Discovery of wild-born salmon in NY river raises hopes for restoration of species

NY salmon resurgence indicates species recovery

ALBANY, N.Y. — For the first time in more than a century, scientists have found wild-born Atlantic salmon in a Lake Ontario tributary that once teemed with the fish.

Federal biologist Jim Johnson says more than 40 yearling wild Atlantic salmon were collected this summer in the Salmon River at the eastern end of the lake in New York.

He says the discovery suggests that the native species is recovering after many years of reproductive failure.

The introduction of the alewife more than 50 years ago is cited as a major cause for the decline of wild salmon because the invasive fish disrupts reproduction in salmon that eat it. Johnson says the alewife population has declined.