Study provides new standards for reliable fisheries

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - 12:21 in Biology & Nature

The many populations of sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska act like a diversified portfolio of investments, buffering fisheries and incomes from the ups and downs of particular stocks. Sockeye salmon are one of the most valuable fisheries in the U.S., and since 1950, more than 60% of that value has come from Bristol Bay. A new study in the June 3 issue of Nature quantifies, for the first time, just how much depends on this 'portfolio effect.' Without its current population diversity, the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery would close ten times more frequently - once every two to three years rather than once every 25 years...

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