Pacific Salmon Invading Atlantic, Threatening Penguins
The fish, native to the North Pacific, have started colonizing and breeding in rivers in southern Argentina, a new study shows.
Although the sight of salmon leaping in Argentina's world-renowned trout rivers may be enticing to anglers, the silvery predators could become a nightmare for the region's marine life.
The invaders threaten to deprive penguins and sea mammals of food—an ever-increasing risk given the number of invasive salmon currently escaping from fish farms in neighboring Chile, researchers say.
The warning stems from the first study to show salmon swimming from the Pacific to the South Atlantic, where salmon don't naturally occur.
The study focused on chinook salmon, a Pacific species that has recently become established in the Santa Cruz River system in the Patagonia region of Argentina.
