Petersburg Pilot -

ANCHORAGE (AP) — State researchers looking for answers to Alaska's diminishing king salmon returns were urged Tuesday to take a look at the critical days after smolt leave fresh water and to closely examine how humans may affect salmon in marine waters.

“The two leading hypotheses for things that might cause declines of chinook salmon in the ocean are climate change and fishing,” said retired University of Washington fisheries biologist Kate Myers.

She was part of a panel that spoke at the state's two-day Alaska Chinook Salmon Symposium, organized to identify gaps in a draft research...