Chum salmon spawning in the Arctic may provide food for native fish species, helping them survive in the biologically unproductive waters, as scientists study the changing ecology of the region due to warming temperatures.

Numbers from Fishing Branch, a tributary of the Porcupine River, fell below management and treaty goals, experts from Alaska and the Yukon said at the Yukon River Panel’s meeting in Whitehorse earlier this month.

Traditional knowledge keepers and ADFG identify as a chum salmon.

Strange chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)

4-21-13 Unseasonable chum salmon - St. Mary's, Alaska, USA