Salmon Fall heralds the annual return

Stella Wenstob | contributor

As the weather chills, local streams and rivers are festooned with shades of orange and red of the turning leaves. Fall also marks the last weeks in the life cycle of many salmon species who return upstream to spawn.

Using a sense not completely understood by biologists, millions of migratory salmon return to their home streams to lay eggs. After swimming upstream to their spawning ground the female chooses a spot in the shallow, but swift flowing part of the river that is ensured to be highly oxygenated, called the riffle. In some of the inland streams that location can be many hundreds of miles up rapids and past many impediments. Here she digs a depression in the gravel that will serve as her nest or redd. The males will put on an impressive show biting and jumping to show their dominance and protect their chosen female from other males. After the eggs are laid in the redd, the male will deposit sperm over them, and the female will cover the eggs with gravel to protect them. A female may create as many as seven redds before she is finished spawning and each redd may hold as many as 5,000 eggs.

As soon as the salmon enter the fresh water their skins begin to change color, their sexual dimorphism enhances, they stop eating and they begin their decaying process. A migrating salmon typically lives for about two weeks after entering the freshwater.

The carcasses provide an important food source to other animals and small invertebrates who in turn provide food for the salmon fry (baby salmon) as they get older. Additionally, the nutrients given off by the rotting carcass are important fertilizers to the plants and trees growing on the banks, which in turn provide essential root systems that prevent erosion and protects the streams for further generations of salmon. There are seven species of salmon in the Pacific Northwest: Pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), Sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka), Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Chum (Oncorhynchus keta), Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and Cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki).

All of these species have very different life-cycles – some spend several years before they migrate up streams; some can run and spawn several times before dying; some only spawn at the mouth of streams, where others need to spawn in lakes at the head of rivers. This unique phenomenon of the salmon running can be viewed in streams and rivers all across the Hood Canal and South Puget Sound.

Salmon viewing

Kennedy Creek

The Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail located off of Hwy 101. This trail is maintained by the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group and their website is a great resource for learning about the trail and salmon ecology. Beginning at the head of Oyster Bay, this trail was once part of a network of Na- tive American trails that connected Puget Sound to the Pacific Coast. The Kennedy Creek was known as “Place of the Singing Fish” by the Squaxin Island Tribe due to the resonant singing of the frogs heard along the stream’s banks in the spring. Chum (or dog fish) are the dominant species that run this stream. The salmon running may be viewed from the creek bank. Salmon Center The Salmon Center in Belfair hosts exhibits on salmon ecology and operate salmon traps on the Union River (off of Hwy 300) that record returns of adult summer Chums.

Twanoh Creek

On the South Shore of the Hood Canal, Twanoh Creek in Twanoh State Park offers good vantage points to view running salmon.

Purdy Creek

At the bend of the Hood Canal on a tributary of the Skokomish Watershed is George Adams Fish Hatchery run by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Each spring they release 500,000 juvenile Coho into the Purdy Creek. Hoodsport The Hoodsport Fish Hatchery located in Hoodsport does not offer scheduled tours, but in the fall the WDFW offers very popular Chum salmon fishing classes from the beach out front of the hatchery.

Quilcene

The Quilcene National Hatchery has been run continuously since 1911. Now focusing on Coho stock, the Quilcene National Hatchery has raised nearly every species of salmon. The hatchery successfully reintroduced Chum salmon back to the Big Quilcene River and increased winter Steelhead popula- tions of the Puget Sound.

More Salmon Viewing Situated in the Belfair State Park are the Big Mission and Little Mission Creeks, which offer great salmon viewing. A little north of the North Shore Road following Elfendahl Pass Rd is Stimson Creek, also a good place to view spawning salmon.

For a list of salmon spotting sites, WDFW have created an interactive multi-layer map called SalmonScape, wdfw.wa.gov/salmonscape, that shows the streams and tributaries used by migratory salmon in the state.

Salmon Center volunteers in Union River

1013 chums in Union River Belfair

According to the Salmon Center, over 1,000 summer chum have made it through the Union River trap. The Salmon Center monitors the Union River chum in order to ascertain how other watersheds are doing in regards to summer Chum recovery.

The Union River is the only large spawning aggregation in the south Hood Canal and on the Kitsap Peninsula, so it is very important to know the abundance, productivity, and survival rates to compare it to other watersheds which may not be as stable or healthy. This will help scientists determine what steps to take in other watersheds to further summer chum recovery.

Follow the return results, as well as sign-up to volunteer on one of HCSEG’s salmon research and restoration projects on their website: pnwsalmoncenter.org. Running the Union River fish trap around the clock is no small feat, and thanks the growing community of dedicated volunteers. Stewards of the salmon, they play a significant role in preserving a sacred Pacific Northwest ecosystem for generations to come. pnwsalmoncenter.org

The Farm at Water’s Edge overlooks the Union River Estuary 38 at the tip of Hood Canal. photo: Salmon Center