Too many fish in the sea?

SUBHEAD: Fukushima radiation will cause long-term harm to Pacific Bluefin Tuna and Pacific Pink Salmon.

By Admin on 16 June 2015 for ENE News -
(http://enenews.com/study-fukushima-will-result-marked-lasting-decrease-population-pacific-salmon-efforts-needed-protect-species-possible-extinction-continued-monitoring-will-be-critical-avoidance-health-problems-h)


Image above: Pink salmon, shown spawning in Alaska, have increased since the 1970s, with an estimated 640 million returning to their breeding rivers in Asia and North America in 2009 alone. Now the species population is in collapse. In the long run, are the Fukushima meltdowns going to conserve or destroy fish in the Pacific Ocean? From (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140331-salmon-seabirds-pacific-fish-animals-science/).

Study: Fukushima radiation will cause long-term harm to Pacific salmon population — Efforts needed to protect species from possible extinction — Radiation monitoring is critical to avoid human health problems — “US inland areas also at risk of exposure”

Journal of Applied Mathematics — Modelling the Effects of Radioactive Effluent on Thunnus orientalis and Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, New Jersey City Univ. (Chen, Ding, Laracuenti, Lipat (Columbia Univ., NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies)), 2013 (bold emphasis added):

• The contamination of the Pacific Ocean by the radioactive pollutants released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has raised legitimate concerns over the viability of marine wildlife. We… explore the extent of the effects of the radioactive effluent on two marine species: the Pacific Bluefin Tuna and the Pacific Pink Salmon…
  
  
• Because of the brevity of the period of time during which radioactive material was discharged… [it's] assumed to be instantaneous [note the study was released before TEPCO admitted the flow of radioactive material into the Pacific never ended]…
  
  
• This pollution was spread through the entire Pacific Ocean…
  
  
• A numerical solution… will simulate the effects of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster… This simulation has far-reaching implications for decisions related to the location of nuclear power plants as well as to fishing policy…
  
  
• According to data released by Tepco, the initial concentrations of radioactivity following the release of 11,500 metric tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean… are 310,000 Bq/L of iodine-131, 230,000 Bq/L of caesium-134, and 230,000 Bq/L of caesium-137 [which] produces the initial radioactivity of the iodine-131: 3.57 trillion Bq… caesium-134: 2.65 trillion Bq… caesium-137: 2.65 trillion Bq [note that estimates by gov't scientists are 10,000+ times higher]…
  
  
• Analysis of the results shows that the Pacific Bluefin Tuna will experience a steeper population decline in the short term compared to its expected population decline… after which the population will return to the expected population.
  
  
• Pacific Pink Salmon, on the other hand, will simply decline at a faster pace than the expected population decline… radioactive effluent will result in a marked and lasting decrease in population [see Fig. 5, 6]…
  
  
• Before the conclusions are subjected to social analysis, the model’s limitations must be considered… the model does not reflect the migratory nature of both fish species. This does not, however, entirely negate the validity of the simulation: over a sufficiently long period of time, the short-term movement of the fish throughout the Pacific Ocean becomes negligible… The results of the model… opt to consider the fish species’ population on average…
  
  
• The very high rate of decline of the Pacific Pink Salmon indicates that live specimens may contain relatively high levels of radioactivity. Continued monitoring of the Pacific Pink Salmon, as well as all marine species, for radioactivity will be critical to the avoidance of health problems for humans. Because the species migrates throughout freshwater rivers and tributaries of British Columbia, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest of the United States, inland areas are also at risk of exposure to, at the very least, low-level radioactivity. Moreover, the rapid rate of decline of the Pacific Pink Salmon, in conjunction with rapidly deteriorating conditions, seems to necessitate drastic action. Work beyond sustainability is needed to protect the species from possible extinction…
  
  
• Because of the deleterious effects on the marine environment… it seems reasonable to suggest that any new nuclear power plants be constructed sufficiently far from coastal waterways so as to mitigate the absorption of any radioactive contaminants into the biosphere. This, however, would pose a risk to the environment near the nuclear power plant without the capacity of an ocean to diffuse the radioactivity…
  
  
• The authors are thankful to [National Science Foundation award] NSF HRD-0902132 (LSAMP) for the support to do this research.

See also: Scientists: Radioactivity in food web off Pacific Northwest to “significantly increase” — Salmon forecast to exceed Japan radiation limit — “Major concern for public health”

.