The need for biodiversity
If you have ever taken an introductory biology course, you may be familiar with the concept of biodiversity, likely in the context of evolution by natural selection, a concept which entails that change in a population over time is based on biodiversity - biological variation among individuals in said population. Biodiversity induces differences in fitness, or individuals’ abilities to survive and reproduce in a dynamic ecosystem. Among Pacific salmon species, biodiversity has been correlated to various aspects of Indigenous food security, including catch stability (a measure of the consistency of food security) and temporal access (the window of time during which fishing can take place).
A 2016 study focusing on the Fraser River Watershed and FSC Fisheries established a positive relationship between FSC interannual catch stability and population diversity of Chinook and sockeye salmon. To model catch stability, the authors used the distance between fisheries and the ocean as a predictor variable (as a proxy for biodiversity), and the portfolio effect (PE), a measure of the extent that diversity decreases variability, as their response variable. The figure on the right shows that, as FSC fisheries were located farther from the ocean, having access to less salmon species, PE on catch biomass decreased.
Nesbitt, Holly K., and Jonathan W. Moore. “Species and Population Diversity in Pacific Salmon Fisheries Underpin Indigenous Food Security.” Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 53, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1489–1499., doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12717.
The same study found that, among Pacific salmon, species richness has a positive relationship with season length, the latter being a proxy for temporal access. The figure on the left illustrates that FSC fisheries with greater access to species richness (quantified by shorter distance to the ocean) had, on average, longer season lengths for sockeye, pink, Coho, and chum populations.
Among the Chinook, Chum, Coho, and Sockeye salmon species - four of the five Pacific salmon species native to British Columbia and Washington waters - there are 13 populations located on the West Coast currently classified under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as threatened, while another 6 populations are classified as endangered. Population size is often correlated to genetic diversity, which is included in biodiversity (linked is a comparison of the two).
To the left are screenshots from NOAA Fisheries' Species Directory. The two specified populations of Chum salmon are classified as ESA threatened, meaning these groups are "likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future."
In a similar fashion, the specified populations of Chinook salmon are classified as ESA endangered, meaning these groups are currently in danger of extinction.
This is a mural in Seattle's Lake City, titled "Bending into the Sweet Deep Blue. Esteban Camacho, creator of this piece, states:
We see ourselves bending over to pick up life-giving sources of food from the ocean; the Salmon bending in its course of
swimming across the Ocean; the basket strands being bent to form a basket, now woven with cultural diversity; and on the
biggest scale, humans moving with humility and grace to accept the great flow, bend our current path, and make the better
decisions needed for the future of life.
Sweet is a juxtaposition with the obvious fact that it is saltwater not sweet water: not everything is what it seems to be.
Deep Blue refers to the joy that is life when one embraces the mysterious depths of life on Earth and the Ocean and flows
with the currents of our time.
Sources
Camacho, Esteban. “Bending into the Sweet Deep Blue.” Esteban Camacho, esteban-camacho.myportfolio.com/sweet-
deep-blue.
Fisheries, NOAA. “Species Directory - ESA Threatened & Endangered.” Threatened and Endangered Species Directory
Page | NOAA Fisheries, www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species-directory/threatened-endangered.
Leache, Adam. “Natural Selection.” BIOL 354 Lecture. Jan. 2021, Seattle, WA, University of Washington.
Nesbitt, Holly K., and Jonathan W. Moore. “Species and Population Diversity in Pacific Salmon Fisheries Underpin
Indigenous Food Security.” Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 53, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1489–1499.,
doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12717.