The following is a press issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced today that fall-run Chinook salmon fry released for the first time from its Fall Creek Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County are presumed to have succumbed to gas bubble disease in the Klamath River.
On Monday, Feb. 26, CDFW released approximately 830,000 fall-run Chinook salmon fry into Fall Creek, a tributary of the Klamath River above Iron Gate Dam. The fish were hatched at CDFW’s new, $35 million, state-of-the-art Fall Creek Fish Hatchery, which represents California’s long-term commitment to supporting and restoring both Chinook and coho salmon runs on an undammed Klamath River.
The salmon fry experienced a large mortality based on monitoring data downstream. Indications are the cause of mortality is gas bubble disease that likely occurred as the fry migrated though the Iron Gate Dam tunnel, old infrastructure that is targeted for removal along with the Iron Gate Dam itself later this year. Gas bubble disease results from environmental or physical trauma often associated with severe pressure change.
There is no indication the mortality is associated with other Klamath River water quality conditions such as turbidity and dissolved oxygen, which were reading at suitable levels on Feb. 26 and the days prior to release. The visual appearance of the dead fry detected by monitoring equipment points to gas bubble disease. Monitoring equipment documented other healthy yearling coho and Chinook salmon that came from downstream of the dam.
The problems associated with the Iron Gate Dam tunnel are temporary and yet another sad reminder of how the Klamath River dams have harmed salmon runs for generations. CDFW will plan all future salmon releases below Iron Gate Dam until this infrastructure is removed. Poor habitat conditions caused by the dams and other circumstances such as this are reasons why CDFW conducts releases of hatchery fish at various life stages.
CDFW’s Fall Creek Fish Hatchery continues to hold approximately 3.27 million healthy, fall-run Chinook salmon. Additional releases are planned later in the month.
The annual fall-run Chinook salmon production goal for the hatchery is to raise and release 3.25 million fish – 1.25 million released as fry, 1.75 million as smolts, and 250,000 as yearlings. The additional stock of fall-run Chinook salmon remaining in the hatchery exceeds the annual production goal and will help offset losses experienced with the initial release of fry.
Welcome to the whole truths about helping the environment, by taking out dams. The huge loss will be replaced by other fish? Wow. The goal is downstream water rights and power struggles with private investors. Not really about fish saving. Because this article says it all. California Department of Fish and Game says it’s ok…a huge huge die off happened. The 830,000 of baby fish they hatched, died. Almost a million future fish? And now, not because of dam, but old tunnel issue? Maybe the agency should fight to keep Lake Pilsburys fish alive. Maybe they should rethink, their data and science, before messing with nature and the past science, and wisdom of engineers, of the benefits, of dams. Nature killed Salmon with the 6 year drought and humans with drug grow depletion and water diversion. Fish are not math equations to be used for others agendas. These dams where put in place and worked for a long time, for flood control, other fish including Salmon (Stealhead) and wildlife, to thrive. I know, I was living near a tributary, for most of my life. I have photos of my father fishing in the 60s. There was plenty of fish, with Pilsburys dam. Plenty of fish everywhere. A new dam would be a benifit. But PG&E would rather have profits then fix and finish, what they started. Dams give communities substainable water and fire suppression. The truth is private investers from somewhere other than these communities, want water further downstream and it has absolutely nothing to do, with fish. Fish and Game has now been compromised, wealth management for a few, over fixing aging dam infrastructure.
Um, the drop in pressure from going through the dam killed them…
Killed the genetically un-diverse and artificially bred fish ….
To replace the ones killed by daming, diverting polluting and overfishing.
We’re bailing water out of our sinking ship with our only fingernail!
Undamn the river! Curtail the grape growers! Drink water and eat fish!
“CDFW will plan all future salmon releases below Iron Gate Dam until this infrastructure is removed.”
WHY THE HELL DIDN’T THEY DO THIS IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE?!?!?!
They released them above the damn knowing damn well what would happen and are going to utilize this as anti-dam propaganda.
Bet on that.
Hey did you guys even notice this happening to the klanath River?
https://www.frontpagemag.com/california-demolished-dam-to-save-salmon-killed-the-salmon-instead/
They removed the dam and all the sediment killed all the fish in the entire river downstream from the dam.
A great idea to do this again, right guys?
The government has “managed “ millions of acres of old growth and 2 nd growth timber into burn scars and snags. our fisheries into a desolate underwater wasteland our streets into 3rd world crime scenes our schools into a haven for predators and perverts. Our colleges into left wing brainwashing mills our border into cartel cottage industry for drugs and human trafficing. They destroy everything they “ regulate” There isn’t much left to ruin. Let them finish. They need more money to waste Kill the rivers!!!! We are building back better!!!
You appear SUPER confused.
The link you provided is for an Editorial political hit piece presented as Journalism by a partisan hack on a purely partisan posting board, not a “newspaper” or journalistic site.
Plus it’s fulled with entirely false info and premises.
I hope this isn’t the usual type of False shite you use to form opinions.