Salmon have been around for millions of years

1. Salmon have been around for millions of years

2. The good ol’ days of salmon fishing 100 years ago.

4. Steelhead male Sockeye male Pink male Cutthroat Salmon Pink female Sockeye female Coho male Chum male Chinook male Chinook female Chum female Coho female

5. Anadromous Fish • Salmon are anadromous fish – borne in freshwater, as adults they live in the salty oceans but return to reproduce in fresh water. • Some salmon (sockeye and chinooks) travel up to 1,000 miles (1,600 km) upstream in order to spawn.

6. Sockeye salmon (or Red salmon) normally live 4-5 years. And grow to 4 to 7 pounds, or more. Sockeye come from river systems with freshwater lakes (like Lake Washington) as part of the system. For Example:

7. The Columbia River near Hood River, OR • Picture of falls where Native Americans used to fish for salmon before the Bonneville Dam was built. • This sight is now 160 ft below water.

8. The Bonneville Dam Today

9. The Decline of the Northwest Salmon Factors Causing Salmon Decline: Dams Logging Agricultural runoff Increased population growth Over fishing

10. State of Salmon in WA Watersheds In 1991, the federal government listed the first Pacific Northwest wild salmon as near extinction under the Endangered Species Act. Now a maze of different federal agencies are involved in salmon regulations.

12. Federal Agencies Involved • Department of Agriculture • Natural Resource Conservation Service • Forest Service • Department of Commerce • National Marine Fisheries Service • Department of Interior • Fish & Wildlife Service • Bureau of Reclamation • Environmental Protection Agency • State Department • Council on Environmental Quality 3/30/00 Slide 12

13. By 1999, wild salmon had disappeared from about 40 percent of their historic breeding ranges in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. In Washington, the numbers dwindled so much that salmon are threatened or endangered in nearly 3/4 of the state.

15. State Agencies Involved in Salmon Recovery Joint Natural Resources Cabinet Governor's Office Parks & Recreation Commission Department of Agriculture Northwest Power Planning Council Department of Ecology Department of Community, Trade & Economic Development Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team Tribes Department of Health Conservation Commission Department of Transportation SRF Board Department of Fish & Wildlife Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation Department of Natural Resources 3/30/00 Slide 15

16. Sockeye and chinooks are the most hardy of the Pacific salmon family, traveling as far as 1,000 miles upstream to spawn. Chums, coho and pinks spawn closer to the sea.

17. Hatching in fresh water streams, after up to 2 years migrate to the ocean, where most of their growth occursand after up to 5 years return to their native streams to spawn.

18. Salmon lifecycle: fresh, brackish, and salt water

19. Digging a Redd (a gravel nest in a streambed)

20. With her tail the female digs a nest, or redd, in the gravel, a cavity up to 18 inches deep. A riffle is preferred, where the fast-running water will provide a lot of oxygen for up to 8000 eggs.

21. Clean, cold water and small to medium sized gravel are required for good redds

22. male fertilizes them by covering them with a milky substance known as milt.

23. Most salmon die shortly after spawning After fertilization, the female covers the eggs with gravel, and remains on the redd until death several days later. .

24. Some salmon have eggs Removed for hatchery use

25. Washington State Hatchery System Washington State Hatchery System • WDFW • Tribe • USFWS

26. Annual WA Statewide Hatchery Production WDFW 200-250 million fish Tribes 46 million fish USFWS 38 million fish WA Statewide Hatchery Facilities WDFW 90 facilities 250 cooperative projects 40 Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group projects Tribes 35 facilities USFWS 12 facilities

27. Removing sperm from a male in a hatchery

28. Salmon are born in stream gravel beds 10 to 700 miles from the sea. Laid in the fall, the eggs incubate over the winter, frequently under several feet of snow and ice.

30. Hatched Alevins

31. Yolk sac

32. Hatched Alevins In the late winter, the eggs hatch into alevins, with bright orange yolk sacs (a completely balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals). They grow rapidly under the gravel for three to four months. Good flow of pure water is critically important.

33. Salmon eggs require clean gravels for development

34. Newly Emerged Fry Alevins lose their sacs, and emerge from the gravel as fry in May and June. About an inch (2.5 cm) long, they are free swimming, and are easy prey for larger fish. Sockeye fry move into a lake for a year, although pink and chum fry swim directly to the sea.

35. Fingerlings

36. Freezer tagging young fingerlings at a hatchery

37. Tagging a male

38. Releasing young salmon from a hatchery

39. Releasing salmon from a truck

40. Young salmon become Smolts when they enter brackish water

41. IN THE ESTUARIES AND OCEAN • When the fry or fingerlings move onto estuaries they begin the process of to salt water and become SMOLTS. • Brackish waters are a mix of fresh and salt water. • SMOLTS must watch out for birds and larger fish, a new predator for the growing fish. • The time spent in estuaries depends on the species of salmon, but can vary from weeks to months. • The larger they are before they enter the ocean, the more likely they survive to return as adults (escape predators). • In the ocean for 1-5 years, they become prey to killer whales, sea lions, dolphins, and bigger fish.

42. Block seine for capturing juvenile Chinook salmon in the estuarine emergent marsh, Skagit River, Washington State.

43. Estuary Utilization by Juvenile Chinook Salmon Tidal channels in the Skagit Riverestuarine emergent marsh provide food and habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon. At least 70% of all fish rearing in the estuary lived there for a month or longer.

44. Construction of dams - No access to their spawning sites. • Logging sediments - damages stream spawning areas. • Vegetation clearing along streamsides - heats waters. • Debris removal in rivers – winter fingerling habitat lost. • Contaminated water – kills fish. • Over fishing – reduces spawning numbers WHY IS THE SALMON POPULATION DECLINING ?

45. SALMON AND HYDROPOWER DAMS

46. Dams and SalmonShould Dams be Removed? • Dams completely block a salmon’s access to their habitat, and cannot reach their spawning sites. • There is less reproduction. • Some salmon are trapped in fish ladders. • The warm water in the reservoir is a perfect breeding ground for parasites which infect salmon. • Predators gather near the fish ladders.

47. Salmon used to just swim up river to spawning sites • Now they have to find ways around dams • Many adults die of exhaustion before reaching spawning sites

48. Sea lions have figured out that salmon are easy targets at the bases of dams • Studies show that sea lions eat about 5% of the wild salmon runs

49. Sealice effects wild + farmed salmon • Lepeophtheirus salmonis • Small wild salmon are threatened the most due to it only taking 1-2 lice to kill and only 8 to kill a larger fish. • 142 pink Salmon populations are threatened by sealice.

50. Breeching Dams ? There are many dams located on the Columbia + Snake Rivers in Washington State.Conservationists and fishermen would like to remove some of these dams.The Government insists that we can restore the salmon by overhauling hatcheries, limiting harvest, restoring their habitat and improving river flow.