Nutrition Enhancement
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition and the Sol Duc River Salmon Hatchery are working together to enhance the food chain for salmon in the Quillayute river drainage. The Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Calawah, and Dickey rivers are being enhanced with surplus salmon carcasses. Hatchery personnel gather the amount of eggs needed for next year. Between 100 - 200 Coho salmon are collected for the area food banks. The remaining are near the spawning stage which makes them too old for the area food banks. These salmon are collected and their tails are removed for identification as hatchery fish. Volunteers work with the Washington State Fish and Wildlife hatchery employees to place these fish into the river systems. As these fish decay, they release nutrients which builds up the food chain. Aquatic insects such as caddis flies, stone flies, and midges, feed on these Coho salmon carcasses. The aquatic insects are a important part of a Coho frys diet. Salmon have five life stages; eggs, fry, smolts, adults and carcasses. So here we have the fifth stage helping to improve the second stage. As we put these carcasses in streams they deposit marine derived (Pacific Ocean) nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorous. Juvenile Coho, steelhead, and cutthroat in small western Washington streams obtain 25% to 40% of these elements from Coho salmon carcasses. Besides feeding on the aquatic insects, Coho fry have been seed feeding on the carcasses. An added benefits of these carcasses is the increase in the food chain for wildlife. Salmon are called a "key stone" species. They have a positive impact on 138 species of wildlife in Washington and Oregon. Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife has released a Technical Report titled, "Pacific Salmon and Wildlife: Ecological Contexts, Relationships, and Implications for Management (Johnson and O'Neil, 2001)." This report is used as a reference for this webpage and we highly recommend it for reading. Goto http://wdfw.wa.gov/recovery.htm
 Phil Borde, a coalition volunteer, harvests a spring Chinook for the local area food banks. |
 Coalition volunteers filet salmon for the local food banks. |
 Salmon being filleted and bagged for the local food banks. |
 The adult trap at the Sol Duc Salmon Hatchery completely plugged with fall Coho Salmon. |
 A close-up of the adult trap plugged with salmon. Expected return for fall of 2001 is over 20,000. |
 The tail chopping crew. Cutting off the tail of the fish identifies the carcass as being from the Sol Duc Hatchery. |
 Volunteers use private vehicles to travel over 500 miles each year, distributing carcasses. |
 Salmon Coalition Volunteers assisting hatchery personnel in netting surplus Coho. |
 Young salmon feeding off of salmon carcasses in one of the Quillayute river tributaries. |
 Volunteers helping hatchery manager with a male Coho used for spawning. |
 WDFW biologist is taking organ samples on spawning coho to test for desease. |
 Volunteers fling salmon carcasses into the North Fork of the Calawah River. |