Not Salmon Enchanted Evening

It’s happening, to some degree or another, in creeks and rivers everywhere, but the “salmon in the coal mine” has to be California. It is a story of so many species, part of our food chain as much as any fish. From a crass commercial perspective, it means wild-caught salmon may either be a “fish of the past” or at least exceptionally expensive. From an environmental perspective, it is mereLY one more example of how human beings continue to decimate the planet, with huge segments of the global population denying, marginalizing or even not knowing about climate change and its impact. Too many incumbent special interests, having built their profitable platforms on the back of massive and unfettered use of fossil fuels, spend billions every year to keep things as they are. In our own country, an entire political party is dedicated to rewarding such toxic industries and slowing down efforts to transition away from those fossil fuels.

The story of California’s rivers and stream is one of impending local extinction of Chinook salmon. It illustrates the connective tissue from myriad sources, most linked to climate change variables, and how what should be an annual spring of Chinook hatchlings just may become an endgame for that species here. Ian James, writing for the October 17th Los Angeles Times, explains: “Typically, now is the time when creeks along the Sacramento River are filled with young spring-run Chinook salmon preparing to make their journey downstream to the Pacific Ocean, where they will mature and eventually make their return to California spawning sites… This year, however, the salmon population has plummeted alarmingly — what officials call a ‘cohort collapse’ — and biologists are taking urgent measures to save them from extinction.

“For the first time, biologists with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have begun capturing the juvenile spring-run salmon so that they can breed them in captivity and hopefully prevent them from disappearing from the wild… ‘We have a rare opportunity to make a bold decision in advance to try to preserve wild, independent populations,’ said Jason Roberts, an environmental program manager for the department. ‘It was super urgent to take this action now.’

“Recently, biologists have been using nets to capture small salmon in Deer Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River. From there, they have transported them by truck, in an aerated tank on a trailer, to the UC Davis fish laboratory.

“Deer Creek, along with Mill Creek and Butte Creek, supports the remaining wild populations of spring-run Chinook that make their way upriver to spawn each year… Salmon once thrived in rivers across the Central Valley but suffered major declines over the last century as the construction of dams cut them off from spawning habitats. Since 1999, the spring-run Chinook population has been listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“Scientists say the fish are now suffering because of successive droughts intensified by climate change along with other pressures, such as the large amounts of water diverted from rivers to supply California’s farms and cities… Two decades ago, thousands of spring-run Chinook came to spawn in Deer Creek and Mill Creek near Red Bluff. In recent years, the numbers of fish returning to these creeks have been in the hundreds… ‘If we lost those populations, that would break our connection with wild salmon populations in the Central Valley that have thrived for thousands of years,’ said Brian Ellrott, NOAA Fisheries’ salmon recovery coordinator…

“‘We are running out of options,’ said Cathy Marcinkevage, assistant regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries. ‘We want this species to thrive in the wild, but right now we are worried about losing them.’.. Since earlier this month, biologists have captured about 300 fish. The salmon are nearly a year old — close to the age when they typically head downstream to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay on their journey to the Pacific.

“Salmon typically live three or four years. The severe drought from 2019 to 2022 has affected multiple spawning years, putting the fish in peril… State and federal officials say they will capture juvenile fish from the three creeks that have served as the last strongholds for spring-run salmon… They plan to keep the captive fish at UC Davis’ Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture for the next two years, while they decide where to put them on a longer-term basis…

“‘During the last few years, spring-run Chinook have continued to be exposed to harmful water temperatures and just dangerously low water flows,’ said Scott Artis, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Assn… Artis said he and other salmon advocates applaud the state and federal agencies for starting the rescue program. However, he said the current situation could have been avoided if the federal Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies focused on the biological needs of salmon, instead of catering to ‘thirsty industrial agriculture.’

“Along with the effects of California’s driest three years on record from 2019 to 2022, salmon have been weakened by thiamine deficiency, which scientists believe is linked to an increase in anchovies in their ocean diet… In 2021, many returning adult fish died before they could spawn. Scientists said warm water temperatures and thiamine deficiency fueled a disease outbreak among the fish… Another blow came this summer when a breach in Pacific Gas & Electric’s Butte Canal sent a rust-colored sediment spill coursing into Butte Creek. The company said in a statement that it acted quickly to stop water flows in the canal and has worked to minimize effects to the creek and wildlife.” Yet California still grows and supports water guzzling crops – like almonds and pistachios – that are no long appropriate for the desertifying croplands of the Golden State. Change is necessary if we want to preserve the agricultural productivity of our land… and ourselves.

I’m Peter Dekom, and while money talks, sustaining life is too often an afterthought once the cash is deposited in the BIG AGRIBUSINESS bank accounts.