anadromous

news to me (but still feels oddly familiar)

Definition of anadromous:
adj. “Migrating up rivers from the sea to breed in fresh water. Used of fish.” (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
3/15/08 NYT article, “Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace,” by Felicity Barringer.

“…Bill Petersen, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research center in Newport, Ore., said other stocks of anadromous Pacific fish — those that migrate from freshwater to saltwater and back — had been anemic this year, leading him to suspect ocean changes. …”

My two cents:
It’s one scary, depressing article. Or should I say obituary? I don't mean to sound alarmist, but cue the mourners and the funeral dirges. Book Elton for the moving solo. Time to face the music and the sad truth. Stocks have crashed. And we’re not talking about the NYSE. Nope. Think salmon. Not the color, the swimmie critters with fins.

Something’s really fishy with the fall Chinook salmon this year and it’s a head-scratcher. They’ve all but disappeared from California’s once burgeoning Sacramento River. Nobody can explain why, exactly, and the salmon aren't talking. This is big. Very big.

Not only is this all-turned-nothing scenario bad for the poor fishies (no spawning fun this year, boys), it’s curtains for commerce: U.S. Pacific canneries are closing down and king salmon prices are skyrocketing upward. So let me get this right: All we know is that a huge, harmonious, universal balance of Nature is dead -- and nobody can explain it? Yikes! Dun, dun, dunnnnn.

Be aware, people. Be concerned. And be afraid. Be very afraid. The fish aren't jumpin' and the stakes are high. It’s Circle of Life vs. one very Sad Song. And sad songs say so much.

I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues.