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Matt Saldate, a fishery technician, hooks a salmon carcass as fellow technician Ed Rible looks on. The men conduct a carcass survey recording how many spawned fish make it up to the Mokelumne River Hatchery and lay their eggs in the river. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)
Wild salmon of the Mokelumne: Saving a species
Salmon vital to environment, economy
Tons of gravel are hauled in each summer to restore the Mokelumne River salmon habitat.
Biologists and volunteers spend hours scouring the riverbed in search of salmon nests.
Others look for carcasses of the salmon that have already completed their life cycle.
In the hatchery, workers spawn the fish by hand in case something goes wrong with the natural process.
But what's the point in putting all this effort and spending millions of dollars to keep the local salmon run healthy? After all, there are salmon runs everywhere.
Biologists working on the river say there's a big point: the health of the river.
Millions of dollars are spent each year to improve dams, fish ladders and spawning habitat for salmon, not because salmon are the only important species, but because their presence indicates good water quality and a thriving ecosystem, said Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. Salmon also have economic value for commercial and sports fisherman, as well as restaurants and grocery stores.
A failing salmon run indicates larger problems for both wildlife and humans who rely on water from rivers and streams, Jennings said.
"An estuary that won't support salmon and frogs and butterflies won't long support little boys and girls," he said.
By the time humans start noticing a depleted salmon run there have already been major changes in the river, which could mean a loss in aquatic insects the fish feed on or a temperature change that could spread disease. Likewise, if natural spawning is restored it indicates much of the ecosystem is working again and the river is healthy.
"Salmon are a native species to California and are important for the survival of the ecosystem," said Michelle Workman, a fisheries biologist for East Bay Municipal Utilities District. "They keep the food chain and the river functioning the way they should be."
If salmon were to disappear from the Mokelumne River it would cause an imbalance. An insect species could reproduce unchecked or a new fish species could take the river over and possibly kill off another native species or overcrowd the river.
Getting to know salmon
Want to sound savvy about the salmon run? Here are a few words you'll need to know:Anadromous: Fish that hatch and rear in fresh water, migrate to the ocean (salt water) to grow and mature, and migrate back to fresh water to spawn and reproduce.
Spawn: Fish reproduction; the mixing of the sperm of a male fish and the eggs of a female fish.
Redd: A fish nest covered with gravel.
Alevin: The developmental life stage of young salmon between the egg and fry stage. The alevin has not absorbed its yolk sac and has not emerged from spawning gravels.
Fry: A stage of development in young salmon. A fry is usually less than one year old, has absorbed its yolk sac, is rearing in the stream, and is between the alevin and parr stage of development.
Fingerling: A young fish in its first or second year of life.
Parr: The developmental life stage of salmon and trout between alevin and smolt, when the young have developed vertical stripes and are actively feeding in fresh water.
Smolt: Refers to the salmon developmental life stage between parr and adult, when the juvenile is at least one year old and has adapted to the marine environment.
Milt: Fish sperm.
Fish Ladder: Allows adults to pass dams on their upstream spawning migration.
Source: http://www.streamnet.org.
Workman works with a group of biologists on the Mokelumne River to improve natural spawning in the river, but she said it's only part of the solution.
Salmon are anadromous fish, meaning they live part of their life in fresh water and part of their life in the ocean so they face threats from both, she said.
A drought about 10 years ago critically reduced salmon populations.
Much like the Klamath River today, the drought caused poor river flows, making it difficult for salmon to navigate the river and warming the river to levels unfit for spawning.
The Mokelumne now has between 5,000 and 16,000 returning salmon each year, with an out-migration of nearly 8 million. Since 1992, more local salmon have been returning since the drought reduced their numbers to about 150.
A thriving ecosystem also means a thriving income for a number of people throughout the United States.
Northern California fishermen learned just how much one salmon run can affect their income, when the U.S. Department of Commerce banned fishing along the coast during the height of the season this year. The reason: Klamath River's poor salmon run. The cost to fisherman? An estimated $16 million.
Salmon also create an income for restaurants, the ecotourism industry and, in Lodi, possibly wineries, said Andy Christensen, manager of the Woodbridge Irrigation District.
Christensen has been approached by wineries from both Lodi and Woodbridge who are interested in working with the district to turn Woodbridge Dam into a tourist attraction by adding a visitor center, expanding the salmon viewing station and opening it to the public.
Christensen said it would give tourists a unique opportunity to see the fish at eye level, giving people one more reason to visit Lodi.
However, the district, which spent $15 million to improve the dam and fish ladders in 2003, doesn't have any money available right now to expand into the tourist sector.
More than half of the money spent on improvements went toward fish ladders to help the salmon migrate upriver to spawning habitat and the hatchery near Camanche Dam, Christensen said.
"The river was out of balance and the declining salmon populations were an indication of that," he said. "Part of improving the fish ladders was to put things back in balance."
Christensen said there doesn't have to be a choice between serving salmon or people along the Mokelumne River, "we can do both."
Contact reporter Rebecca Adler at rebeccaa@lodinews.com.
First published: Tuesday, December 5, 2006
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Cycloray wrote on Dec 5, 2006 4:09 PM:
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