ARLINGTON, Wash. — Higher than normal temperatures and low water flow have experts concerned that salmon won’t survive their journey.
The conditions are so stressful on the fish that the Stillaguamish Tribe has talked to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife about temporarily suspending recreational fishing on the river. No decisions have been made yet.
“The flows this time of year are about 70 percent or less than the previous minimum ever seen,” said Jason Griffith, the fisheries biologist with the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians.
The levels are the lowest in 86 years of recorded history.
People fishing on the Stillaguamish are allowed to fish steelhead and trout, but they must release salmon back into the water.
But in a season when salmon are already stressed by heat and low water, “any handling, anyone catches them accidentally or handles them in any way or scares them, they can die from exhaustion,” Griffith said.
Griffith is seeing mostly Chinook salmon and some Sockeye salmon. He said this is typically their time of staging in deep, cold water before spawning.
But doing that is more difficult in these conditions. Griffith said a team of people usually net 120 adult Chinook salmon to bring to a hatchery each year. This time, they may have to help many more.
Griffith said there will also be great concern in September, when 200,000 pink salmon will try to travel through the low waters.
KIRO
