“The primary objectives of the project were to protect the entrance of this important side channel used by sockeye for spawning and to reestablish new surfaces for floodplain reforestation planting. We have met those objectives” said Armstrong. “It was also the first time that a net loss of sockeye salmon spawning habitat was avoided in this watershed."
From the Seattle Times:
Buried deep within the 298 pages of the proposed Senate operating budget for 2009-11 is the possible closure of the Voights Creek Hatchery on the Puyallup River watershed.
The long-standing hatchery in Orting, which has been producing salmon since 1917, pumps out a massive 780,000 yearling coho and 1.6 million hatchery-marked chinook annually.
(more…)
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians recently released their summary report on juvenille salmon monitoring in the Puyallup River watershed. The tribe operates a smolt trap in the lower river which counts outgoing salmon. The report covers research between January 18 and August 10, 2008.
The most significant finding in the report is the high number of unmarked (assumed not to be of hatchery origin) chinook. (more…)
NEAH BAY — The 18 fishers reintroduced into Olympic National Park (ONP) earlier this year by wildlife biologists were expected to do some roaming. But few expected one of the weasel-like animals to journey nearly 60 miles from its Elwha River watershed release site to the Makah Tribe’s reservation in Neah Bay. Crossing mountains, rivers and busy roads, the fisher reached the Makah Reservation over a period of six months. (more…)
"The partnerships that are being built both in this process and in our work regarding removal of the Elwha dams and bringing the salmon back has been gratifying," said Frances Charles, chairman of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. "It will continue to be important that we be informed when there are camps or artifacts found. Protecting all the resources on these lands and doing no harm is a joint concern. We're grateful that the details of the government-to-government relationship make this partnership work and it will evolve as we listen to one another and move forward."
Bellingham Herald: With only 210 adult chinook salmon returning to the north and middle forks, and 120 returning to the south fork to spawn in 2005, fish managers are grappling…
HOH RIVER WATERSHED (Sept. 18, 2006)-- One of the most productive coho tributaries to the lower Hoh River just got even better for fish thanks to the removal of a fish-blocking culvert on its upper reaches. “Anytime there is an opportunity to get one of these fish-blocking culverts out, the tribe wants to remove it,” said Tyler Jurasin, fisheries biologist for the Hoh Tribe. One of the tribe’s highest priorities is addressing fish passage problems in the Hoh watershed. The $60,000 Braden Creek project is a cooperative effort between the Hoh Tribe and private timberland owner Rayonier.
There were a few stories over the weekend about chum salmon making it back to Muck Creek in the Nisqually River watershed, due to efforts by volunteers and the Nisqually…
The TNT this morning had a great article on the Puyallup Tribe's adult coho planting project. The gist of the program is that they take surplus adult spawners for a…
FORKS (Aug. 6, 2002) -- A cloud of mosquitoes follows Gene Gaddis and his crew of two as they scramble over a fallen tree in a small tributary of the…