For the first time in 60 years threatened coho salmon have returned to the Upper Klamath River Basin, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced. Seven of the salmon entered the Fall Creek Fish Hatchery on Nov.13, shortly after removal of the Iron Gate Dam.
Both the state and federal government list the fish under the state and federal Endangered Species acts. The species returns to spawn in fresh water later than fall-run Chinook salmon.
The hatchery hopes to raise 75,000 coho salmon annually to restore the species population in the basin, and will breed a pair from the seven fish once genetic testing results are finished. To date, the hatchery has spawned 100 fall-run Chinook salmon. It hopes to eventually spawn 3.25 million Chinook salmon annually.
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Salmon repopulation efforts follow the California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future, which outlines ways for the state to modernize infrastructure, improve habitats and water quality and create climate-adaptable solutions for salmon migration and population.
“To see coho successfully returning this quickly to this new habitat post-dam removal is exciting,” said Eric Jones, a CDFW senior environmental scientist. “We’ve already seen the Chinook make it back, and now we’re seeing the coho make it back.”
