The Salmon River Fishery

 
For tens of thousands of years the rivers of Northern CA have been the site of an annual miracle. Each year runs of wild salmon and steelhead continue to fight the current, returning from the ocean to the Salmon River to spawn. People have been linked to these fish for their subsistence and culture for thousands of years and remain so today. A homing tendency has led to the evolution of “stocks” that are sub-populations inhabiting individual rivers and migrating at different times. These wild salmonids as a whole, have survived, though certain stocks have been pushed to extinction by a combination of events, such as: Poor water quality; Migration barriers; Over fishing; Hatcheries; Droughts; Floods; Ocean conditions (El Nino-etc.);  Catastrophic fires; Agriculture; Roads, Mining, and Logging. The creation of 7 dams in the Upper Klamath basin significantly altered river conditions for fish and totally blocked the migration of salmonids to the Upper Klamath Basin. The Upper Basin consists of about 1/3 of the entire Klamath Basin. The most significant anadromous species in the Salmon River are the Spring Chinook Salmon.

 We host  the largest wild run of spring chinook remaining in the Klamath Basin. Recent population surveys show that their numbers have decreased to returns of only several hundred fish. Spring Chinook are considered a “sensitive” species of concern by the US Forest Service in CA. “King” salmon or chinook include both spring and fall runs in the Klamath. Although the “springers” were once the most abundant and prized chinook and historically revered by several Klamath tribes in unified ceremonies, they are currently afforded very little protection in regulation and policy. The in-river harvest is based on the estimated run size and is divided between commercial fishing, ocean fishing and the local tribes. Currently, the springers are not recognized by federal and state agencies in the Klamath Basin as being a separate evolutionary unit from fall run chinook. . As a result, there are few management directives to protect them. 

 The Salmon River may hold one of the best opportunities for refugia for certain species of wild and anadromous fish due to its 1) Relatively intact biological nature with over 45% of the subbasin designated as wilderness, 2) Large component of public land, over 98% is federally managed and 3) Stakeholder involvement and strong community support. 

 Although there have been historic and some recent impacts to the watershed, the Salmon River remains one of the cleanest rivers left in CA if not in the West Coast. The subbasin water quality is unparalleled in the Klamath Basin. This is partly due to its remoteness and access difficulty. Resource extraction has been limited in the past century largely due to there being only 3 roads which access the watershed. These roads are one lane, landslide prone and two of the roads climb over 5500 feet. 

 The Salmon River community has a strong appreciation for its’ fisheries. The Salmon River  Restoration Council has enlisted and trained many community members to assist managers in conducting fish counts and surveys on the Salmon River since 1992.  The SRRC have provided over 500 volunteer person days surveying many species of  anadromous fish at various life stages. All of the SRRC’s formal fishery surveys are planned and coordinated with State and Federal agencies and local tribes.

The Salmon River Restoration Council has been working to improve the condition of the Salmon River watershed by increasing “stakeholders” cooperation, planning, education, communication, training, assessment, research, monitoring and  “hands on” restoration methods to restore the aquatic and terrestrial ecosytems highlighting anadromous fisheries.

  The Spring Chinook /Summer Steelhead Population Surveys are conducted during the months of July~Aug. This year the SRRC/Karuk Tribe dive training of July 19 - 20th.  The official check in for the dive is the evening of the 20th, behind the Forks School.  The dive will last one day or two until  all the holding reachs can be counted.  This popular event includes instruction and training  on several subjects related to fish monitoring and restoration such as diving, water safety, fish habitat typing and juvenile fish identification.

 Fall Chinook Salmon carcass and spawning bed surveys are typically conducted for 6 weeks in Oct-Nov. Local volunteers work with personnel from managing groups to complete this annual survey. The results are used to determine what harvest levels should be set for the next year’s ocean and in-river catch, as well as for determining fisheries presence in each subbasin and to identify use patterns of  various habitat in each system.
 SRRC volunteers during a fall fish count photo courtesy SRRC  

  Winter Steelhead surveys are held bi-weekly during April-May. This annual activity tracks the redds (nests) throughout the watershed. The habitats are monitored and fish barriers identified.

 In addition to fisheries monitoring the Restoration Council has several cooperative activities underway to promote watershed health such as:  Community education & training, Fire & Fuels management, Roads assessment & stewardship, Vegetation management- Native plant propagation and planting, Noxious weed control, Landslide stabilization, Reducing toxic materials and reducing impacts from resource users.

What can you do??

GET INVOLVED!!

ATTEND WORKSHOPS

WRITE LETTERS

and VOLUNTEER!!

Donations appreciated, too!

Protecting and improving the health of the rivers and forests may be the most important factor for sustaining our isolated communities.

We all need to work together to improve the quality of our watershed.

We can’t do it without you!

Contact:
    Salmon River Restoration Council
    PO Box 1089 • 25631 Sawyers Bar RD
    Sawyers Bar, CA  96027                                                              
    phone: 530.462.4665  •  fax: 530.462.4664

 e-mail: info@srrc.org                                                    www.srrc.org  

Fish of the Salmon River                                  Return to Index