling Salmon run.

It never ceased to amaze me how people can sit back and ignore the changes in our environment that are going on.  One doesn't have to be a scientist to figure out that our environment is changing.  In my own personal history, we used to go sledding in November when I was young.  Now, there is rarely any decent amount of snow on those same hills till late December or January.  The hills that hold our snow pack are a little more sparse every year.  Lord knows I wouldn't want to be the owner of a ski resort the last few years.  Whether or not it is natural change, or if we are just coming out of our geologic cold snap, the waters are a changing.

The real question is what do we do about it, if anything?  I have to admit that I am a little dubious about the power of the people to influence national or global policies, I do hold out some hope for attacking on the local fronts.  At the very least get informed on what your state is doing about fish quotas, commercial fishing and so on.  If you are really feeling motivated, write some mail or email to your state's elected officials.  Tell them how you feel.  Maybe it is time to cut back on commercial and Indian fishing (a very touchy subject.) 

In the end though, we may just need to have to accept that the world is changing and we are the ones that have to adapt.  Who knows, maybe in 20 years we will be fishing for Sailfish off the coast of Washington.

Thats all for now, good luck out there.
Cliff