They're Baaack

[briansII]

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/11/28/308 ... almon.html

"For the first time in more than 60 years, chinook salmon are spawning in the San Joaquin River near Fresno"

The above could be argued, but officially, salmon are now back in the upper reaches of the San Joaquin River. Many will agree that is a good thing, but.........

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/02/01/270 ... -cost.html

briansII

[WanderingBlues]

Intriguing read. I don't know if I would have publicized it, though. I can practically see the 'slayers' at FNN licking their collective chops.

[lucfish]

I think they need to make it on there own up there. If those side channels aren't built what's the sense of having to constantly truck the fish to the spawing grounds and what about the small salmon going back. Are they going to have to truck those too? It sounds great and I hope it succeeds but it will take alot of work and resources.

[briansII]

Intriguing read. I don't know if I would have publicized it, though. I can practically see the 'slayers' at FNN licking their collective chops.

I hear ya, but this has been a highly publicized, long ordeal. The best we can hope for is the salmon will bring added enforcement on a river where netting, and spearing fish can be seen in broad daylight. The river will be closed during the "salmon run", but no doubt there will be people out trying to snag them.

Talk is, closing this river for salmon will greatly increase the pressure on another river. My home river.

I think they need to make it on there own up there. If those side channels aren't built what's the sense of having to constantly truck the fish to the spawing grounds and what about the small salmon going back. Are they going to have to truck those too? It sounds great and I hope it succeeds but it will take alot of work and resources.

Yep. I agree. Eventually, there will be a passage for the fish to return on their own......that is, if some new legal action isn't brought to the table. It's mentioned in the article that the passage is delayed, and they will truck the fish up. I think the smolts can make their way down past the dams(spillway dams?), but I'm not certain of that. They may also need to put fish screens in to keep the smolts from taking a wrong turn. Anyway, doesn't make much sense to truck them in and call it a restoration.

briansII

[WanderingBlues]

I'd vote for an open season, no limit on the poachers, snaggers, and other violators...

[fflutterffly]

Oh Dam Oh Dam oh Dam these poor chinook salmon will be slaughtered! Why do they stupidly keep announcing these things. Breaks my heart.

[briansII]

Oh Dam Oh Dam oh Dam these poor chinook salmon will be slaughtered! Why do they stupidly keep announcing these things. Breaks my heart.

As I mentioned above, this is a BIG deal locally. The impact of this has even a broader scale. Hard to imagine the local paper not picking up a story like this, and IMHO, they should. Does this ring the dinner bell for poachers. Yes, but I don't think that long absent salmon returning to their native spawning grounds should go unnoticed. It took some serious time, money and effort to get this to where we are now. Also, some serious economic losses had to be considered, and sacrificed "for a fish". This is an historic event.

My hope is, this river will get closer attention now that this new celebrity fish is back in town. Can't imagine a poacher will get a dismissal, or slap on the wrist from a local judge.

briansII

[RJH]

It was only 4 fish so I don't think that many people will be out there to slaughter them. I hope that they get some good information about how well and where they spawn and then how their offspring will do. It is too bad that they haven't made more progress on this project......

I think that more people will be out poaching the tons of "trophy" trout that are going to be planted soon than trying to get one of four salmon.

RJH

[RiverRat]

Great article! It brought back memories of working on Salmon restoration when living in the PNW.

The run two years after the first fish come back is the best gauge for the intial success of the first run. The fry have many challenges on their journey back but salmon are amazing survivors. Two rivers I volunteered on back in the mid 90's had four fish come back the first year, twelve the second, and over 400 the third. Both rivers now have thriving runs without any human manipulation.

Restoring salmon is totally possibly! GREAT info on a volunteer group on the Hood Canal that has been wildy successful working through grants and tons of volunteer hours. http://pnwsalmoncenter.org/


shane

[1mocast]

Thanks for post this. It is historic to get to this point. And lots more needs to be done to make this run sustainable again.