New Tool Pinpoints River System for Individual Chinook Salmon
A new tool developed by NOAA Fisheries scientists allows researchers to pinpoint the river system that individual Chinook salmon come from, thereby enabling more precise management and protection of threatened and endangered populations.
“It's like giving every fish a unique genetic fingerprint,” Donald Van Doornik, a NOAA Fisheries biologist and lead author of a paper published July 8 in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management, explained.
“We can use this fingerprint to figure out where that fish came from by comparing it to other fishes’ DNA,” he added.
A Sept. 26 announcement by NOAA Fisheries noted that by identifying specific Chinook populations contributing to mixed-stock fisheries, they’ll be able to design more effective conservation and management strategie...