G'bye Salmon

[scott_harpell]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002105390_salmon01m.html

[scott_harpell]

The move comes as the administration, in a separate action, finished a Columbia River Basin salmon plan that concludes major hydroelectric dams no longer jeopardize the survival of wild fish runs. That means federal fishery officials have officially dropped dam removal as an option in the multibillion-dollar effort to recover the basin's wild salmon and steelhead, reversing a Clinton administration decision made four years ago.

 

Motherfuckers!

[iain]

your avatar picture pretty much sums up GWB's attitude toward the PNW salmon.

[scott_harpell]

Pretty much. Why can't they leave my goddamned fish alone! Fuck! They are already fucked as hell! I remember when I was a kid I caught more fish than I do now and I am 100times better now. Sad. Nova Scotia's cod, Europe's salmon... soon we will be a statistic as well.

[Jim]

This is just the beginning of 4 years of bad news. Next up - drilling in ANWR and gutting of the Endangered Species Act, delisting of murrelets, and then the coup of delisting salmon. All despite the scientific recommendations of the agencies (supposedly) in charge.

[scott_harpell]

If you are wondering why I am so pissed about "empty" waters being delisted, check this out.

 

REDMOND -- Kokanee salmon, long in decline, are spawning in the Sammamish River in three locations within city limits.

 

``There aren't that many runs of Kokanee left in the Sammamish watershed,'' said Peter Holte, the city's habitat stewardship coordinator.

 

Kokanee are rare, and one of the three local runs was declared functionally extinct in a report issued last year by King County, which called for further study of the surviving populations in order to better coordinate conservation efforts.

 

Kokanee are a rare variant of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that took a different evolutionary turn sometime in the past: Instead of migrating to the ocean after they are born, they stop and mature in freshwater lakes before heading back upstream to spawn and die.

 

``They're genetically coded to do this,'' Holte said. ``They're sockeye salmon, but because they display this behavior they're kokanee.''

 

The name ``kokanee'' comes from a native word meaning ``red fish,'' Holte said, and it describes the orangish color the fish take on during spawning season.

 

Because of their diet, kokanee tend to be smaller than their seafaring cousins. The kokanee currently in the river seem to top out at about 14 inches, Holte said.

 

A severe decline

 

Historically, kokanee could be found throughout the entire Lake Washington/Sammamish watershed. The populations have declined severely in this century, up to the point that the Issaquah Creek run was declared extinct last year.

 

Hans Berge, an aquatic ecologist with King County's Water and Land Resources Division, said that the presence of kokanee in significant numbers in the Sammamish River would be good news from a broader ecological standpoint.

 

``It means that survival in the lake is improving,'' Berge said.

 

``It's a good sign to see kokanee around. It's kind of an indicator species of freshwater habitats, too,'' he said.

 

Recent return

 

The kokanee that are currently spawning have come back to the river only in recent years, Berge said, but they have been shown to be a native, rather than a transplanted species.

 

Native runs of kokanee are rare, found mostly in the Lake Washington/Sammamish watershed, the Lake Whatcom watershed and in some locations on the Olympic Peninsula.

 

Kokanee in Eastern Washington tend to be introduced, and in fact many runs in the West were introduced from Washington state, Berge said.

 

According to a county Department of Natural Resources and Parks report in October 2003, which Berge co-wrote, kokanee spawn in the larger tributaries of the Sammamish River from September to November, and in tributaries to Lake Sammamish from late November to early January. The late-run kokanee are typically larger in size, up to 17 inches long.

 

The extinct run spawned in August and September in Issaquah Creek. In 2001 and 2002, only a handful of those early-run Kokanee were seen.

 

Berge intends to get out to see the kokanee himself today to gauge whether they are indeed kokanee and how large the population is.

 

``It's a good start to the year,'' he said.

 

Chris Winters can be reached at chris.winters@kingcountyjournal.com or at 425-453-4232.

 

KOKANEE SALMON SPAWN IN THE SAMMAMISH

 

Kokanee salmon have been seen spawning in three locations in Redmond this year: under the Northeast 85th Street bridge, a little bit farther north in the habitat restoration area and up in the stretch of the river between the Redmond 74 housing development and the Willows Run golf course.

 

Redmond Habitat Stewardship Coordinator Peter Holte will be at the bridge location from noon to 12:30 p.m. today to answer questions about the fish.

[cj001f]

If you are wondering why I am so pissed about "empty" waters being delisted, check this out.

Every so often a Salmon or Steelhead turns up in one of California's central valley rivers. You know, the rivers that had some of the largest salmon runs in history, but now run barely a trickle in the wet season. It's funny, but sad, watching all the ranchers call it a plot. Good to see us further support the already massively subsidized farming industry

[Jim]

There are several crafty ways the Bushies are pushing this forward. Even if salmon do not now inhabit streams they still have access to, and may in the future as conditions improve, these streams are off the critical habitat list, AND they are scrutinizing any data supplied by ecologists to show occurrence and tossing out the ones they think they can get away with OR tossing out the streams that they say will have "economic impacts". Of course without calculating any social cost of loss of salmon or degredation of habitat. In essence this will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Fish are not in streams now, allow development close to streams, habitat degrades, stream cannot support fish.

 

Scott - you should get involved in the Critical Areas Ordinance update for the City of Sammamish, which should be beginning in January. They will have a citizens work group to help shape the recommendations for stream buffers, etc. Make a difference.

[olyclimber]

Officials acknowledged that Mark Rutzick, a lawyer who had sued the government over salmon protections for years on behalf of the timber industry, helped design the habitat plan. Last spring, Rutzick was appointed a special counsel to the fisheries service for salmon recovery.

 

Fox designing the henhouse.

[scott_harpell]

There are several crafty ways the Bushies are pushing this forward. Even if salmon do not now inhabit streams they still have access to, and may in the future as conditions improve, these streams are off the critical habitat list, AND they are scrutinizing any data supplied by ecologists to show occurrence and tossing out the ones they think they can get away with OR tossing out the streams that they say will have "economic impacts". Of course without calculating any social cost of loss of salmon or degredation of habitat. In essence this will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Fish are not in streams now, allow development close to streams, habitat degrades, stream cannot support fish.

 

Scott - you should get involved in the Critical Areas Ordinance update for the City of Sammamish, which should be beginning in January. They will have a citizens work group to help shape the recommendations for stream buffers, etc. Make a difference.

 

There are also several stream rebuilding events in December. Planting trees to restore habitat. If there is interest I can post the dates for these events.

[scott_harpell]

Plant a Tree, Make a Difference:

Muck Creek Planting Project

 

Please join the Nisqually Stream Stewards and Pierce Conservation District Stream Team for a riparian planting project along Muck Creek in Roy, WA. We will be restoring native vegetation to stream banks to improve and protect salmon habitat.

 

Help increase the quantity and quality of salmon habitat along Muck Creek by planting native trees and shrubs along the stream banks. This day is part of a larger project that started with students from around the watershed planting roughly 1400 plants earlier this fall. We now need to complete the project by planting additional trees and shrubs and protecting the new plantings.

 

Please bring appropriate clothing and footwear ? we will go outside rain or shine!

Gloves & tools will be provided (as will warm beverages), but feel free to bring your own.

 

Saturday, December 4th

Time: 9:00 a.m. ? 12:00 p.m.

Place: Muck Creek on Warren Street (Roy, WA)

 

Contact: Kirsten Workman, Salmon Recovery Outreach Coordinator

(360) 438-8687

kworkman@nwifc.org

--OR--

Pierce Conservation District Stream Team

(253) 845-2973

 

Directions to Muck Creek Planting Project:

Take Hwy 507 into Roy

Turn West onto Water Street

Turn Right onto Warren Street (just after railroad tracks)

Follow Warren Street over Muck Creek to first driveway on the right.

Limited parking, please carpool if possible.

 

 

 

There is another on Issaqua creek on the 11th (sat?)...

 

anyone wanna carpool to these? Let me know.

[Camilo]

You bunch of nancies! What the hell do we need wild salmon for? We've got fish farms now that can supply us with tasty salmon year round .

[scott_harpell]

Shut up queerbait.

[Camilo]

I was kidding. Suck the lint out of my foreskin, whore!

[scott_harpell]

Sorry pillowbiter, I like the team I am on, thanks.

[Camilo]

Whatever. You know you love the beef. Anyways, what the hell were you saying on Ascensionist about some guys with shopping carts and wires? Were they fishing with it?

[scott_harpell]

They build weirs on the rivers and use the submerged shopping carts to make sure every fish goes into the weir. Total devastation of the run.

 

Yes, they "fish" with this.

Edited December 2, 2004 by scott_harpell

[Camilo]

That sucks big time. Good job on clearing them up. Bummer about the assholes though.

[scott_harpell]

You bunch of nancies! What the hell do we need wild salmon for? We've got fish farms now that can supply us with tasty salmon year round .

 

Here

[willstrickland]

I heard quite a bit about this on the job today. All I can think everytime I hear the latest bullshit out of the White House or their assclown cohorts in congress (about once or twice a week it seems) is "damn it all, we haven't even started the second term yet"

 

So today we get Fee Demo rammed through as a rider on appropriations and the fuck you Salmon policy. SWEEEEETTT! I sure am glad I voted for Bush cause Kerry was a pussy...oh wait, that's right I didn't vote for the chimperor.

 

Well, at least he's got the Iraq thing going for him...oh wait, that's fucked up too.

 

Combine the complete disdain for science anytime it conflicts with the CEOs making more money, with the reckless economic conduct of this administration and Canada is looking better everyday. The exchange rate is up to about $0.84 last I looked. Probably be alot of new Camalots at Squish next season.

[scott_harpell]

Don't forget to say "fuck you" to everyone of your 600 representatives too.

[Dru]

They build weirs on the rivers and use the submerged shopping carts to make sure every fish goes into the weir. Total devastation of the run.

 

Yes, they "fish" with this.

 

they have been doing that sustainably for 10,000 years. except not with shopping carts.

[scott_harpell]

Have they been snagging them too? They also didn't take 33.7% of the run. Their ancestors had a bit more respect for the environment.

[scott_harpell]

B.C. example for Dru

 

VANCOUVER - A former chief of the Cheam First Nation says aboriginal fishermen may carry guns to preserve the right to fish on the Fraser River according to their own rules.

[Dru]

Have they been snagging them too? They also didn't take 33.7% of the run. Their ancestors had a bit more respect for the environment.

 

Got any stats to back that up, I don't think so.