"Insights from Four Decades of Canned Salmon on Marine Food Webs"

Researchers have used canned salmon from the past to study the history of marine parasites in Alaskan waters. By dissecting preserved filets from 178 cans, they found that anisakid worm levels rose for chum and pink salmon from 1979 to 2021, while staying the same for coho and sockeye salmon. The presence of these parasites is seen as a signal of a healthy ecosystem, and their increase may indicate a stable or recovering ecosystem. The study suggests that old cans of fish could provide valuable historical data for understanding marine food webs and ecosystems.