West coast salmon recovery

[Salmonchaser]

Think of how many commercial licenses/leases could be bought out for the cost to remove just one of those dams?

Exactly

 

[Irrelevant]

Legacy habitat contamination as a limiting factor for Chinook salmon recovery in the Willamette Basin, Oregon, USA

In the western United States, the long-term recovery of many Pacific salmon populations is inextricably linked to freshwater habitat quality. Industrial activities from the past century have left a legacy of pollutants that persist, particularly near working waterfronts. The adverse impacts of...

journals.plos.org

toxicology is a big one in my mind. I recently discovered the reason we don't have fish (or frogs, or mosquitos) in our little creek is that the DDT levels are still too high. DDT was banned a decade before I was born and my grandkids will still be dealing with it.

 

[idahohuntr]

Man, when we were in Alaska we caught kings from the boat and pinks from the beach. The pinks were fabulous to eat. We actually preferred them to the kings. The silvers were our favorite, though.

My AK fishing guide buddy tells me the guys who say they prefer silvers to kings are the guys who can't catch kings...I say that in jest...because I'm a guy who likes kings but has a tougher time catching them than silvers!

 

[BWALKER77]

I really push back on the idea of freshwater habitat being a limiting factor for west coast salmon. It just doesn't pass the smell test.

Why are the great lakes salmon stocks doing so much better?
View attachment 213974

Why are pristine watersheds on the OP still just a fraction of their former selves.

The Upper Great Lakes salmon fishery has been in decline for decades.

 

[Salmonchaser]

My AK fishing guide buddy tells me the guys who say they prefer silvers to kings are the guys who can't catch kings...I say that in jest...because I'm a guy who likes kings but has a tougher time catching them than silvers!

On a good silver stream you hook six to ten fish an hour. Never was a king run that good day in an day out. The Nush used to get close, the boat on a good day would manage 30 fish or so. Kings, the boat does most of the work. Guide puts the boat in the run where kings will be, once the rod is buried then the fisherman takes over.
Silvers, its about the angler. Ive had many guys in my boat who would catch 40 or 50 sliver by lunch time and they had a buddy who could only manage five or so. silvers on a fly rod is just plain fun

 

[Irrelevant]

The Upper Great Lakes salmon fishery has been in decline for decades.

Link? That's generally not been my understanding.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Kinda strange to consider the guys responsible for getting the kings, steelhead and slivers to the Great Lakes were all avid fishermen, as I recall they all owned drift boats And loved small river fishing like the Alsea Nestucca and Siletz. Guess I didn’t know any of the biologists on the Great Lakes, so I should refrain from saying all. Most of those guys are gone now, I wonder, will the Great Lakes be the saving grace for salmon, the last repository of genetic information for kings that once grew to 90 pounds and more in just five years? That certainly wasn’t their plan.

 

[ringer]

Our best day on the Nush was 121 kings for four of us. All boondogging salmon eggs on a drift. That was the greatest river ever. Last trip we caught only 7 kings in three days of fishing with the nets out.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Our best day on the Nush was 121 kings for four of us. All boondogging salmon eggs on a drift. That was the greatest river ever. Last trip we caught only 7 kings in three days of fishing with the nets out.

I had a few of those myself over 20 years. Kinda crazy when you think about it. I understand this year there were two good days and everything else kinda sucked. So few kings in the river it’s gone to catch and release only. Glad you got to see one of those epic days. Bringing 100 fish of any species to the boat in the day is amazing. 100+ Kings is just insane.

 

[Irrelevant]

‘Safety in numbers’ tactic keeps Pacific salmon safe from predators

A new University of Washington study that leverages historical data has found unique support for a “safety in numbers” hypothesis by showing that Pacific salmon in larger groups have lower risk of...

www.washington.edu

 

[Salmonchaser]

Our best day on the Nush was 121 kings for four of us. All boondogging salmon eggs on a drift. That was the greatest river ever. Last trip we caught only 7 kings in three days of fishing with the nets out.

Com fish will tell you they don't impact kings!

 

[Salmonchaser]

Our best day on the Nush was 121 kings for four of us. All boondogging salmon eggs on a drift. That was the greatest river ever. Last trip we caught only 7 kings in three days of fishing with the nets out.

Com fish will tell you they don't impact kings

 

[Salmonchaser]

The sockeye are thriving. On the Naknek the run used to be over by the 17 of July, now they are there in good numbers until the end of the month. That part of the management plan is an exceptional success. The sockeye fleet is under many restrictions net size, timing etc designed to allow sockeye escapment.

 

[BWALKER77]

Link? That's generally not been my understanding.

A quick Google search will conform what I have said.
Bait fish (alewives) collapse caused by zebra and quaga muscles was the cause in the case of lake Huron. With lake Michigan it was disease and bait fish collapse.

 

[Irrelevant]

A quick Google search will conform what I have said.
Bait fish (alewives) collapse caused by zebra and quaga muscles was the cause in the case of lake Huron. With lake Michigan it was disease and bait fish collapse.

You mean like this one?

As alewife deaths rise, Michigan aims to boost king salmon stocking

Lake Michigan die-off is largest in years, says the DNR, which wants to increase chinook salmon stocking to offset a growing alewife population.

www.mlive.com

But yes, there are fewer salmon in the Great Lakes today than there were in the 80's, and alewives (introduced) have been reduced by invasive mussels.

 

[Irrelevant]

$95 Million in NOAA Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Funding Recommended to Reverse the Declines of West Coast Salmon and Steelhead

Funding for 19 new and continuing programs and projects will support conservation efforts in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.

www.fisheries.noaa.gov

Lotta money out there being pumped into this effort. I'd like to see it start paying off.

 

[BWALKER77]

You mean like this one?

As alewife deaths rise, Michigan aims to boost king salmon stocking

Lake Michigan die-off is largest in years, says the DNR, which wants to increase chinook salmon stocking to offset a growing alewife population.

www.mlive.com

View attachment 229890
View attachment 229891

But yes, there are fewer salmon in the Great Lakes today than there were in the 80's, and alewives (introduced) have been reduced by invasive mussels.

That's lake Michigan and it's dated.
Lake Huron salmon fishing is shot and northern lake Michigan currently isn't much better.

 

[Mica Man]

An adult chinook is swimming in Hangman Creek for the first time in more than 100 years, a symbolic victory for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe

For the first time in 108 years, an adult chinook is swimming in Hangman Creek.

www.spokesman.com

 

[Salmonchaser]

An adult chinook is swimming in Hangman Creek for the first time in more than 100 years, a symbolic victory for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe

For the first time in 108 years, an adult chinook is swimming in Hangman Creek.

www.spokesman.com

I get so excited when I read these stories. Is it possible to undue some of the damage we have done through our short sighted planning.

 

[Irrelevant]

An adult chinook is swimming in Hangman Creek for the first time in more than 100 years, a symbolic victory for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe

For the first time in 108 years, an adult chinook is swimming in Hangman Creek.

www.spokesman.com

Yeah, but they captured it at Chief Joe and transported it 250 river miles (1/3 of it's theoretical total journey) to Tensed ID, around many reaches that likely are no longer tolerable for salmon. I like what the tribe is doing above Chief Joe and Grande Coulee, but this was about publicity not actually restoring salmon.