North Fork

Chinook spawn in side channel restored by Nooksack Tribe

A chinook salmon spawns in a side channel of the North Fork Nooksack River that recently was restored by the Nooksack TribeThe Nooksack Tribe’s successful efforts to restore salmon habitat on the North Fork Nooksack River were covered by the Bellingham Herald:

Chinook salmon are already taking advantage of a new stretch of spawning channel on the north fork of the Nooksack River that was improved in the past year through a project overseen by the Nooksack Indian Tribe. (more…)

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Tribe preserving threatened South Fork Stillaguamish River chinook

ARLINGTON – The Stillaguamish Tribe has everything it needs to start a chinook supplementation program in the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River – except the fish.

The tribe hired additional field technicians and acquired an old trout farm to spawn and rear threatened South Fork Stillaguamish River chinook. But because there are so few chinook returning to the South Fork, it has been a challenge to collect enough adult fish to spawn.

South Fork chinook are genetically distinct from North Fork chinook, and always have been smaller in number.

The tribe’s hatchery program in the North Fork has supplemented that population for 20 years, with about 1,500 fish returning to the North Fork each year. Meanwhile, chinook returns to the South Fork have declined to fewer than 100 fish. (more…)

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Skokomish Mark Return Of North Fork Flow

More than 80 years ago, President Calvin Coolidge pushed a button that energized Cushman Dam No. 1 on the North Fork of the Skokomish River. The hydroelectric dam dewatered the North Fork, wiping out salmon runs upon which the Skokomish Tribe has always depended.

Cushman Dam No. 1 was joined a few years later by Cushman Dam No. 2, built just downstream. Neither dam allows fish passage. Together, the two dams reduced water flows to a trickle, altering the biology and geology of the river system, and deeply affecting Skokomish tribal culture and treaty-reserved fishing rights. On March 7, after decades of efforts, tribal member Dave Herrera pressed a button that restored a small part of the North Fork’s historic flow from Dam No. 2. (more…)

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Whatcom County groups win $3.5 million for salmon recovery

The Bellingham Herald reports on Salmon Recovery Funding Board projects in Whatcom County. Lummi Nation was the largest single recipient in the county:

Whatcom County, a salmon conservation group and local tribes on Wednesday received $3.5 million in grants to help struggling salmon populations and restore their habitats in the Nooksack River.

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Efforts range from a Lummi Nation plan to catch adult chinook salmon in the south fork, spawn them and raise juveniles to increase the population’s chances of survival; to a Nooksack Indian Tribe plan to build four logjams on the south fork near Tawes and Caron creeks to provide pools that cool the water for salmon.

(more…)

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