Coho Salmon Return to Upper Klamath River Basin After 60-Year Absence

For many years, opponents of dam removal spread false claims that coho salmon were not present in the Upper Klamath River Basin before the construction of the dams, despite numerous records and tribal histories documenting their long time presence in the watershed.

Well, the naysayers have been proven wrong. Coho salmon are now back in the habitat that they spawned and reared in for time immemorial before the four PacifiCorp dams on the Klamath River were built.

In a historic event, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) today reported the first returns of threatened coho salmon to the upper Klamath River Basin in more than 60 years following the completion of dam removal last month.

“Not since the construction of the former Iron Gate Dam in the early 1960s has CDFW  documented coho salmon occupying their historic habitat in the upper watershed,” according to a CDFW announcement.

On Nov. 13, seven coho salmon entered CDFW’s new Fall Creek Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County. The facility is located on Fall Creek, a formerly inaccessible Klamath River tributary about 7.5 miles upstream of the former Iron Gate Dam location, the CDFW said.

“To see coho successfully returning this quickly to this new habitat post-dam removal is exciting,” said Eric Jones, a Senior Environmental Scientist who oversees CDFW’s north state hatchery operations. “We’ve already seen the Chinook make it back and now we’re seeing the coho make it back.”

“Of the seven coho salmon that entered the Fall Creek Fish Hatchery last week, four were male and three were female,” the CDFW revealed. “Two had missing adipose fins, identifying them as being of hatchery origin. The other five were natural origin fish, as all hatchery raised coho salmon in the Klamath Basin have their adipose fins removed for identification prior to release.”

The CDFW said the returning coho are being kept at the Fall Creek Hatchery pending genetic testing at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center laboratory in Santa Cruz. Geneticists will determine which of the seven coho are the least related genetically and direct the spawning of those pairs to maximize genetic diversity. 

The take of coho salmon in California ocean and river waters has been prohibited for over 25 years, due to their listing under both the state and federal endangered species acts. Coho salmon typically return to freshwater to spawn in the late fall and winter, later than the more numerous fall-run Chinook salmon.

Coho rear in freshwater habitat for a year before migrating to saltwater. They spawn in tributary streams with abundant riparian growth and cover to keep the water temperature cool during the summer.  

CDFW’s Fall Creek Fish Hatchery has an annual production goal of raising 75,000 coho salmon to help restore populations in the upper Klamath River Basin post dam-removal, the agency said. 

In other news regarding the CDFW’s salmon work in the Klamath Basin, the agency reported releasing approximately 270,000 yearling, fall-run Chinook salmon into Fall Creek last week. This was the last Klamath Basin hatchery release of the year and the first release following dam removal.

The CDFW said the year-old juvenile salmon, approximately 4 to 6 inches in length, were released over four days, mostly at dusk to improve survival, and allowed to swim freely out of the hatchery into Fall Creek without handling.

“We’re releasing various life histories so that gives the fish a chance to out-migrate at different times of the year mimicking what we would see in the river naturally,” said Crystal Robinson, Senior Environmental Scientist and CDFW’s Klamath Watershed Program Supervisor.

The CDFW noted that the hatchery salmon released as yearlings in the fall “show some of the highest rates of return as adults. This is attributed to their larger size at release and optimal fall river conditions with cool temperatures and strong flows.”

The CDFW Fall Creek Fish Hatchery, a $35 million, state-of-the-art facility in its first year of operation, began spawning returning fall-run Chinook salmon in late October, the agency said. To date, the hatchery has spawned 100 fish and collected 277,393 eggs. The hatchery has an annual production goal of 3.25 million fall-run Chinook salmon.

“Finally, multiple state and federal agencies, Tribes and non-governmental organizations are monitoring salmon throughout the Klamath Basin, including the 420 miles of newly accessible habitat following dam removal,” the CDFW wrote. “CDFW is particularly focused on newly accessible tributaries within the former reservoir footprints, including Jenny and Shovel creeks.”

“To date, a video fish counting weir installed on Jenny Creek has recorded 310 adult Chinook salmon and one Pacific lamprey entering the tributary from the Klamath River. CDFW field crews are surveying regularly for salmon nests, or redds, and post-spawned adults,”  the agency observed.

CDFW’s post-dam removal management strategy, as detailed in the recently released Klamath River Anadromous Fishery Reintroduction and Monitoring Plan, is to  “mostly allow these ocean-going fish species to naturally repopulate the 420 miles of newly accessible habitat as they are now doing.”

The Yurok Tribe recently reported that “hundreds of salmon” are now spawning in the newly accessible habitat river and tributaries above the former Iron Gate Dam — and emphasized the key role that salmon provide in the Klamath’s ecosystem: sacramento.newsreview.com/ 

“Within eyesight of the fish, the Yurok Revegetation Crew is hand-sowing millions of native plant seeds along the previously inaccessible upper mainstem Klamath and four tributaries,” the tribe observed. “Hundreds of salmon are spawning in this area for the first time in 60 and 112 years. Like all Pacific salmon, these Chinooks will perish after they reproduce and their bodies will provide nutrients for the newly planted vegetation as well as saplings and shrubs established earlier this year. The restoration of the flow of marine nutrients from the ocean to the upper basin is one of the many benefits of dam removal.”

“In addition to fertilizing plants, salmons’ corporeal remains will provide food for other fish, birds and mammals, including resident trout, bald eagles and black bears. Salmon is one of the most nutritionally dense food sources for native wildlife in the region … Much more work is needed to get to a point where the reservoir reach is producing large numbers of juvenile salmon: It has only been five weeks since the conclusion of the deconstruction component of the dam removal project,” the Tribe stated.

Meanwhile, thousands of salmon are spawning in Klamath River tributaries below the former sites of the Klamath River dams.

The CDFW’s Klamath River Salmon Count Update dated Nov. 22 reported the following numbers: Shasta River, 4,932 Chinook Salmon and 16 Coho Salmon; Bogus Creek, 354 Chinook Salmon and 3 Coho Salmon; Scott River, 588 Chinook salmon and 507 Coho Salmon; Jenny Creek, 332 Chinook Salmon and O Coho Salmon; and Shovel Creek, 226 Chinook Salmon and O Coho Salmon.

These are preliminary counts from CDFW's adult fish counting facilities. Final reports will include additional spawning data from downstream areas.