Not only could warm water and disease be killing a significant number of upriver-bound kings, but the conditions could be causing others to lose their eggs. A Kocan study reported about 25 percent of the female fish showed signs of egg resorption, though that could not be linked directly to ichthyophonus. Kocan wants to do further studies this summer to determine why females are losing eggs and to see whether the surviving eggs can still hatch. Unfortunately, Sandone added, all scientists can do is study. There's no way to treat salmon in the vast Yukon watershed.
Managers can try to get enough fish to the spawning beds to ensure future runs.
The only thing we can do is wait. The biggest problem now is reducing subsistence harvest. When people depend on the salmon to feed their families and their dog teams, he said, it is hard to tell them they cannot fish. But if they fish, they could risk depressing runs far into the future. A disappointed Fliris said he, for once, recognizes that and accepts it.