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Even on a foggy October morning on the upper Skagit River, fishermen both human.... And
others ....are up early after their quarry. And the reason is revealed as the fog lifts,
the water is teeming with salmon. Fishing guide John Koenig
has been taking fishermen out on the Skagit for 15 years.
John Koenig fishing guide "I've never seen anything like it. I guided for 10 years in
Alaska and this is as big as any run I've seen in
Alaska."
A fisherman can't put a hook in the water for 20 seconds without getting a bite. There
are an estimated 1.2 million pink or what some call
"humpy salmon" spawing in the Skagit this year.
Ed Connor, SCL fish biologist "This is something people haven't seen in this
generation...this is going back to the runs our grandparents saw."
More importantly, 25 thousand Chinook salmon, the fish on the federal threatened species
list, have returned to spawn.
Ed Connor is a Seattle City Light fish biologist who helps the utility be a steward of the
Skagit The electric utility operates 3 hydroelectric
dams above where these salmon are thriving. The
dams don't block any of the salmon runs, because they are all built above natural barriers
to fish migration. But dam operations do have an effect
on the salmon down stream. If the utility doesn't allow enough water from behind its
dams, there is a danger that the eggs being laid will
dry up. And the water storage is even a benefit during dry periods like those experienced
this year. Natural conditions would mean many eggs
would be lost. But the dams water storage capacity mean consistent flows are maintained.
Ed Connor "The dams do help in dry situations like we're having this Fall in fact the last
few years we've had some of the lowest flows on
record but the dam is able to store enough water to
supply flow enough water to the fish nests to make sure the eggs are wetted all the way
through when they emerge as fry in January and February."
Connor and a team of experts from City Light, the state fish and wildlife and native tribes
work together to study and make sure conditions
all up and down the river are optimal for fish.
ED Connor--"City light since 2000 has really expanded from just providing flows in the
river for the fish.. to really concentrating on
the entire life cycle. We're in a section of the river here
where the fish spawn, incubate and emerge as fry, but then they have to have good habitat
down river in the middle Skagit and especially
in the estuary. So our fish program is helping to protect
and restore the habitat the fish need to get them out to the ocean to complete their life
cycle."
Connor points out that 40 % of all the Chinook in the entire Puget Sound region spawn in
the Skagit, and most of those within just a few
miles of City Light's hydroelectric project. That protection has paid off. For the first
time in 16 years, Chinook were allowed to be caught
by fisherman on the Skagit.
For your Seattle City Light