NOVEMBER 1995 NEWSLETTER
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SUCCESSFUL SALMON RUN UP EGG & I ROAD
This year, WOS had its first ever CHUM RUN, and what a wild success! 87 participants
in all! The 7k race followed the course of the migrating salmon...from Egg & I road
to Noquiklos in the Chimacum Park. Glen Morgan was first to finish, but thanks to
project coordinator Lela Hilton, and all who helped (including the weatherman) everyone
was a winner!
See you all next year when the run returns!
TOM AMMETER LEADS JFTE UP BIG QUIL RIVER
More good news for Jobs for the Environment! WOS has hired Tom Ammeter to head up
this year's projects. Born and raised in Chimacum, Tom studied fisheries technology
at P.A. College and has been working on WOS volunteer projects since the mid eighties.
First order of business is stabilizing a bank at river mile 2.2 on the Big Quil river.
Silt and rock deposits have settled on the river floor, raising the river and causing
flooding and erosion of the bank.
On Oct 16, the JFTE crew started installing log jams upstream to deflect the river.
To build up the bank and lower the river floor, they've installed rock dams alongside
the bank that will collect debris and deflect it from the middle of the river.
Many thanks to Jefferson County Public Works for supplying equipment and materials.
crew chuck bloomfield, j.r. bloomfield, denny secord, dale brownfield
SALMON CREEK ANNOUNCES AN ARRIVAL
It's a boy! And girl!........ 40 thousand of them!
Salmon creek proudly announces the arrival of the first two lots of eggs from the
Dungeness Hatchery. The batches of eggs are genetically different and will be staggered
to be released at different time,
For the last four years, WOS has been trying to resuscitate theSummer Chum salmon
population in Salmon Creek using hatchery techniques. For the first time, they will
be using Heath trays. The eggs are placed along grids inside racks of trays where
water flows over the trays. The trays must be carefully watched. When salmon hatch from the
egg, they will to be moved in groups to a big 8-foot tub, keeping the families together.
In the wild, salmon eggs hatch into Alevins (AYL-VINS), they spend their infancy
in an oxygen-rich cool water gravel bed while they absorb the yolk sac, and then
emerge as fry and swim downstream.
In the Salmon Creek project, the fry are taken in buckets to the hatchery on Discovery
Bay where they are fed a special formula. The juvenile salmon spend a few weeks in
captivity off the old Oyster House dock.
The day they are ready to be released, everyone celebrates. Volunteers, friends,
project leaders and members of WOS gather on the dock to read the ceremonial poem
written by WOS board member, William Michel
".........We release you and wait your return;
snaggle toothed, hock-jawed,
beat up old dogs.
Driven to consumption
in your cosmic, carnal act.
re-creating the world over and over.
Threatening glaciers have appeared;
frozen hearts of man.
Swim hard, swim strong, swim together......"
(Excerpt from the poem written for the Salmon Creek Project,
1993 by William Michel)
SALMON CREEK QUILT COUNTDOWN.
Forget Christmas, forget New Years. You only have one more month to buy your raffle
ticket for the incredible Salmon Creek Quilt. This heirloom took two years and ---women
to create, but you can walk away with it for only a dollar.
What are you waiting for? Drop everything and get your tickets at the Salmon Festival
or (after November 25) at the Siverwater Cafe on Taylor st. (next to the Rose theater
Thanks to ---------for the wonderful work
EVERY SALMON COUNTS WITH VOLUNTEERS
Every Fall, Coho and Chum salmon return to Chimacum, Ludlow Shine, Thorndyke, Leland,
and Tarboo creeks and every week volunteers walk these streams and count them.These
volunteer surveys provide valuable data to state fisheries who don't have the manpower to cover them.
Walking a stretch of creek over time is a great way to observe the watershed and the
seasonal rhythm of its wildlife.This effort is in its 4th season. Total number of
fish found has been less than fisheries had assumed. Many are hatchery strays. Very
few are wild.
If you are interested in becoming involved in 1996 or if you have any unusual observations
to report on the creeks, contact Peter Bahls, Port Gamble S'kallam Fisheries at 297-4792
or Wild Olympic Salmon at 385-9329,
A SHOCKING DISCOVERY
WOS board members Bob Francis and William Michel are concerned about the use of electroshockers
for the purpose of data gathering and hatchery collection.
Recently, the Hurd Creek hatchery discovered a 28% mortality of fry collected with
electroshockers. Deformities such as fused spines, tails that were half the normal
size, fish that never grow beyond 10" long, and fish with 2 backs have been observed
by the Dept of Fish and Wildlife, and by the Lilliwaup Hatchery run by Long Live the Kings.
So far there are no guidelines for adjusting the electroshockers to meet river conditions.
William and Bob would like to see policies established to regulate their use. We'll
keep you informed.
SALMON WALK ACROSS U.S.
In 19--. BETSY CASTLE took off on her walk across the country to raise money for salmon
restoration projects like WOS, Long Live the Kings, and Trout Unlimited. Betsy writes
from Picaabo, Idaho where she's met lots of fish people rafting and hiking through the Sawtooth and White Cloud mountains. Good luck Betsy, and thanks!
SHINE CREEK DOING WELL
Last issue we talked about the beginning of a project to help restore a tributary
of Shine Creek damaged after construction of Hwy 104.
The increased waterflow eroded the stream banks, sending blocks of clay and other
fine materials into the creek. Gravel-y spawning beds turned into cement, creating
a loss of spawning habitat for the already paltry runs.
On October 19, 13 WOS volunteers created 4 "check dams" out of quarry rock to slow
down the river and help curtail the erosion. Since the project, juvenile salmon have
been observed in pools behind a dam that had been built.
Thank you to Shine Quarry for your generous donation of 20 yards of rock, and a hearty
thanks to the Washington State Dept of Transportation who provided the heavy equipment
and handled traffic along 104 during the project.
The next step in stabilizing the river will be planting Salmonberry and Willow along
the creek over the next few months. To volunteer, call William at 385-3189.
CHIMACUM CREED WATERSHED ASSESSMENT
This year, Peter Bahls (Port Gamble S'Kallum Fisheries) and Jude Rubin (U of Vermont)
began a study on Chimacum Creek that will run through '96.The ultimate goal is to
determine if summer rearing conditions are limiting the spawning and rearing of Coho.
Spring and Summer are Critical in the life of juvenile Coho. In spring they need pools,
riffles and gravel to hide in or they will be flushed out of the stream. In Summer,
the crucial factor is water quality. The lack of canopy provided by trees creates
high temperatures, which lowers the quality of the water. Peter and Jude will be examining
factors like water temp, dissolved oxygen content, woody debris, and stream bottom
conditions.
A POEM FOR AUTUMN
This is the season of natural death.
Cold and dark.
Bare branches and frozen earth.
Wind and rain.
Do not give in to despair.
Know what the earth knows.
Watch for rebirth,
the rain that passes
and spring eternal
Deborah Daubner-Michel 1994
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