By Noah Korver, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News There is reason to be hopeful, says the Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee, in light of a new study published by Alaska researchers that sheds more light on the mystery of shrinking chinook Salmon returns on the Yukon River. Co-authored by researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the study identifies significant and prolonged marine heatwaves in the Bering Sea as a contributing factor to the massive drop in the number of Salmon migrating up the Yukon River to return to spawning beds in the Yukon. A marine heatwave is defined a period of increased ocean water temperatures that meet or exceed the upper limits of the historical average for a period of five or…
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