Salmon

The other day we were at our second cousins’ house, Natalie and Luke’s, who live outside of Seattle in Issaquah, WA.  In addition to playing outside in the rain and getting soaked with our cousins we just met, we also went to the salmon fishery.  Even though it was at the end of the salmon run, we still saw these unbelievably determined salmon swim up the fish latter.  I was amazed that the salmon never stopped, they just kept swimming and jumping out of the water into the next pool where they would rest, conserve energy, then do the same process again, and again, and again. Once the salmon made it to their final destination, they would spawn, and then die. ​

 I could sit there all day and watch the salmon swim upstream, it is almost impossible to describe, especially the struggle they go through to get upstream. One of my favorite parts of the hatchery was the glass panels in which you could look into the tank.  Every once in a while a monster sized salmon would swim by and sometimes you could see a salmon try to jump out of the tank.  The hatcheries are so great because they stock fish into the ecosystem which then allows humans to catch the salmon and not worry too much about overfishing.  The process in which the hatcheries raise the salmon is straight forward, the workers take the eggs of the salmon, raise them into the stage called fry, and then release them down the river so the salmon can go back to the ocean.  The hatcheries cut a small fin on the fish to allow people to know if they catch either a hatchery salmon or a wild salmon.  The hope is that fishermen will only keep the hatchery fish and leave the wild ones to stay in the wild.  Over all I found that the hatcheries are a really smart way to bridge the gap between conservationists and fisherman.

Another reason why I find salmon interesting is that even though they are a water species, the salmon play a huge role in a healthy ecosystem in the water and the area around their spawning grounds.  Salmon are crucial for the environment and people in general because they have provided humans with food for centuries.  

Also, salmon allow other fish, mammals and birds to survive because they are an important part of the food chain.  A recent study from Olympic National Park showed that around 175 different animals also feed on salmon, their eggs and the fry (fry are young salmon).  Nowadays, not only do they provide us with food but also provide us with the opportunity to fish for fun.  Most recently humans have pushed salmon to the brink of extinction, and now we have to double our efforts in order to save this species and restore balance to the force… just kidding, the ecosystem.  The hatcheries seem to be providing a major role in accomplishing that, and we can now enjoy fishing the salmon, and watching their unique and incredible commute up hundreds of miles of steams.

A second interesting way people have helped salmon and the whole environment is to take down dams.  The largestdam removal project was on the Elwha River which flows from Olympic National Park which we just visited a few days ago, and we got a ton of rain, but we weren’t to surprised because it is a temperate rainforest there.

It was really informative learning about the river and the positive effects the removal had on it.  We went to where the Gilnes Dam and Lake Mills use to be (oh, and did I forget to mention there was a torrential downpour?)

At the site of the old dam and out on the spillway the National Parks Service made this really informative and well put together series of signs explaining the process of the dam removal.  The location was awesome, and the spillway and signs were perched on the edge of the cliff over looking the canyon where the dam used to be. The signs talked about what it took to take down the dam, how the Native Americans, conservationists, and individuals got together and fought to free the Elwha River of its dam.

After years of fighting and planning, in 1992 Congress made a bill saying that the Elwha River dams would be removed so the river could run free again.  Even though the bill was passed it took 22 years till the dams were removed, but even more amazing was that in 2014 (the year after the Gilnes dam was finally removed) the salmon and other fish started to come back.  It was so fun learning about how the whole dam removal happened, and it gave me hope for the freedom of all rivers.  Also, the National Park Service made these really informative and well put together Videos about Elwha River dam removal.  I just loved learning about salmon and it was fantastic to hear about dam removal.  It lit a spark in me that makes me want to be a conservationist, and I hope you feel it, too.