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TULALIP TRIBES ASSESS COHO DAMAGE FROM WINTER FLOOD

TULALIP BAY (6/16/97) --The Tulalip Tribes now know the toll of a major New Year’s Day flood on its hatchery coho salmon -- the loss of more than 400,000 fish.

The Tulalip Hatchery staff had to wait until the release of the coho this spring to learn the exact extent of losses caused by last winter’s devastating New Year’s Day flood. Upper Tulalip Creek Pond is located behind an old dam that was overtopped by extremely high water on Jan. 1, 1997. Tens of thousands of coho rearing in the pond were carried over the dam and Totem Beach Road, into the stones and brush below.

In late May and early June, an electronic fish counter placed in the spillway below the 70-year-old dam counted a release of only 313,000 coho. Spring hatchery coho releases normally average about 800,000 fish. Little, if any, survival is expected from the spilled coho. Any of these fish which might have managed to reach Tulalip Bay were biologically unprepared for the early entry into saltwater. Added to the flood problems, coho rearing in the semi-natural rearing pond have also suffered high bird predation this year.

Fisheries staff expect the decreased coho release to translate into cutbacks in tribal coho fishing when this brood year of salmon return in the fall of 1998. “Because most of the tribe’s fishing area is closed or severely restricted (due to depressed wild coho runs), most of the tribal fishery targets on hatchery fish,” said harvest management biologist Kit Rawson. “Fewer hatchery fish affects the main part of the tribe’s coho fishery by cutting it back proportionally.” The flood losses also mean fewer fish for non-Indian coho salmon fishers in the region.

The Tulalip Hatchery used an electronic fish counter during release to ensure an accurate count. The device senses the conductivity of the fish as they pass through the spillway. Fish can pass through any of 15 golf ball-sized holes and are electronically recorded as they drop into a final holding pond. From there, the fish are released into Tulalip Bay at high tide to give them the best chance of survival.

“We didn’t want to overcount the release,” said Tulalip Hatchery manager Cliff Bengston. “We need an accurate count so we can predict our returns in ‘98.”

Upper Tulalip Creek Pond was created by a small power dam built in the 1920s by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribe began raising coho in the pond in 1970, using salmon fry supplied by the state. Tulalip constructed its own hatchery in 1982, two miles upstream from the rearing pond. A natural marsh, measuring several hundred acres, sits between the hatchery and pond, providing excellent wildlife habitat and clean water to the rearing pond.

# # # FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Kit Rawson, Tulalip Harvest Management Biologist, (360) 651-4478; Cliff Bengston, Tulalip Hatchery Manager, (360) 651-4550; Logan Harris, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, North Sound Information Officer, (360) 424-8226.

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