Klamath River Conditions Ripe for Another Fish Kill

PRESS RELEASE

June 20, 2007

KLAMATH SALMON MEDIA COLLABORATIVE

Contacts:
Nat Pennington – Salmon River Restoration Council (530) 722-5037
Regina Chichizola – Klamath Riverkeeper (530) 627-3280
Mike Hudson - Small Boats Commercial Salmon Fishermen's Association (510)
528-6575

For more information contact:
Larry Hanson – California Dept. of Fish and Game (530) 225-0266
Nick Hetrick – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (707) 822-7201

KLAMATH FISH KILL ALERT LEVEL RAISED TO YELLOW
River conditions ripe for another fish kill

Orleans, CA - As Klamath River temperatures rise and the region’s below average snow pack continues to recede, the Klamath River’s salmon are again in trouble. These conditions, coupled with increased observation of disease, mortality, and average run size predictions have prompted the Klamath Fish Health Assessment Team (KFHAT) to increase its fish kill readiness alert level to yellow.

The KFHAT is a collaboration of agencies, tribes, and restoration organizations which formed during the summer of 2003 with the purpose of providing early warning and a coordinated response plan to avoid, or at least address, a fish kill event such as occurred in the fall of 2002. The 2002 fish kill was referred to as the largest in U.S. history, an estimated 68,000 Chinook died of diseases after entering the Klamath River to spawn.

In recent years juvenile salmon have been taking the brunt of the Klamath’s woes as several fish diseases plague the Klamath’s juvenile salmon.

“These diseases are particularly lethal in combination with increased temperature and static flow conditions caused by the Klamath Dams. Citizens monitoring the river have already reported seeing dead fish,” according to Regina Chichizola, the Klamath Riverkeeper.

Nat Pennington, fisheries coordinator with the Salmon River Restoration Council said, “In recent years juvenile die offs have become annual events. We really need to get a handle on exactly how many juvenile salmon are dying in the Klamath River each year. Disease monitoring and outmigrant trapping are the only tools we have. When we go check fish traps and find a lot of sick fish we are left wondering how salmon ever actually make it through the Klamath gauntlet to the ocean.”

Local Tribal leaders are concerned as well. Leaf Hillman, Vice chairman of the Karuk Tribe stated, “These juvenile fish kills show that our salmon are on the road to extinction. If we don’t take bold steps like removing Warren Buffett’s Klamath dams we’ll soon be past the point of no return.” Oregon based PacifiCorp owns the Klamath Dams and is a wholly owned subsidiary of one of Warren Buffett’s energy holdings companies.

In recent years a diverse coalition of stakeholders has been urging PacifiCorp to remove their lower four dams to fix this problem. Tribes, fishermen, conservationists and business owners see dam removal as a critical step in restoring the Klamath’s ecological and economic health.

The yellow alert worries coastal fisherman who saw their commercial salmon season almost completely curtailed last year. “Signs of poor fish health are very discouraging and more man-made fish-die-offs on the Klamath can simply not be allowed to happen. Our industry is still reeling from last year's fisheries closures, and our customers are very disappointed when we can't bring fresh wild salmon to the markets.” said Mike Hudson of the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen’s Association.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service monitors disease infection rates in Klamath River juvenile Chinook salmon. Although it is impossible to predict the fate of a diseased fish, preliminary findings for May and early June show that up to seventy percent of sampled Chinook juveniles near Iron Gate Dam are infected with disease. These studies have occasionally identified even higher infection rates since they began four years ago.

“We’re forgetting how to catch and cook salmon while we are getting very good at counting sick and dead salmon. These diseases have become a chronic problem. Dam removal and river restoration is clearly the cure” said Pennington.

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