Salmon migration slow, steady

November 6, 2007

By Michelle Ma

Triplicate staff writer

Chinook seem to be in no hurry to return home this fall.

Fall salmon runs in the Klamath River are later than expected, but fish biologists say they aren't worried—yet.

Rivers up and down the Pacific Coast report similar slower-than-usual salmon returns this fall, said Sara Borok, California Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist.

Biologists are unsure what is causing these slow migrations upstream, but the good news is chinook counts thus far on the Klamath River are mostly comparable to last year's numbers.

A predicted 121,000 adult chinook will return to the Klamath River this fall. This number is about 1,000 more than the yearly average. It seems that chinook are trickling upstream in smaller waves.

"It was good news at the start of the season," said Larry Hanson, Department of Fish and Game senior fisheries biologist. "We're pretty much on par with what we'd expect to see, other than they're late."

It's still too early in the season to do a final count of returning chinook. Numbers won't be known until February.

"The overall picture is we're going to have to sit back and wait," Hanson said.

According to recent data, Iron Gate Fish Hatchery this year has counted more returning adults—close to 12,000—than last year's figure of nearly 11,600. But the number of 2-year-old fish returning to the hatchery is much smaller so far this year.

Similarly, at the Department of Fish and Game's counting stations on the Klamath River , returning chinook have almost hit last year's numbers.

Still, fish biologists say they would like to have seen more chinook by this time, especially because more returning fish were predicted this year.

Peak chinook spawning on the Klamath River usually takes place in mid-November.

Salmon behavior on the Klamath and Smith rivers is remarkably different, even though both rivers empty into the ocean within Del Norte County.

The Smith River is comparably short—about 40 miles long—so chinook usually don't start moving upstream until mid-November or later because they don't have as far to go to reach spawning habitat.

Chinook usually spawn in the Smith River and its tributaries from mid-November to early January.

A heavy rainstorm in mid-October ushered in an initial group of chinook, but migration numbers have been slim since.

The Smith River , much like Oregon 's Chetco River , depends on early winter rainfalls to allow fish to move upstream. The clear, cool, unaltered streams produce healthy salmon, said Jim Waldvogel, marine adviser for Sea Grant Extension with the University of California .

Ron MacMaster, who owns Catch My Drift in Crescent City , said he is looking forward to the next big rainfalls to boost chinook migrations in the Smith River . MacMaster operates a fishing guide service on the river.

"It's probably the best river in the state of California for steelhead and salmon, without question," he said.

Reach Michelle Ma at mma@triplicate.com.

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