A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 14, 2007
3. Watersheds -
Salmon struggling in hot Mattole
By John Driscoll, Staff Writer
Thousands of young salmon are struggling to survive in the mouth of the
Temperatures in the estuary, which is sealed off from the ocean by a sand bar, have been perilous to the little chinook salmon for weeks. The fish may have been prompted to move from rearing areas in the upper river to the river mouth by a mid-July rain. Now they are languishing, easy prey for birds and competing with steelhead trout for food.
The Mattole Salmon Group has lobbied federal agencies and the California Department of Fish and Game to be allowed to net about 5,000 chinook and keep them in a rearing facility upstream until fall rains set in. Biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service have offered to help if the plan is approved. But Fish and Game biologists believe the operation will kill more fish than it will save.
Mattole Salmon Group Executive Director Tom Campbell agrees netting the fish could be risky, but said he'd enlist the aid of federal fisheries experts.
”I'm afraid all the fish are going to perish -- none are going to make it,”
Their condition also may be getting worse. With limited food in the estuary, the small salmon have reportedly taken on a gaunt appearance, with heads disproportionate to their bodies.
All the more reason, say Fish and Game biologists, to leave them alone.
”We really feel the risk is too great to be out there handling these fish at this point,” said Fish and Game Senior Environmental Scientist Steve Turik.
Generally, temperatures in the Mattole start to drop around this time of year, although that's obviously dependent on the weather. While Fish and Game has said it won't issue a permit for trapping and moving fish, Turik said biologists are being sent to the estuary this week for a closer look.
The Mattole Salmon Group has asked for help from state lawmakers, who have inquired of Fish and Game about the issue. In a response to Sen. Pat Wiggins' office Friday, department Regional Director Gary Stacey said trapping even 3,000 young chinook would likely only result in a few fish returning to the river after their time at sea, but would put the rest of the fish in jeopardy.
”We have been dealing with the Mattole Group on this issue for several weeks now, and they are not happy since they are not hearing the answer they want to hear,” Stacey wrote.
It seems to come down to a question of nature or nurture. Chinook in the Mattole have for hundreds or thousands of years survived when the mouth of the river sealed up. But roads, development, logging and huge floods in the 1950s and 1960s have made the estuary more shallow and less shady, and salmon runs have lagged.
Conditions have improved due to improved land management practices and restoration over the past 20 years, said Tom Shaw, longtime biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The long-term solution is to control sediment, as called for in state and federal guidelines, he said.
”In the meantime, I recommend doing anything we can,” Shaw said.
Fish and Wildlife is willing to provide equipment and experienced operators if netting the fish is deemed the best course, Shaw said. If nothing is done, the fish will probably have to wait until it rains enough to open up the river mouth again, which could easily be October or later.
National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Dan Free believes that is too long. Most of the fish will probably die, he said, and if they do, the genetic diversity of the limited Mattole salmon population would suffer.
”From out perspective, although we do recognize that some fish are going to die in the capture,” Free said, “we think the risk is acceptable given the likelihood of most of those fish dying.” #
http://times-standard.com/local/ci_6619443
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