Are stripers a threat to salmon?

Hey JD, do you have any input regarding a theory that the non-indigenous Stripers may have a contribution to the current downturn in several indigenous species (i.e. Pacific Coast Salmon, Delta Smelt) populations?
–Don B.

Don, while stripers do put some un-Godly numbers of juvenile salmon down their gullets and certainly aren’t helping the situation, they’re not the big reason. Since the West Coast, as a whole, was generally down over the past couple years, the only common denominator is the ocean. Something isn’t right out there! Stripers also eat their share of Delta smelt, no doubt, but the main problem with the smelt is poor water quality in the delta…and water diversions. Back when we had big numbers of salmon and smelt, the striper numbers were also high…

I just did a post recently about this. Check it out:

Stripers vs. Salmon

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