Flood control proposal threatens salmon spawning habitat on Skagit River
The Skagit Valley Herald reports on proposed flood control measures on the Skagit River
Puyallup Tribe supplies chinook for school kids and creek
From the Federal Way Mirror: The salmon population in the Hylebos Creek is growing thanks to the work of students at Spring Valley Montessori School in Federal Way. Every year…
Climate change threatens Northwest icons
The Skagit Valley Herald has a series this week about climate change. One story highlights the challenge to salmon survival:
Several recent studies using computer models indicate that climate change will affect salmon in several ways:
* Rising seas could reduce habitat size for young salmon, which may spend several weeks in the estuary preparing for the change from fresh water to saltwater.
* Lower summer stream flows could mean that juvenile salmon, especially coho, will have less habitat and food during the one to two years they spend in the river.
* Increased incidents of flooding will wash away more salmon eggs from streambeds.
* Warmer stream temperatures can cause the fish what amounts to heat exhaustion.
* Higher stream temperatures reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen, making it difficult for salmon to breathe.
* Warmer oceans, such as in an El Niño year, bring other species, such as squid, north where they compete with adult salmon for food.
* Warmer seas prevent the upwelling of the nutrient-rich cold water, reducing the amount of plankton and bait fish, which are an important part of the food web that salmon need.
Snohomish County urban flooding likely hurt salmon
The (Everett) Herald reports:
Struggling salmon populations in south Snohomish County took a beating last week when normally tranquil streams such as North Creek and Little Bear Creek filled to overflowing, biologists said.
Salmon Eggs Swept Away by Floods
The Kitsap Sun did a nice follow up of the effects of this week's rain on salmon eggs in local creeks. Paul Dorn from the Suquamish Tribe is quoted. "Fisheries…
Tribal hatchery work impacts future of salmon
A new bi-weekly paper in North Snohomish County, the North County Outlook, reports on the hatchery relationship between the Tulalip Tribes and the state: One hundred years ago members of…
Hoh Tribe’s Planting Effort Using Science To Combat Insect
HOH RIVER (March 21, 2005) – Plant a tree and it will grow.
It’s not that simple though when the tree is a Sitka spruce planted to reforest Olympic coast timberlands.
Populations of spruce-tip weevil, an insect that causes spruce to grow uncharacteristically bushy and low, exploded in spruce forests planted in the mid -1980s. Infestation was so prevalent, that many private timberland owners stopped replanting spruce -the signature species of temperate rainforests – and a key component of salmon habitat.
Fish Restoration Efforts Get Boost From Improved Monitoring Capabilities
FORKS (August 20, 2003) – The waters of Owl Creek muddy up immediately when Jill Silver, biologist for the Hoh Tribe, uses her hand to swirl the gray clay lining the river bottom. The gooey mud is washing into the creek from a large deposit of clay on the bank and Silver suspects it is harming fish. Tracking and monitoring sites where clay is moving into streams is part of a pilot watershed monitoring program the Hoh Tribe is beginning this year.
While the tribe has actively monitored many aspects of salmon and salmon recovery over the years, the new program will merge all the different layers of information into one computer database linked to a new Geographic Information System (GIS). The new tool will help analyze complex habitat and water questions based on thousands of hours of past and current research.