Where Have all the Salmon Gone?

I woke up this morning ready to strap on my shoes and head out to Bayer Farm, but unfortunately the weather today did not permit me to do so. With pouring rain and gray skies, not much would get accomplished on the farm except for getting completely covered in mud and tempering with cold symptoms that are flying around in the air. If it was sprinkling it would have been a different story, I would have had a fun work day to have told you about, but the non-stop down pour is keeping me cooped up in my room with the news instead.

I thought I would read a bit more local this morning and glance through the San Francisco Chronicle in search of my environmental updates. What I came upon was not shocking. The title read, “Fishermen Likely to See Limited Salmon Season.” Why was this not shocking to me? Well to make a generalized statement, what is global warming and climate change not limiting? What is our pollution and thinning of the ozone layer making better? What is corporate agriculture not being destructive of? My point exactly.

The limited salmon fishing season this year is going to be taking an economic toll on the people who rely on it as their main trade, the fishing villages who count down the days until the rivers are full again. Return of the Chinook salmon into the Sacramento River has been so horrible in the last couple years that commercial fishing was banned off of Oregon and California’s coast line. Big king salmon pass through the San Francisco Bay and head out to the Pacific but there has been a lack in numbers due to water diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmers. State and federal pumps that release water into delta’s leading to corporate farms are destroying the salmon into shreds. This corporate power of subsidized water is not only destroying the salmon, but is destroying commercial fishermen and small business owners. In order for salmon to recover, pumping must be reduced. Agriculture corporations are fighting to block any restrictions that are made to limit pumping.

I found this article interesting and crucial to bring to attention because it portrays a perfect example of why it is so important to support and live in a local manner. It is these big corporations that pollute so much and are taking away hundreds of jobs. The first way to fix these problems is to make sure they are known. Most people have no idea of what these corporate giants are really doing. When people learn about the problem it is a natural force that will lead people to change the way they consume. Anything that is THAT BIG and THAT POWERFUL cannot have a good impact on our planet. We must stay tight in our communities and re-think the way we live. How much do you enjoy a nice grilled salmon? Or looking off the Golden Gate Bridge into a nice clean bay? Consider those common things that are so valuable to us and imagine not having them anymore.

Go Help, Go Volunteer, Go GREEN!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/12/MNU61CECO9.DTL