100 Years Later, Wild Salmon Return to New York River

August 22, 2009 By: Marshall Cutchin

Here’s one for the optimists. A shift in balance toward native prey species as a food source may make it possible for wild salmon to populate the Salmon river for the first time in over 100 years. Invasive alewives — which destroy a key chemical in Atlantic salmon — have been on the decline. “This is the first time in more than a century that salmon produced naturally in the wild have been found in what was once New York’s premier salmon stream. Forty-one wild Atlantic salmon were collected in June and July. All of the salmon were under one year old and ranged in length from about 2 – 2.5 inches.” David Figura on Syracuse.com.