Restoring Salmon Habitat Increases Food Source for Orcas

By Alison Studley, Executive Director Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group

Habitat restoration partners in the Skagit watershed are working diligently to restore habitat that will increase the number of Chinook salmon available as food for orcas struggling to survive in the Salish Sea. Recently, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation awarded several grants from its Killer Whale Research and Conservation Program to organizations that are implementing habitat restoration projects to increase Chinook salmon numbers in the Skagit River. This new grant source brings together diverse partners from Shell Oil, SeaWorld, NOAA and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to create a larger sum of funding available for these important habitat restoration projects. Grants awarded to Restore America’s Estuaries, Skagit County Parks, and the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, are all restoring valuable side channel habitat along the Skagit River.

Recreating and restoring side channels is a high priority for recovering Skagit River Chinook salmon runs. Off-channel slough

habitat provides valuable resting and feeding areas for young salmon as they begin their incredible migratory journey from the headwaters of the Skagit River to Puget Sound. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chinook salmon

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grants are funding important projects to restore side channel habitat for Chinook salmon at three critical locations along the Salmon habitat seining group.

Skagit River: Pressentin Park in Marblemount, Britt Slough south of Mount Vernon, and Ovenell Slough along the Skagit River in order to increase the number of Chinook salmon available to orca whales.

At Pressentin Park, Restore America’s

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Upcoming Events and Opportunities:

• Salmon Sightings Sept 14 and Nov 9 • Spawner Survey Workshop Oct 5 • October 26: Make a Difference Day at

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Britt Slough provides critical habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon.

Estuaries is working with the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group and Skagit County Parks to restore and enhance a historic side channel habitat in Pressentin Park. This restoration project will both increase available habitat for Chinook salmon as well as enhance park and recreational amenities in the Upper Skagit community.

At Britt Slough, the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group is working with the Skagit Conservation District to restore a river connection to valuable off-channel habitat near the Skagit River estuary on property owned by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. This project will restore the outlet of Britt Slough to its historic path through an off channel wetland area in order to increase critical

habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon as they migrate downstream from spawning areas to the estuary.

At Ovenell Slough, Skagit County

is working with the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group to remove a barrier to fish passage across a Skagit River side channel in order to reconnect this valuable off channel

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habitat for Chinook salmon rearing at Cedar Grove. Additionally, the public will gain access to reach a beautiful recreational site owned by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife along the Skagit River as part of this habitat restoration project.

These are just three examples of habitat restoration projects dedicated to helping the plight of our orca whales. Restoring habitat for Chinook salmon in the Skagit River helps to ensure there is enough food for our endangered orcas and that healthy habitat exists for many other fish and wildlife species that we love in the Pacific Northwest.

You can help our endangered orca whales by volunteering to restore salmon habitat with one of the many organizations attending the Skagit River Salmon Festival; or learning how to decrease your use of garden chemicals from information available at the Skagit River Salmon Festival; or by staying up to date and obeying boating rules in Puget Sound; or by simply making a donation to help keep crucial habitat restoration projects going in the Skagit watershed. By helping to restore salmon populations, you are helping to ensure a future for our endangered Southern Resident killer whale population.

You can learn more about what you can do for orcas and salmon at www.SkagitFisheries. org and more about the Southern Resident Orca Recovery at www.Orca.wa.gov. Britt Slough seining site.