British Columbia Sees Largest Salmon Run In A Century, 34 Million Strong

Sockeye salmon are making their run up the Fraser River in numbers not seen since 1913. More than 34 million salmon are reportedly in the British Columbia river system, befuddling scientists who last year tallied less than 2 million fish.

The BBC has an interactive report on the run — and some words of caution from scientists who warn against interpreting the boom of 2010 as a promise that similar numbers of salmon will return in 2011.

The long-term pattern of smaller runs has been blamed on both commercial fish farms and an increase in predators in the sockeyes' migratory path.

 

Professor Daniel Pauly, a world fisheries authority at the University of British Columbia, says he doesn’t expect this year's massive run to start a new trend.

"I think science is very good at predicting long-term trends over larger areas and it's not good at predicting details over shorter time periods in limited areas," Pauly told the BBC.

One theory behind this year's outsize salmon run suggests that ash from the volcanic eruption of Kasatochi in 2008 put nutrients into the Gulf of Alaska — and that, in turn, put out a smorgasbord of diatoms for the adolescent salmon to eat.

As research scientist Tim Parsons tells the CBC, "So, we get back, in my hypothesis, 34 million salmon — which was totally unpredicted — instead of the 1.5 million salmon of the previous year, which fed on a diet… composed of very small plankton."

After last year's small run, the Canadian government formed a panel to explore the reasons for it. And as the Vancouver Sun reports, the Cohen Commission inquiry has spurred public demonstrations and posturing by those in favor and against fish farming.

If you're the kind of person who'd like to follow fisheries news, you should check out BBC reporter Susan Watts' blog.

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Efforts To Prevent Voter Fraud Draw Scrutiny

There are always concerns about voter fraud on Election Day, but this year many new groups are popping up to keep an eye on the polls. That, in turn, has some people worried that legitimate voters will be intimidated and discouraged from voting.

Along with all the other campaign ads they will hear this week, voters in Minnesota's Twin Cities are being treated to a provocative radio ad.

The ad warns that the group is training thousands of citizens to set up surveillance teams outside polling places to look for voter fraud. It's even offering a $500 reward for information leading to convictions.

"We're just the people concerned about the integrity in our election process," said Dan McGrath, executive director of Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group that alleges that past elections in the state have been marred by fraudulent votes. "We go to vote. We want to know that our vote counts, fairly, and that someone else's ineligible vote isn't diluting it."

His group has teamed up with several others, including the North Star Tea Party Patriots, to launch the poll-watching campaign. And it's not the only effort of its kind this year. Dozens of billboards have gone up in the Milwaukee area showing people behind bars and warning that voter fraud is a felony.

Meanwhile in Houston, a group called the King Street Patriots has launched a ballot-integrity campaign called True the Vote, which has already led to allegations of intimidation during early voting.

"We are seeing trainings cropping up in states across the country of ordinary citizens to challenge voters, to serve as poll watchers," said Wendy Weiser, deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, which is monitoring the efforts. "We're seeing calls for people to mobilize and go to the polls and look out for voter fraud, and we're seeing it to a degree that we haven't seen in years."

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Maine City Weighs Allowing Noncitizens To Vote

On Election Day, some people will be allowed to vote even though they are not citizens of the United States. That's because a handful of communities allow noncitizens who are in the country legally to vote in municipal elections. Portland, Maine, could be about to join that short list of communities. The city's citizens will vote on whether to invite noncitizens to join them in the voting booths in future elections.

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