The relief that California tribes experienced when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation agreed to open water flows into the Trinity River to avert a fish kill may have been short-lived. Fears were revived and water flows have been increased again after the discovery of a deadly parasitic salmon-killing disease in the Lower Klamath River.
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pathologist has found severe ich (ichthyophthirius multifiliis) infestations in fall-run Chinook salmon taken from the Lower Klamath River, the Hoopa Valley Tribe said in a statement on September 15. This is the same disease that killed 60,000 to 80,000 fish in 2002.
“The fear is that all the fish might die in the Lower Klamath like they did in 2002,” said Robert Franklin, senior hydrologist with Hoopa Tribal Fisheries, in the statement.
The disease spreads quickly in overcrowded, warm waters, both conditions that are caused by lower water flows into the rivers, as fish congregate in small, cooler areas. The Hoopa Valley and other tribes had implored Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to agree to release flows and divert them from agricultural use, which the Bureau of Reclamation did at the end of August.
Water flow on the Trinity would have to double immediately to prevent the infection from spreading, Franklin said in the statement, because it would take days for the water to reach the Lower Klamath River.
“The Hoopa Valley Tribe is very appreciative of the earlier action that Reclamation took by releasing preventative flows,” Hoopa Valley Tribal Chairwoman Danielle Vigil-Masten said in the tribe’s statement. “We are in another stage that we did not anticipate and we shouldn’t deviate from what the science tells us to do. We expect that Reclamation will take the right action which is to release the emergency flows that are called for under the criteria.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior agreed, and began releasing the water from Trinity Reservoir on September 16. The Hoopa Valley Tribe warned that water levels along part of the river would rise as high as four feet during the increased flow period, which could last for seven days.
“This is the only possible means of preventing or reducing the severity of a parasite outbreak,” said Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Regional Director David Murillo in a statement. “We are greatly concerned about the impact today’s decision may have on already depleted storage levels, particularly the cold water pool in Trinity Reservoir. We must, however, take all reasonable measures to prevent a recurrence of the fish losses experienced in 2002.”
A member of the Olympic National Park fisheries team snorkels just above the remnants of Glines Canyon Dam. Three Chinook salmon were sighted during a snorkel survey this week. NPS photo
Following an observation by a fisheries biologist and member of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe of a possible Chinook salmon in the former Lake Mills, two Olympic National Park fisheries staff conducted a snorkel survey of the Elwha River above the old Glines Canyon dam site.
They found three adult Chinook salmon, all between 30 and 36 inches long, in the former Lake Mills, between Windy Arm and Glines Canyon. Two fish were seen resting near submerged stumps of ancient trees;the third was found in a deep pool in the former Lake Mills.
“When dam removal began three years ago, Chinook salmon were blocked far downstream by the Elwha Dam,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum. “Today, we celebrate the return of Chinook to the upper Elwha River for the first time in over a century.”
“Thanks to the persistence and hard work of many National Park Service employees, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and many other partners, salmon can once again reach the pristine Elwha watershed within Olympic National Park,” said Creachbaum.
In addition to the three Chinook, biologists counted 27 bull trout, nearly 400 rainbow trout and two small sculpin during their survey above Glines Canyon.
The biologists began their snorkel survey in Rica Canyon three miles above the old Glines Canyon dam site. They then snorkeled downstream through the Canyon, through the former Lake Mills and downstream to a point just above Glines Canyon.
Last week, park biologists confirmed that two radiotagged bull trout had migrated through Glines Canyon and were in Rica Canyon. The three Chinook observed this week were not radiotagged, but were seen by observers on the riverbank and in the water.
The following day, biologists counted 432 live Chinook in a 1.75 mile section of river just downstream of Glines Canyon, but still above the old Elwha dam site.
Elwha River Restoration is a National Park Service project that includes the largest dam removal in history, restoration of the Elwha River watershed, its native anadromous fisheries and the natural downstream transport of sediment and woody debris. For more information about this multi-faceted project, people can visit the Olympic National Park website at http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm.
EVERETT — The Snohomish County Council last week signed off on an agreement that brings it closer to creating salmon habitat on Smith Island.
The county plans to create a 350-acre wetland at the mouth of the Snohomish River. The $25 million project involves removing dikes and allowing the acreage to flood, turning it back into a saltwater estuary.
Those concerns range from construction traffic at Dagmar’s Marina, sedimentation affecting Buse Timber’s ability to float logs in the river, and saltwater degrading the soil at Hima Nursery.
The three firms, which comprise Diking Improvement District 5, had been negotiating the agreement with the county to clear the way for the project in exchange for assurances that it won’t affect their businesses.
Wednesday’s decision followed a continuation of public comments from the previous week.
Ed Husmann, president of the Farm Bureau, listed a number of concerns his group has had with the project, including that the county hasn’t followed legal processes, that $25 million is an “absurd price” for a project that might return just 800 adult salmon to the area, that the county hasn’t fully investigated the project’s effects on a buried Puget Sound Energy natural gas pipeline, and that no science has been submitted that would show the project would succeed.
“This is not a restoration project,” Husmann said. “There’s no known document that shows Smith Island has ever been salmon habitat.”
Brian Dorsey, deputy prosecuting attorney for Snohomish County, said the signed agreement with the diking district doesn’t commit the county to the project or even authorize the project to begin but, rather, lays down the legal framework under which the project would operate.
The County Council would have to approve a separate ordinance specifically authorizing the work to begin, Dorsey said.
Debbie Terwilleger, the director of the county’s Surface Water Management Program, explained that the project is focused on the creation of habitat for juvenile salmon. The anticipated return of 800 adults to a revitalized estuary could produce up to 250,000 juvenile fish.
Steve Dickson, the special projects manager for the county Public Works department, told the council that the county will need to get approval from Puget Sound Energy before the project can commence.
That agreement should be worked out in the next couple of weeks, Dickson said.
The council voted 3-1 to approve the agreement with the diking district, with Councilman Ken Klein voting against it, citing his opposition to converting agricultural land into an estuary and the need to expand support for local farmers.
“Until I see a reversal of those trends, a reversal of the death spiral of the farming industry, I cannot support one acre being taken out of production in Snohomish County,” Klein said.
Council Chair Dave Somers agreed in spirit but felt that much of the loss of farmland in the county started with converting farmland to development, especially in the Marysville-Arlington area, and restoring salmon habitat was also a commitment the county had to keep.
“We do need to remember that we do have a commitment to everybody, but that doesn’t mean we stop everything in our fish and estuary restoration,” Somers said.
Annual Taste of Tulalip event benefits local non-profits
By Niki Cleary, Tulalip News
Sumptuous food, locally roasted coffee and custom blended wines are some of the images that spring to mind when you mention the Taste of Tulalip. However, according to Tulalip Resort Casino (TRC) Food and Beverage Director Lisa Severn, the event is so much more than foodie fantasy. It’s a branding campaign, a showcase of local talent and a way to give back.
“We’ve always had a charity component,” she explained. “The team picks a cause that is near and dear to our hearts, the first year we donated to the Hibulb Cultural Center. Because of our chefs, a lot of times it’s a culinary effort. We’ve donated to Fair Start, an organization taking at risk adults and giving them culinary skills. One year it was Food Lifeline.
“We donate to causes that make an impact on us. Many of us know what it feels like to grow up hungry. Some years,” Severn continued, “it’s based on what’s happening to us personally. We donated to Make-A-Wish one year. That year we had a team member on the property who had a son with cancer.”
Although the event has always included a charitable donation, this year it is actually a ‘benefit’ event. The beneficiary, the Tulalip Foundation, is a 501c3 organization separate from the Tulalip Tribes. The Foundation’s mission is, “dedicated to empowering the wellbeing of the Tulalip Reservation and surrounding community, by helping meet its cultural, scientific, benevolent, and educational needs through charitable fundraising and dispersal of funds.
“Whereas before there was a small donation towards an organization on the TRC’s behalf, this year it’s actually the Tulalip Foundation’s event and we are running it for them,” Severn clarified.
As always the Sixth Annual Taste of Tulalip will include a range of culinary artists, including Tulalip’s own expert chefs who look forward to the opportunity share their skills with an appreciative audience.
Severn pointed out that the event also gives big names in the food and wine industry an opportunity to see for themselves what makes the TRC so unique and why it deserves its four diamond status.
“This gives our chefs an outlet to represent not only their restaurant, but their creativity,” she said. “We talk about food, wine and tradition, this is about partnership and showcasing our quality of chefs and still holding true to who we are as Tulalip by incorporating tribal art with our traditions of giving.
“This year we’ve partnered with guest Chef Ming Tsai,” said Severn. “He’s an incredible Asian chef with an amazing personality. Dillanos Coffee Roasters, they roast our Killer Coffee, makes a special blend for the event every year. Then we have Anthony Giglio, he’s a wine professional with Food and Wine Magazine, we’ve partnered with them in the past and they’ve provided us with these national talents. Q13 Fox has provided Bill Wixey and Kaci Aitchison to host and emcee the dinner.”
The event grows every year, Severn enthused.
“Taste of Tulalip started because most casinos don’t have a good reputation,” she explained. “We needed to get it out there that we have talented chefs. Their talent and creativity can hold up to the best chefs in Seattle. Then we thought, let’s spread our wings and be the best in the northwest. Now, we’re not just representing Tulalip with this event, we’re representing Washington as a whole and Indian gaming as a whole.”
The event showpiece is always a custom vintage in an etched glass bottle featuring one of a kind Tulalip artwork.
“We partner with a Washington winery to create a unique blend,” said Severn. “We choose a winery that’s been a good partner and is known for their quality. This year it’s Sean Boyd of Woodinville Wine Cellars.
“Each year we have a Tulalip artist create the art, this year it’s Joe Gobin,” she continued. “We’ve taken his art and incorporated it into the event. It’s going to be on the bottle, on the chargers and the wine charms. In the past we’ve had designs by Jason Gobin, Joe Gobin and James Madison.”
Severn emphasized that although wine is featured, the event is not just a wine event.
“This is a balance, it’s about the entire experience,” she said. “It’s huge for the food community of Washington, but our gamers also love the event. It brings them here, they enjoy the seminars and the entertainment factor, and they get a game or two while they’re here.”
To keep it exciting and fun, chefs will again be challenged to create delectable fare from mystery ingredients.
“During the grand taste we have the Rock and Roll Challenge,” Severn described the challenge. “Our Executive Chef Perry [Mascitti] has gathered up a box of food, the chefs won’t know what is in it and they have an hour to create something.”
Guest Chef Ming Tsai, Seattle local, the “Chef in the Hat,” Thierry Rautureau, Wine Expert Anthony Giglio and Mauny Kaseburg, of the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, will judge the challenge.
The Sixth Annual Taste of Tulalip begins Friday, November 14th with a celebration dinner. Saturday, November 15th, all access pass attendees will be treated to cooking demonstrations and wine seminars as well as the Grand Taste. For more information about the Taste of Tulalip or to purchase tickets go to www.tasteoftulalip.com.
Many property owners with agricultural lands in Skagit and Whatcom counties have experienced elk damage as portions of the North Cascades elk herd move into the valley floor seeking easy forage opportunities. Point Elliott Treaty tribes and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), along with other interested agencies, understand the impact damaged or lost crops have on private landowners and are seeking solutions to solving elk-related damage issues.
However, minimizing elk damage does not have a one-size-fits-all solution.
Last year, the Stillaguamish and Tulalip tribes helped an Acme dairy farm install a three-strand electric fence to keep elk out of the pasture. When the elk jumped through the top two strands, the tribes improved the Coldstream Farm fence by making it five strands. The five-strand fence has successfully deterred the elk from the property and tribal natural resources staff returned in June to help fence an additional pasture of more than 100 acres.
As a result, Coldstream farmer Jeff Rainey planted corn in the fields for the first time.
“You have to train the elk not to cross the electric fence,” Rainey said. “We appreciate the tribes’ help. It gives us more options for this piece of land.”
In the Day Creek neighborhood east of Sedro-Woolley, Stillaguamish wildlife biologist Jennifer Sevigny and tribal enforcement Capt. Bill Hebner, and Tulalip wildlife manager Mike Sevigny met with landowners to discuss options for preventing elk from damaging crops and property.
“We’re experimenting with some non-fencing projects that may offer some good alternatives for others,” said Jennifer Sevigny.
For the first trial, the Stillaguamish Tribe purchased and donated 20 tons of lime to two different landowners in an effort to improve haying capacity in terms of quality and quantity. The increased yield will offset what the elk eat, and farmers may be able to harvest sooner, giving elk less opportunity to forage.
After trying other control measures, lethal and non-lethal, some landowners, including cattle farmers Jim and Frances Carstens, concluded an elk exclusion fence was the only viable option.
“We tried hazing them and working with the (WDFW) master hunter program,” Jim Carstens said. “It keeps the elk away for a short period of time, and then they come back.”
Carstens didn’t have the means to install a fence, even after WDFW supplied the materials. Digging holes for fence posts is the most labor-intensive part of installing elk fences, so the Tulalip Tribes purchased a hydraulic post driver that landowners can share to build fences. Carstens’ fence is being installed with the help of staff from Tulalip, Stillaguamish and Sauk-Suiattle natural resources and WDFW. Once completed, the fence will be 6.5 feet tall, consist of seven strands of high-tensile electric fence, and encompass approximately 146 acres.
“The fence is the ultimate solution for us,” Carstens said. “When the game department came through with materials and the three tribes got together, it helped us immensely on getting the fence up. I’m just extremely grateful. It really allows us to remain in business.”
Property owners might not have to fully enclose their pastures, said Mike Sevigny. “We’ve found that elk enter pastures in certain places. If we block off that access, they don’t tend to find another way in; they find another pasture where they are welcome. Instead of putting up a full fence, we could change the elk’s behavior by putting up a line of fence blocking their entrance.”
“If landowners want to keep elk off of their property, fencing is the most cost-effective and successful method for deterring them,” said Emily Wirtz, wildlife biologist for the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe.
“Some people are willing to put in a fence, but not if it doesn’t work,” said Jason Joseph, natural resources director for Sauk-Suiattle. “They had heard some of their neighbors’ fences hadn’t been effective, and come to find out, they had used a regular cattle fence.”
WDFW and many of the Point Elliott Treaty tribes continue to work with private landowners to use fencing, hazing and compensation measures to solve elk damage problems. The goal is to manage the land so that the elk can continue to thrive on their traditional ranges without causing loss to private landowners.
“One of the concerns we’ve heard from landowners is that ‘if you fence my property, you are just putting my problem on my neighbor,’ ” Mike Sevigny said. “What landowners need to understand is that most groups of elk are already frequenting more than just their property, both public and privately owned.”
Many private landowners in the valley don’t mind elk on their property.
“We feel honored that the elk have chosen to share our land with us,” said Barb Trask, who owns pastures in the Birdsview area and is on the board of Skagit Land Trust. “We are trying to farm in a way that allows us to coexist with the elk. It’s important to take care of the land in this valley in a way that supports wildlife and farming. We consider it part of the cost of doing business.”
“Skagit Land Trust believes elk are a key part of the local ecosystem and our Skagit conservation areas provide valuable elk forage and shelter,” said Michael Kirshenbaum, stewardship director of the conservation organization. “We also recognize that elk cause damage to some private properties and we are fully supportive and thankful for tribal and state efforts to provide assistance to affected landowners, and to work towards a collaborative solution.”
With plenty of elk-tolerant land available for forage and cover, fencing the non-tolerant areas decreases conflict between landowners and elk. Elk fencing has proven to be effective, and is a long-term solution to the elk damage problem. Electric fencing options typically are more cost efficient, take less time to install, can be retrofitted into existing barbed wire or woven wire fences, and are more resistant to flooding. Electric fencing can also be temporary in nature and easily dismantled if necessary.
The Skagit Valley and North Cascades are native habitat that always has been used by elk historically. The meat is a significant source of protein for tribal hunters and their families. The hides, antlers and hooves are used in traditional regalia.
More than 20 years ago, the Nooksack elk population in the North Cascades Mountains was about 1,700 elk. By 2003, the herd had declined to about 300 elk, largely because of degraded and disconnected habitat, as well as overharvest by non-Indian hunters.
Tribal and state wildlife managers agreed to stop hunting the herd in the 1990s, conducted numerous restoration projects and relocated about 100 cow elk from the Mount St. Helens region. Annual population surveys indicate that the herd is showing signs of recovery.
NEAR ENUMCLAW, Wash. — Tribal Biologist Justin Paul said a program that uses radio transmitters is designed to help slow down the number of salmon dying. The salmon in question were captured at a dam near Buckley then trucked around the dam and released upriver.
Paul said a number of factors could cause the deaths, including predators like otters and bears, injuries suffered during capture or the stress of being loaded into tanks and trucked around the dam.
When they are captured at the dam, workers insert radio transmitters into wild, female chinook. The tiny wires put off a strong enough signal to be picked up by a hand-held receiver. Paul walks up and down the river until he gets a ‘hit’ then follows it to the fish.
Sometimes they are just carcasses left behind by predators, sometimes they are fish that died naturally after spawning, and sometimes they are alive and tending to their nests, or redds.
By locating the salmon, they can get an idea of problem areas in the river system and places where salmon need more protection or more access.
According to Ready.gov, research indicates individuals “who believe they are prepared for disasters often are not as prepared as they think,” while others may not be prepared at all. Imagine you are at work when an earthquake strikes your city leaving phone lines down, roads inaccessible, and you separated from you family. What is your plan?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency states that most disaster situations strike when families are not together. Being prepared beforehand can help reduce stress and length of time apart, and prevent further emergency situations.
Knowing who to call, where to meet and what to pack should be included in your family emergency plan, along with practicing that plan on a regular basis.
FEMA suggests sending text messages to contact one another in the event of emergency as phone lines become overloaded and calls are disrupted. You can also create contact cards for each family member that includes how you will communicate in different scenarios, and list out-of-state family members to notify that you are safe. Programming an “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) contact in your phone is also suggested. This can cut down time in an accident for emergency personnel to notify your family of your well-being.
An escape route should also be included in your emergency plan, such as meeting at a local store near your home. It is a good idea to include multiple meeting places in your plan according to your place of work, school, or children’s after-school activities, as disasters can happen at anytime.
Assembling an emergency kit for your home and car can increase your chance of survival until help arrives. Your kit should include enough supplies for at least three days and include important medication, non-perishable food and a gallon of water for each person in your house. Other things that should be considered for your kit include, flashlights, batteries, first aid kits, whistles to signal help, battery powered or solar cell phone chargers, tarps and duct tape for shelter, and a battery-powered radio or hand crank radio.
Knowing your communities emergency plan during different disasters will help your local first responders focus more on aiding people in critical incidents such as fires and collapsed buildings.
Getting involved in your community and receiving training through community emergency response teams, Medical Reserve Corps or your local emergency organizations can help keep your family and community safe from further risks and threats due to disasters.
For more information on preparing an emergency plan for your family, please visit the website www.ready.gov or search Tulalip Medical Reserve Corps at www.medicalreservecorps.org.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
During the apex of Seahawks fever earlier this year, U.W. art students began researching the origins of the team’s logo. When they asked Burke Museum curator Robin K. Wright, she remembered a conversation she had with a past curator who identified the source as a photo in a 1950’s book of Northwest coastal art.
After a bit more research, students found the inspiration was a photo of a transformation eagle mask from the Kwakwaka’wakw—an indigenous tribe from British Columbia. After poking around some more, the director of the Hudson museum at the University of Maine revealed that the original mask was in their collection, and are now willing to lend the mask to the Burke for display in November.
The Burke Museum has launched a Power2Give campaign to pay for the conservation, insurance, and shipping of the mask. Those who donate will get an early look at the mask during the exhibit’s opening.
Until then, check out some amazing Kwakwaka’wakw dance:
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Fish have migrated into the upper Elwha River for the first time in a century.
Olympic National Park biologists confirmed last week that two radio-tagged bull trout had migrated from the lower river through the former area of Glines Canyon Dam and reached at least as far as Rica Canyon above the former Lake Mills, some 15½ miles from the mouth of the Elwha River.
Four bull trout had been detected earlier as they passed a telemetry station upriver from the former Glines dam.
Thursday’s walk along the river with handheld radio receivers confirmed it wasn’t a faulty signal, at least for Fish 167 and Fish 200.
“The fish have made it” for the first time in 100 years, spokeswoman Barb Maynes said Friday.
Clearing the river for migratory fish passage was the point behind the $325 million Elwha River restoration project that began in 2011.
Both Elwha Dam, built in 1912 about 5 miles from the river’s mouth, and Glines Canyon Dam, constructed in 1927 some 13 miles from the mouth, were made without fish ladders and so blocked migrating salmonid passage from a river once known for legendary salmon runs.
The 108-foot Elwha Dam was demolished by March 2012.
The last 30 feet of the once-210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam came down Aug. 26.
The passage of four radio-tagged bull trout was detected even before that final blast, Maynes said.
That was possible because the 30-foot stub of the dam did not extend all the way across the river channel.
Park biologists know a great deal about those two fish — and hope to know more soon.
Fish 167 was captured and radio-tagged May 7 about 3.5 miles above the river’s mouth. It was 19 inches long.
This bull trout swam through the old Elwha dam site in late July before being noted again 8 miles upriver in early August.
Fish 200, measuring 20.5 inches, was radio-tagged June 25 about a mile and a half upstream of the river’s mouth.
It swam past the Elwha Dam site July 20 and swam through Glines Canyon on Aug. 24, just before the final blast.
Did the bull trout originate in the Elwha River?
Researchers don’t know yet, Maynes said, but they plan to perform genetic tests on fin clips taken when the fish were radio-tagged.
Those tests, which so far as Maynes knows haven’t been scheduled yet, would tell biologists the origin for the fish, she said.
Bull trout in the Olympics often get around, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Bull trout, which were listed in 1999 as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, may live near areas where they were spawned or migrate from small streams to larger streams and rivers or from streams to lakes, reservoirs or salt water, according to the agency.
In a May 2004 draft recovery plan, the agency said bull trout populations within the Olympic Peninsula Management Unit “exhibit all known migratory life history forms of this species, including fluvial [fish that migrate from tributaries to larger rivers to mature], adfluvial [fish that migrate from tributaries to lakes or reservoirs to mature], and anadromous [fish born in fresh water that migrate to the ocean to grow and live as an adult, returning to fresh water to spawn] populations.”
Biologists will continue to look for signs of migrating fish in the upper parts of the 42-mile river, which with its tributaries offers more than 70 miles of fish habitat.
Eighty-seven fish have been radio-tagged so far, Maynes said.
Of that, 13 bull trout, two winter steelhead, five chinook and one sockeye salmon have been located above the old Elwha Dam site.
Each fish is equipped with a uniquely coded radio transmitter that differentiates it from all other tagged fish.
Radio signals from the tags are then detected by radio receivers and antennas.
Six telemetry stations were installed between the mouth of the river and just above the Glines Canyon Dam site.
These stations continually scan for and record data, documenting when individual fish pass by each station.
Biologists also manually track fish between Rica Canyon and the river mouth using handheld radio receivers and antennas.
Also involved in the radio-tracking program are biologists with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington’s National Park Fund has provided funding, Maynes said.
Steelhead out-migrating from North Sound rivers appear to have better marine survival than steelhead smolts from South Sound, and researchers are studying salmon poisoning disease as a potential cause.
Salmon poisoning disease, or Nanophyetus salmincola, is best known as the parasite that can make dogs sick when they eat raw salmon. It also has been found to affect the swimming performance of infected salmonids, potentially reducing their marine survival.
Fish pathologist Martin Chen is studying steelhead smolts for the NWIFC as part of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project. Chen is sampling steelhead from the Tahuya, Skagit, Snohomish, Green and Nisqually rivers.
“We thought Skagit and Snohomish would be negative for the parasite based on historical records, and that was true,” Chen said. “We found lots of heavily infected fish in the Green and Nisqually rivers. I can see the parasite even as I’m dissecting them. Parasite numbers are as high as 18,000 per gram of kidney tissue.”
Both of those results were expected, but Chen was surprised not to find the parasite in any of the 24 steelhead sampled from the Tahuya River in Hood Canal. The Tahuya is across the canal from the Skokomish River, which has Nanophyetus in at least three tributaries.
South Sound fish also have their marine survival challenged by swimming through the Tacoma Narrows and Point Defiance, and facing more predation from seals. To make a more even comparison, researchers placed infected South Sound fish and uninfected North Sound fish in the same saltwater environment to compare survival. After 90 days in saltwater tanks at the USGS Marrowstone Island Laboratory, both groups had the same high survival rate.
“The fish from the Green River are still heavily infected,” Chen said. “It’s possible that infected fish have some disadvantage and they’re less able to escape predators. They don’t just hit the salt water and roll over and die.”
Chen also is testing drugs that could eliminate the parasite from infected fish. Two drugs are being tested on small numbers of coho at the Nisqually Tribe’s Clear Creek Hatchery, with some coho getting a 24-hour bath of each drug, and other fish having a drug mixed in their food. None of the fish from this initial test will be released or eaten.
“If the drugs were effective and you were rearing fish in a parasite-positive environment, you could clean up a group of fish before releasing them,” Chen said. “You would no longer have to compare survival of fish between two river systems, making our studies more valid. In addition, being able to eliminate Nanophyetus before release could have a practical application for Northwest hatcheries.”
