The Changing Food Web of Puget Sound and What it Means for Salmon
Join Transition Fidalgo & Friends for a community supper on
Tuesday, November 29, at 5:45 pm
at the Anacortes Senior Center, 1701 22nd St.
Our presentation this evening is part of our Times of Changes series, and is co-sponsored by the by the Skagit Climate Science Consortium.
The Changing Food Web of Puget Sound and What it Means for Salmon will be presented by Correigh Greene, Ph.D. Dr. Greene is a fish population ecologist with NOAA, and currently works at the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. He has studied the Skagit River salmon extensively and is a founding member of the Skagit Climate Science Consortium.
Puget Sound supports one of the most productive and diverse food webs of all the large estuaries in North America, thanks in part to a rich plankton community. This microscopic floating community fuels the small forage fish and other critters who in turn feed the salmon, rockfish, ling cod, seals, sea birds, and orcas that define our sense of Puget Sound as a special place. But that food web is changing: some key forage fish are declining, others are increasing, and jellyfish populations appear to be booming. These changes are echoing all the way up the food web to those species we humans care about most.
Many factors influence these changes, but evidence suggests that nutrient pollution, development patterns, and climate play important roles. Particularly in the context of climate change bringing new stresses to Puget Sound, we need to understand what is happening in Puget Sound in order to become better stewards of this critical and much-loved ecosystem. This presentation will give you a better understanding of what we are learning about changes to Puget Sound's food web, how these changes are affecting salmon populations, and how we might help reverse some of the declines in the species we care most about.
Open to all and welcome; no reservations necessary. Suggested supper donation $5/adult; $3/10 and under. Please bring your own place settings, or simply join us for the presentation around 7:00. Seventh Generation Suppers include a sharing time and programs to help build local resilience and reduce carbon dependency. For more information, visit transitionfidalgo.org.