Throw Money At 'Em
There are five species of pacific salmon — sockeye, chinook, coho, chum, and pink. Aside from British Columbia and Alaska, West Coast stocks of wild salmon are on the decline due to over-fishing, habitat destruction, low water levels, and problems associated with dams. Right now, 14 varieties of West Coast salmon and steelhead are listed as endangered and threatened.
As is the usual government approach, the response to a resource-management problem is to throw more money at it — and a lot of money has been thrown at the salmon. Since 1978, more than $3.5 billion has been spent on salmon restoration in the Pacific Northwest. The Bonneville Power Administration, the major source of electric power in the region, presently spends as much as 20% of its budget on salmon and steelhead conservation measures. The consensus is that they are losing the battle.
Dams can cause problems on the way upstream on spawning runs. Then, as yearling smolts try to return to the sea downstream, they must try to not get sucked into turbines. Fish ladders and other devices are built to enable salmon to by-pass dams, but their success is related to water levels. The greater the power needs, the more water that must go through those turbines.
Not So Pretty In Pink
Those nice pink fillets you find in the stores these days are often pen-raised Atlantic salmon, not their wild-roaming relatives. Aquaculture-raised salmon are tasty, but not free from problems, which is another story in itself. At best, they should supplement wild salmon, not take their place.
In the face of energy shortages, salmon are going to have even more obstacles on their way to survival. As we search for ways to conserve salmon and steelhead, let's take time to remember that there are more approaches than just bigger and more costly government projects. An example of what is possible with grassroots people-power is the story of United Anglers of Casa Grande in Petaluma, California — a group of high school kids.
Petaluma is a community of 48,000 about an hour's-drive north of San Francisco. In l880, seven-mile-long Adobe Creek, which runs through Petaluma, was the town's major source of water. It was also a substantial spawning area for salmon and steelhead. As the 20th century settled into this agricultural community on a tributary of San Francisco Bay, Adobe Creek became a victim of civilization. Pollution, sedimentation, water diversions, and piles of junk transformed the creek into a dump with scarce little water in mid-summer. In the early l980's it was declared “dead” by state officials. The Adobe Creek steelhead, a unique subspecies, seemed destined to become extinct, and salmon sightings were about as common as a California day without an energy warning. Plans were made to divert most of the creek into a reservoir, and place the rest of the stream underground in pipes like a sewer.
Enter Cassia Grande High School science teacher Tom Furrer and his biology class. On a field trip in l983, Furrer and his class found a few precious steelhead fingerlings in a pool. Moved by the plight of the fish, the kids and their teacher decided to take matters into their own hands. In 1984, they organized a massive clean-up, removing more than 20 tons of debris from Adobe Creek, including refrigerators, stoves, and auto engines. This was not just a one-day litter pick-up. It took many lunch hours, evenings, and weekends to get the creek bed clean.
In l985, 1,200 trees were planted along the banks of Adobe Creek to stabilize the soil and shade the stream, cooling the waters to the liking of salmon and steelhead fry. Each year since, approximately 1,000 more trees have been planted on those banks.
The following year, Furrer's classes held a spaghetti dinner money-raiser, with proceeds earmarked for the conversion of an abandoned greenhouse into a student-run fish hatchery. They raised their goal of $6,000, and started work on the conversion immediately. It was finished not a moment too soon — the following year 2,000 baby steelhead were rescued from a pool about to go dry. These fish represented the future of the Adobe Creek steelhead. The fish were raised and set free. In 1989, 21 of the kids' fish returned to spawn.
Success became contagious. The classes helped plant striped bass in the Petaluma River. Then, in 1990, to their amazement, five chinook salmon showed up in their stream to spawn. Their arrival marked the first time in this century that chinook salmon had been seen or spawned in Adobe Creek.
Spawning a Bright Future
Adopting the goal “to heal a stream, repair its habitat, and save a fish from extinction,” it was decided that a bigger hatchery was needed. Car washes, spaghetti dinners, door-to-door canvassing, and some help from a sportsmen's group, United Anglers of California, started a cash flow. Bob Hope and some celebrities gave their endorsements.
By l992 they had raised over a half-million dollars. The new hatchery was completed in l993. The federal government was so impressed that the Casa Grande Fish Hatchery was given a permit to raise the Winter Run chinook salmon — an endangered species — from the Sacramento River. By 1996, all diversions were removed from Adobe Creek.
The stream now flows as it did 100 years ago. It is becoming a very pretty area, and the water is sweet, thanks to people power. These days the kids at Casa Grande expect to see about 300 salmon and 100 steelhead return to Adobe Creek to spawn every winter. Their hatchery is state-of-the-art. It helps California Fish and Game with stocking trout in local lakes, as well as salmon and steelhead in Adobe Creek.
Relevancy is a big issue in schools today. Elementary, junior high, and high-school science and math classes in Petaluma all study the stream. The kids love it. There are 20 student positions in the United Anglers of Casa Grande group that mans the hatchery. Each year, more than 200 kids apply for those positions. Those that get in get quite an education. Some become interns at the Marine Biology Station at Bodega Bay, which helps Casa Grande High with technical assistance. After graduation, a number of the kids have gone on to major in wildlife and fisheries in college, and some take up careers in the field after graduation.
Teacher Tom Furrer, who heads the project, says with pride that there are no administrative costs to run the Casa Grande Hatchery. But, of course, donations are always appreciated. The annual spaghetti dinner doesn't always raise enough to cover the operating budget, repairs, or upgrades. If you'd like to help out (UACG is tax-deductible), check out their website.
Kids alone can't conserve wildlife like salmon, but they sure can help. If enough West Coast schools followed Casa Grande, they might be able to help the BPA out and lower some energy costs. Now, if only some high-school classes could start getting into the electrical-energy production business.
(This article can also be found on National Review Online).
