Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY
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A28    SCIENCE
              Tuesday 5 sepTember 2017


















            After generations, salmon back in Lake Champlain tributaries


            By WILSON RING                                                                                                      To make that happen, the
             Associated Press                                                                                                   state  and  federal  govern-
            HUNTINGTON, Vt. (AP) — For                                                                                          ment  have  been  working
            the  first  time  in  about  150                                                                                    to  carry  returning  salmon
            years,  landlocked  Atlan-                                                                                          above three Winooski River
            tic salmon are once again                                                                                           dams to make it possible for
            swimming  up  some  Lake                                                                                            them to reach their spawn-
            Champlain  tributaries  in                                                                                          ing  grounds.  Two  years
            Vermont  and  New  York  to                                                                                         ago, a dam was removed
            spawn  in  gravel  banks,  bi-                                                                                      from  New  York’s  Boquet
            ologists say. It hasn’t come                                                                                        River, but biologists are still
            easy,  and  the  process  will                                                                                      helping  the  fish  upstream.
            require  continued  human                                                                                           This  fall’s  run  is  expected
            intervention  to  make  sure                                                                                        to  begin  later  this  month.
            the  salmon  that  hatch  in                                                                                        There  is  still  a  long  way  to
            Vermont’s  Winooski  River                                                                                          go.  In  Vermont,  biologists
            or New York’s Boquet River                                                                                          stock  about  30,000  young
            can make it to the lake and                                                                                         fish each year.
            then  return  when  it’s  their   In this Aug. 29, 2017 photo state and federal fisheries experts look for landlocked Atlantic salmon   Over  the  past  several
            time to reproduce.           in the Huntington River in Huntington, Vt.                                             years,  the  biologists  have
            Biologists  call  it  a  success                                                                   Associated Press  watched  returning  fish  in-
            story produced by a better  naturally, and the juveniles  that  populated  the  area  redds, areas where the fish  crease  from  between  10
            understanding of the salm-   surviving,  that  is  starting  to  via  19th-century  canals.  used their tails to dig holes  and 20 a year to between
            on,  reduction  in  the  num-  show  that  we  are  making  A  long-term  sea  lamprey  in  the  gravel  where  eggs  100 and 200.
            bers  of  parasitic  sea  lam-  progress  in  restoring  that  control  program  began  in  were  laid,  in  the  Hunting-  Biologists  consider  that  a
            prey  in  Lake  Champlain,  aquatic  ecosystem,”  he  2002,  and  now  sections  of  ton  River  near  Richmond.  good  number  and  they
            improved water conditions  said.  The  biologists  have  the lake are treated every  In spring 2016, the biologists  expect  it  to  increase.  Last
            in  the  tributaries,  and  help  worked  with  their  counter-  fall  to  kill  them.“Initially  we  discovered  young  salmon  week,  Staats  and  four  fish
            the  fish  got  to  navigate  parts  in  the  Pacific  North-  had  no  fish  coming  back  that  came  from  eggs  laid  experts  from  the  Vermont
            around  dams  responsible  west  to  better  understand  to  our  rivers,  but  now  that  in autumn 2015. Now broad  Department  of  Fish  and
            for loss of the original salm-  the  fish.  The  salmon  resto-  the  wounding  rates  are  sections  of  the  Winooski  Wildlife  spent  the  morning
            on in the 1800s.             ration  program  for  Lake  lower,  we  have  more  fish  River, just downstream from  on  the  Huntington  catch-
            “Salmon  are  a  great  indi-  Champlain  began  in  the  out  there  surviving;  the  the  Huntington,  are  ideal  ing  some  of  the  salmon
            cator  species  for  looking  1970s  when  the  U.S.  Fish  numbers  of  salmon  return-  salmon  spawning  grounds.  that were stocked last year.
            at how well we are doing,”  and  Wildlife  Service  and  ing to our streams and riv-   Ardren,  Staats  and  others  The  fish,  caught  with  an
            said Bill Ardren, a senior fish  the  wildlife  agencies  from  ers  along  the  lake  have  hope  more  salmon,  aver-  electrofishing  system,  were
            biologist  with  the  U.S.  Fish  Vermont  and  New  York  increased   dramatically,”  aging  22  inches  (56  centi-  released  after  they  were
            and  Wildlife  Service  who  started  stocking  salmon  said Nicholas Staats, a fed-   meters)  long  and  weigh-   measured.  “This  year  we
            works on the Lake Champ-     and lake trout. In the early  eral fish biologist.        ing  up  to  13  pounds  (5.9  found  16  salmon  in  this
            lain salmon restoration pro-  years,  the  program  was  In autumn 2014, for the first  kilograms)  and  will  return  stretch of the river from last
            gram.  “So  when  you  start  hampered by the presence  time in about 150 years, bi-   there  at  the  end  of  Octo-  fall’s stocking, which is pret-
            to see salmon reproducing  of  invasive  sea  lamprey  ologists discovered salmon  ber  to  continue  the  cycle.  ty good,” Staats said.q

                                                                      World’s biggest X-ray goes



                                                                      into operation in Germany



                                                                      BERLIN (AP) — Scientists in  luminance  a  billion  times  chemical  reactions  and
                                                                      Germany  say  the  world’s  higher than the best con-    study  processes  occurring
                                                                      largest  X-ray  laser  is  now  ventional X-ray sources.  deep inside planets.”
                                                                      in  operation  and  will  help  Scientists hope the Europe-  Institutions  from  Germany,
                                                                      them  capture  images  of  an  XFEL  project  will  open  France,  Italy,  Poland,  Rus-
                                                                      structures  and  processes  up new areas of research.    sia,  Spain,  Sweden,  Swit-
                                                                      at an atomic level.          DESY says it will enable re-  zerland  and  other  coun-
                                                                      The  DESY  research  center  searchers “to decipher the  tries  are  involved  in  the
                                                                      near  Hamburg  said  the  molecular        composition  project.
               In this Feb. 28, 2017 file photo a technician works at the tunnel   laser  that  went  online  Fri-  of  viruses  and  cells,  take  Researchers are preparing
              of an X-ray laser at the European XFEL project in Schenefeld,   day  flashes  27,000  pulses  three-dimensional   imag-  their  first  experiments  for
              Germany.
                                                    Associated Press  per  second,  resulting  in  a  es  of  the  nanoworld,  film  mid-September.q
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