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Salmon River Suffers From Record Low Chinook Returns
Record low returns of spawning fall chinook salmon on the Salmon River, a major, pristine tributary of the Klamath River, point to the catastrophic impact that dams, diversions, mining and logging have on the fishery
P R E S S R E L E A S E
SALMON RIVER RESTORATION COUNCIL
KLAMATH-SALMON MEDIA COLLABORATIVE
For Immediate Release: January, 23, 2006
For more information:
Nate Pennington, Salmon River Restoration Council (530) 462-4720 or (530) 462-4665 nathanielpennington [at] hotmail.com
Sara Borok, California Department of Fish and Game, (707) 822-0330
"Key Klamath Tributary Suffers Record Low Salmon Runs – Three Years in a Row"
Dams, Diversions, Mining and Logging continue to decimate Salmon River fishery
Forks of Salmon, CA - Scientists and Conservationists were shocked last week to find out that the Salmon River fall Chinook run had dipped even lower than the previous year’s record low. Only an estimated 320 fall Chinook returned to the Salmon River according to the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG). CDFG has surveyed for spawning fall Chinook since 1978. A large tributary to the Klamath and one of the last refuges for wild salmon in the Klamath Basin, the Salmon River had an all time low in 2004 with a run of 626 fall Chinook. Before that the record low had stood at 780 in 1999.
“This is especially disheartening considering that last year was the lowest spring Chinook run on record. That makes this the third record low run in a row,” said Nat Pennington, Fisheries Program Coordinator for Salmon River Restoration Council. The three runs Pennington refers to are the fall run from 2004, the spring run of 2005, and the fall run of 2005.
Last fall’s run was low in most of the Klamath’s tributaries. For example, the Scott River had its second lowest run on record, following 2004’s record low run. Regulators and fishing communities alike worry that the last wild runs left in the Klamath basin are slowly going extinct. Complete Klamath Basin counts are expected to be released soon by CDFG.
The fisheries experts agree that over fishing is not part of the problem. Ocean and in-river salmon harvest quotas were the lowest in years. The Yurok Tribe even cancelled their commercial season to allow for more spawning in tributaries like the Scott and Salmon. Many point to the massive adult and juvenile fish kills in the Klamath in 2001 and 2002 when most of the adult salmon that returned to the river last year were born. Few will forget the Fish Kill of 2002, when low flows and high water temperatures left over 68,000 adult salmon dead before spawning.
According Karuk Tribe Biologist Toz Soto, “Over the past few years we have witnessed annual juvenile and adult fish kills because the Klamath has been too warm and the water quality too poor. These conditions are created by PacifiCorp’s dams in combination with the low releases from the Bureau of Reclamations’ Klamath Project. The salmon can’t take many more years of this.”
The Karuk Tribe’s ancestral homeland is in the middle of the Klamath Basin, below PacifiCorp’s dams. The Karuk is the second largest Tribe in California with over 3,400 members. Since time immemorial the Tribe has lived from the bounty of the river, but not any more. Last year Tribal fishermen caught a mere 200 fall Chinook. Recent reports indicate that loss of the fishery and other traditional foods are directly linked to the high rates of heart disease and diabetes among Tribal members.
“This is really not only about the fish, it’s about human health. These dams literally take food from the mouths of our children and affect our overall health,” according to Ron Reed, Cultural Biologist for the Karuk Tribe.
Regulators are still crunching numbers to see if the Klamath will meet the 35,000 fish natural spawning minimum set by the Magnuson Act. This population estimate is produced from the Klamath Basin Cooperative Chinook Spawning Surveys, involving the U.S. Forest Service, CDFG, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Schools and the Salmon River Restoration Council. The size of the Klamath fall Chinook run effects future salmon fishing regulations and commercial quotas. Those who noticed the higher prices last year for wild salmon at docks from San Francisco to Portland can attribute some of that price hike to increased fishing regulations protecting the wild Klamath run, once the third largest on the west coast.
Tribes, fishermen, and conservationists are hoping that PacifiCorp’s dams, which block over 350 miles of historic spawning habitat, will be removed as part of a dam relicensing agreement which could be decided on later this year.
Others hope that upper basin agricultural interests and down river fisheries interests can work out some win-win solutions to put more water in the river’s future and provide certainty for farmers. “One big problem is money - most of the government grant sources for grassroots cooperative restoration and continued scientific research are drying up. It has been 20 years since president Reagan signed the Klamath Fisheries Restoration Act, which expires this year. Now is the time for Congress to revisit it’s commitment to the Klamath.” said Pennington. Pennington also encourages people in the northwest to keep abreast of current threats to salmon restoration or swallow the cost of high priced salmon steaks again this year.
Editor’s note: For photos of Salmon River salmon and other pertinent information log on to http://www.srrc.org/
The author / photographer, and individuals quoted in this article authorize the contents of this press release including pictures and charts to be copied in part or entirety and used freely by individuals in the press.
Credit for downloadable pictures and chart: Salmon River Restoration Council
SALMON RIVER RESTORATION COUNCIL
KLAMATH-SALMON MEDIA COLLABORATIVE
For Immediate Release: January, 23, 2006
For more information:
Nate Pennington, Salmon River Restoration Council (530) 462-4720 or (530) 462-4665 nathanielpennington [at] hotmail.com
Sara Borok, California Department of Fish and Game, (707) 822-0330
"Key Klamath Tributary Suffers Record Low Salmon Runs – Three Years in a Row"
Dams, Diversions, Mining and Logging continue to decimate Salmon River fishery
Forks of Salmon, CA - Scientists and Conservationists were shocked last week to find out that the Salmon River fall Chinook run had dipped even lower than the previous year’s record low. Only an estimated 320 fall Chinook returned to the Salmon River according to the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG). CDFG has surveyed for spawning fall Chinook since 1978. A large tributary to the Klamath and one of the last refuges for wild salmon in the Klamath Basin, the Salmon River had an all time low in 2004 with a run of 626 fall Chinook. Before that the record low had stood at 780 in 1999.
“This is especially disheartening considering that last year was the lowest spring Chinook run on record. That makes this the third record low run in a row,” said Nat Pennington, Fisheries Program Coordinator for Salmon River Restoration Council. The three runs Pennington refers to are the fall run from 2004, the spring run of 2005, and the fall run of 2005.
Last fall’s run was low in most of the Klamath’s tributaries. For example, the Scott River had its second lowest run on record, following 2004’s record low run. Regulators and fishing communities alike worry that the last wild runs left in the Klamath basin are slowly going extinct. Complete Klamath Basin counts are expected to be released soon by CDFG.
The fisheries experts agree that over fishing is not part of the problem. Ocean and in-river salmon harvest quotas were the lowest in years. The Yurok Tribe even cancelled their commercial season to allow for more spawning in tributaries like the Scott and Salmon. Many point to the massive adult and juvenile fish kills in the Klamath in 2001 and 2002 when most of the adult salmon that returned to the river last year were born. Few will forget the Fish Kill of 2002, when low flows and high water temperatures left over 68,000 adult salmon dead before spawning.
According Karuk Tribe Biologist Toz Soto, “Over the past few years we have witnessed annual juvenile and adult fish kills because the Klamath has been too warm and the water quality too poor. These conditions are created by PacifiCorp’s dams in combination with the low releases from the Bureau of Reclamations’ Klamath Project. The salmon can’t take many more years of this.”
The Karuk Tribe’s ancestral homeland is in the middle of the Klamath Basin, below PacifiCorp’s dams. The Karuk is the second largest Tribe in California with over 3,400 members. Since time immemorial the Tribe has lived from the bounty of the river, but not any more. Last year Tribal fishermen caught a mere 200 fall Chinook. Recent reports indicate that loss of the fishery and other traditional foods are directly linked to the high rates of heart disease and diabetes among Tribal members.
“This is really not only about the fish, it’s about human health. These dams literally take food from the mouths of our children and affect our overall health,” according to Ron Reed, Cultural Biologist for the Karuk Tribe.
Regulators are still crunching numbers to see if the Klamath will meet the 35,000 fish natural spawning minimum set by the Magnuson Act. This population estimate is produced from the Klamath Basin Cooperative Chinook Spawning Surveys, involving the U.S. Forest Service, CDFG, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Schools and the Salmon River Restoration Council. The size of the Klamath fall Chinook run effects future salmon fishing regulations and commercial quotas. Those who noticed the higher prices last year for wild salmon at docks from San Francisco to Portland can attribute some of that price hike to increased fishing regulations protecting the wild Klamath run, once the third largest on the west coast.
Tribes, fishermen, and conservationists are hoping that PacifiCorp’s dams, which block over 350 miles of historic spawning habitat, will be removed as part of a dam relicensing agreement which could be decided on later this year.
Others hope that upper basin agricultural interests and down river fisheries interests can work out some win-win solutions to put more water in the river’s future and provide certainty for farmers. “One big problem is money - most of the government grant sources for grassroots cooperative restoration and continued scientific research are drying up. It has been 20 years since president Reagan signed the Klamath Fisheries Restoration Act, which expires this year. Now is the time for Congress to revisit it’s commitment to the Klamath.” said Pennington. Pennington also encourages people in the northwest to keep abreast of current threats to salmon restoration or swallow the cost of high priced salmon steaks again this year.
Editor’s note: For photos of Salmon River salmon and other pertinent information log on to http://www.srrc.org/
The author / photographer, and individuals quoted in this article authorize the contents of this press release including pictures and charts to be copied in part or entirety and used freely by individuals in the press.
Credit for downloadable pictures and chart: Salmon River Restoration Council
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Could it be the mile long monofiliment nets that the boats of various countrys are dragging just a few miles off our coast?
They tell about the 2002 fish die off (and again blame the Klamath Project) as part of the reason that salmon returns to the Salmon River have been so low the past three years. Using 'selective memory', they forget to include the fact that most of the chinook that died in the fall of 2002 were returning Trinity River chinook, not Salmon River chinook. And they blame the dams . . . when there are no Klamath River dams below where the Salmon River dumps into the Klamath. Could this press release be in response to the recent NOAA decision to not relist the Oregon Coastal Coho, or perhaps as a tool in the FERC relicensing process? Or both?
The 2002 salmon die off was mostly caused by higher water temps, lower water levels and lower water velocity caused by the dams upstream on the Klamath. These three factors caused the salmon to swim more sluggish, have less cold spots for feeding/resting on their downstream journey, and gave the deadly gill rot bacteria extra time and warmer temps to suffocate the salmon.
That means the Trinity/Salmon and other Klamath tributary migrations are effected in several ways, juveniles upon leaving, and with eggs and fry having limited sites because of the upstream blockage from dams. This is not a matter of selective memory, only that the rivers and the salmon migrations are all interwoven and interdependent on one another. Frequently lower water levels on one river will result in water being taken from another river, with a large amount of net water loss being transported and dispersed as evaporation by the industrial agriculture sprinkler systems of the central (klamath) valley. These industrial agriculture systems are incredibly inefficient and use more water than needed, based on some outdated water policies from the post WW2 industrial ag corporate rise to power..
Overfishing and mile long fishing ocean nets have a negative effect on larger sea mammals, and is discouraged by most responsible salmon fisherpeoples. Most salmon is line caught upon returning to spawn and this isn't the same method as mile long fishing nets. Certain corporate (atlantic) salmon fishing vessels frequently overfish, though many of these are from the hatchery (usually genetically weaker from captivity)fish, since all salmon return to their streams of birth origin. Then there's the possible future problem of farm raised transgenic salmon (with genetically altered pink coloration) interbreeding with the wild salmon stock..
http://www.salmonnation.com/fish/gefish.html
From what info is available, most people living on the Klamath line fish directly from the Klamath, thus ensuring that the salmon caught are from the Klamath..
From a basic understanding of ecology, we can reasonably guess that removal of the Klamath dams will result in a 2X-4X increase of wild salmon numbers every seasonal run. This is because of previously unavailable spawning habitat and more favorable conditions upon juvenile return (colder water temps, higher water levels, faster water velocity)..
The Modoc/Klamath Basin (near Klamath River headwaters) also can provide a great deal of plant and animal nutrition for humans if restored from industrial agriculture to it's natural state of seasonal high desert wetlands. Migratory waterfowl, wild rice and starchy wocus lily root are just some of the many food items that have grown and would grow in this habitat with little or no economic/labor input from human society. Industrial agriculture may appear to provide people with a benefit, though the cost of input (petrochemical fertilizer/pesticides, water diversion) and side effects (eutrophication, drought, species/ecosystem extinctions, etc..) may prove to be detrimental to humans and the ecosystem in the long term. The only labor energy expended would be in harvesting and preparing the wild native food plants/animals for eating..
Modoc Saga
http://www.cheewa.com/modoc.html
Vegan and animal rights advocates may disagree with modern human society depending on migratory waterfowl, salmon or antelope for a source of protein. Of course indigenous hunters treated the animals with respect and reverence, making sure that enough were left for the generations of the future. This is up for debate, though respectful hunting of wild range animals for nutrition (NOT 4 profit) is very different from commercial factory farming corporations. Commercial hunting, like other aspects of industrial capitalism, has shown itself to be unsustainable with ecology. However, the natural ecosystem can support various indigenous animals easier than large scale industrial agriculture. Sometimes the ethical choice includes being compatible with what is already there..
For example, the grasslands of the desert plains support(ed) pronghorn antelope, though these indigenous antelope were nearly driven to extinction by commercial game hunting and conversion to cattle grazing, where pronghorn were seen as competition with cattle and were undesireable for the ranchers. In Nevada the pronghorn can obtain adequate nutrition from the plentiful seas of drought tolerant sagebrush, yet cattle cannot. For this reason the ranchers of NV have cleared fields of sagebrush and replaced with alfalfa, a crop that requires a great deal of irrigation. The result is diversion of inland great basin rivers (Humboldt, Truckee, Walker, etc.) to quech the thrist of the alfalfa to feed the cattle. This river water diversion in turn increases the salinity of the inland draining rivers and the inland lakes, and native andronomous fish like the cui-cui (Pyramid Lake suckerfish)descended from ancient inland ocean Lake Lahontan are also becoming extinct. The most reasonable and least wasteful approach would be to allow the restored antelope to graze on the native sagebrush and people who desire meat can participate in a controlled hunt of the restored pronghorn antelope. If the ranchers wish to come to the table with nature conservationists, can they share the range with indigenous ungulates such as pronghorn antelope and Tule elk (valley)??
"Big sagebrush is an important winter browse plant for a number of wildlife species, including pronghorn, mule deer, domestic livestock, sage grouse and many small mammals. More than seventy percent of the sage grouse's diet consists of sagebrush leaves and buds."
http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/jul/papr/sage.html
http://www.sagebrushsea.org/spp_mammals.htm
Disappearing Desert Fishes
http://www.nativefish.org/articles/desert.php
When society makes errors in judgement like building large concrete dams and filling in wetlands, we witness a succesion of problems resulting from this habitat being lost or severely altered. However, as humans we can all learn from our mistakes and recognize that working with nature (instead of conquering) is better for everyone..
green sturgeon (psuedonym as buffer from Bush regime's NSA invasion of privacy)
That means the Trinity/Salmon and other Klamath tributary migrations are effected in several ways, juveniles upon leaving, and with eggs and fry having limited sites because of the upstream blockage from dams. This is not a matter of selective memory, only that the rivers and the salmon migrations are all interwoven and interdependent on one another. Frequently lower water levels on one river will result in water being taken from another river, with a large amount of net water loss being transported and dispersed as evaporation by the industrial agriculture sprinkler systems of the central (klamath) valley. These industrial agriculture systems are incredibly inefficient and use more water than needed, based on some outdated water policies from the post WW2 industrial ag corporate rise to power..
Overfishing and mile long fishing ocean nets have a negative effect on larger sea mammals, and is discouraged by most responsible salmon fisherpeoples. Most salmon is line caught upon returning to spawn and this isn't the same method as mile long fishing nets. Certain corporate (atlantic) salmon fishing vessels frequently overfish, though many of these are from the hatchery (usually genetically weaker from captivity)fish, since all salmon return to their streams of birth origin. Then there's the possible future problem of farm raised transgenic salmon (with genetically altered pink coloration) interbreeding with the wild salmon stock..
http://www.salmonnation.com/fish/gefish.html
From what info is available, most people living on the Klamath line fish directly from the Klamath, thus ensuring that the salmon caught are from the Klamath..
From a basic understanding of ecology, we can reasonably guess that removal of the Klamath dams will result in a 2X-4X increase of wild salmon numbers every seasonal run. This is because of previously unavailable spawning habitat and more favorable conditions upon juvenile return (colder water temps, higher water levels, faster water velocity)..
The Modoc/Klamath Basin (near Klamath River headwaters) also can provide a great deal of plant and animal nutrition for humans if restored from industrial agriculture to it's natural state of seasonal high desert wetlands. Migratory waterfowl, wild rice and starchy wocus lily root are just some of the many food items that have grown and would grow in this habitat with little or no economic/labor input from human society. Industrial agriculture may appear to provide people with a benefit, though the cost of input (petrochemical fertilizer/pesticides, water diversion) and side effects (eutrophication, drought, species/ecosystem extinctions, etc..) may prove to be detrimental to humans and the ecosystem in the long term. The only labor energy expended would be in harvesting and preparing the wild native food plants/animals for eating..
Modoc Saga
http://www.cheewa.com/modoc.html
Vegan and animal rights advocates may disagree with modern human society depending on migratory waterfowl, salmon or antelope for a source of protein. Of course indigenous hunters treated the animals with respect and reverence, making sure that enough were left for the generations of the future. This is up for debate, though respectful hunting of wild range animals for nutrition (NOT 4 profit) is very different from commercial factory farming corporations. Commercial hunting, like other aspects of industrial capitalism, has shown itself to be unsustainable with ecology. However, the natural ecosystem can support various indigenous animals easier than large scale industrial agriculture. Sometimes the ethical choice includes being compatible with what is already there..
For example, the grasslands of the desert plains support(ed) pronghorn antelope, though these indigenous antelope were nearly driven to extinction by commercial game hunting and conversion to cattle grazing, where pronghorn were seen as competition with cattle and were undesireable for the ranchers. In Nevada the pronghorn can obtain adequate nutrition from the plentiful seas of drought tolerant sagebrush, yet cattle cannot. For this reason the ranchers of NV have cleared fields of sagebrush and replaced with alfalfa, a crop that requires a great deal of irrigation. The result is diversion of inland great basin rivers (Humboldt, Truckee, Walker, etc.) to quech the thrist of the alfalfa to feed the cattle. This river water diversion in turn increases the salinity of the inland draining rivers and the inland lakes, and native andronomous fish like the cui-cui (Pyramid Lake suckerfish)descended from ancient inland ocean Lake Lahontan are also becoming extinct. The most reasonable and least wasteful approach would be to allow the restored antelope to graze on the native sagebrush and people who desire meat can participate in a controlled hunt of the restored pronghorn antelope. If the ranchers wish to come to the table with nature conservationists, can they share the range with indigenous ungulates such as pronghorn antelope and Tule elk (valley)??
"Big sagebrush is an important winter browse plant for a number of wildlife species, including pronghorn, mule deer, domestic livestock, sage grouse and many small mammals. More than seventy percent of the sage grouse's diet consists of sagebrush leaves and buds."
http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/jul/papr/sage.html
http://www.sagebrushsea.org/spp_mammals.htm
Disappearing Desert Fishes
http://www.nativefish.org/articles/desert.php
When society makes errors in judgement like building large concrete dams and filling in wetlands, we witness a succesion of problems resulting from this habitat being lost or severely altered. However, as humans we can all learn from our mistakes and recognize that working with nature (instead of conquering) is better for everyone..
green sturgeon (psuedonym as buffer from Bush regime's NSA invasion of privacy)
Most salmon is line caught upon returning to spawn and this isn't the same method as mile long fishing nets. Certain corporate (atlantic) salmon fishing vessels frequently overfish, though many of these are from the hatchery (usually genetically weaker from captivity)fish, since all salmon return to their streams of birth origin. Then there's the possible future problem of farm raised transgenic salmon (with genetically altered pink coloration) interbreeding with the wild salmon stock
What are you saying? that most Salmon are line caught. Bullsh*t.There are countrys that track them with every electronic measure posiable and wipe out whole schools with their nets. And once in the ocean, all the hatchery fish and wild fish run together. They are all taken. And the pink in farmed salmon is a matter of diet, not genetics. You suck.
What are you saying? that most Salmon are line caught. Bullsh*t.There are countrys that track them with every electronic measure posiable and wipe out whole schools with their nets. And once in the ocean, all the hatchery fish and wild fish run together. They are all taken. And the pink in farmed salmon is a matter of diet, not genetics. You suck.
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