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Young salmon dying on Klamath
The Times-Standard ^ | 06/19/03 | John Driscoll

Posted on 06/19/2003 12:47:20 PM PDT by bedolido

Salmon fry have begun showing up dead in fish traps on the Klamath River, worrying some biologists about the possibility of a repeat of a huge juvenile fish kill in June 2000.

Biologists have found 100 dead chinook salmon in monitoring traps near Big Bar and in pools near Happy Camp. They appear to have succumbed to one of the diseases that claimed 34,000 adult salmon last fall.

The information was presented to the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force meeting at the North Coast Inn in Arcata on Wednesday. Fisheries consultant Ronnie Pierce said the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation flow schedule for June, unless changed, could be setting up a repeat of the 2000 event, which killed an estimated 250,000 fry.

Reached by phone, bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken said the agency is aware of the fish deaths, which happened shortly after millions of fry were released from Iron Gate Hatchery. He said reporting agencies haven't expressed concern to the bureau at this point.

A recent change in operations will provide more water for fish in the late summer and fall, but little additional water was provided for late spring.

California Department of Fish and Game Senior Biologist Neil Manji said the department will set up a monitoring program.

"We want to continue the administrative record and document how the system is stressed to the max," Manji said.

Flows are nearly identical in the Klamath's tributaries to those in 2000. Flows from Iron Gate Dam are 160 cubic feet per second less than in 2000.

In the bureau's 2001 draft biological assessment of its operations, flow and temperature were found to be apparently related in the area of the fish kill.

Biologists on the river Wednesday were expected to give an update on the fish kill at a task force meeting today.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: environment; klamath; salmon; young
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The Klamath is a beautiful river. I love that area of Oregon. Sad to see this happening again.
1 posted on 06/19/2003 12:47:20 PM PDT by bedolido
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To: bedolido
could be setting up a repeat of the 2000 event, which killed an estimated 250,000 fry.

How many fish are spawned? If 250,000 of 300,000 die, that is a huge problem. If 250,000 of 250,000,000 die, then it isn't much of a problem. 250,000 by itself means nothing.

2 posted on 06/19/2003 1:03:33 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (Paranoia is when you realize that tin foil hats just focus the mind control beams.)
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To: bedolido
If this were happening on any other river, we'd be hearing how it was the hatchery's fault for releasing inferior fish.
3 posted on 06/19/2003 1:44:29 PM PDT by Iconoclast2
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To: farmfriend
ping
4 posted on 06/19/2003 2:05:43 PM PDT by Libertarianize the GOP (Ideas have consequences)
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To: bedolido; marsh2; dixiechick2000; Mama_Bear; doug from upland; WolfsView; Issaquahking; amom; ...
Correct me if I'm wrong, please. I don't remember this happening prior to the Klamath water shut off. Now that the water is back on, we have fish kills two years in a row that support the water shut off? Something is very fishy here and we are not talking salmon.

As usual, if you want on or off the list, let me know.

5 posted on 06/19/2003 2:14:01 PM PDT by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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To: farmfriend; All
Ok, it does talk about a huge fish kill in 2000 but this is the first time I've heard of it. I don't remember anyone mentioning it during the crisis of 2001.
6 posted on 06/19/2003 2:15:47 PM PDT by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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To: farmfriend
BTTT!!!!!!
7 posted on 06/19/2003 2:36:37 PM PDT by E.G.C.
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To: farmfriend
Unless things have changed very recently, the Scott is producing large amounts of water which is relatively cool.
I'd be very surprised if water volume or temperature had anything to do with a kill. Felice Pace probably bathed
for the first time this year.
8 posted on 06/19/2003 3:41:20 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: fish hawk
What has lone ranger told you lately ?
9 posted on 06/19/2003 3:42:19 PM PDT by f.Christian (( I'm going to rechristen evolution, in honor of f.Christian, "shlockology"... HumanaeVitae ))
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To: bedolido
The part of the river in question is in California.
Still nice though.
10 posted on 06/19/2003 3:47:57 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: bedolido; Grampa Dave
PING

Sasquatch knows. The Klamath River starts in Oregon from the upper and lower Klamath Lakes but the other 95% of the river is in Calif. It hits the ocean about 30 miles south of the Oregon border at a little town called Klamath also. It is Yurok Indian Reservation one mile on each side of the river and upstream for almost 50 miles. Aloha

11 posted on 06/19/2003 4:28:51 PM PDT by fish hawk
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To: Iconoclast2; farmfriend
Let us start by asking the right questions. What is the percentage of the mortality and is it higher that usual? The number of dead mean nothing, what calls attention to a situation is simply, is this a higher percentage of mortality than usual?

The second thing to keep in mind is, in years of high water there are more gallons of water per fish, therefore less chance that as many dead fish will be found. Put these facts together with the agenda of government biologists, WE HAVE ANOTHER AGENDA DRIVEN SCARE TACTIC! What say yea?

For those that refuse to believe government biologists have an agenda, I offer the following.
CHURCHVILLE, VA Do government wildlife biologists know a fish from a file memo? Their official work doesn’t seem to show it.

The National Academy of Sciences just concluded that government biologists had no scientific basis for cutting off virtually all the irrigation water to farmers in the Klamath Basin of Oregon and Washington last year. The water shutdown coincided with the worst drought in the region’s recorded history, leaving most of the farmers with no crops—and no income—for a year.
http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=1599

The whole article is a must read. If we let them get by with starving the Klamath farmers again this year, it is a big shame on us.



12 posted on 06/19/2003 4:35:13 PM PDT by nwconservative
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To: nwconservative
I was at the meeting here in Sac the NSA held to see if there was any science behind the desision. What was very clear to the NSA (they kept asking) was that the "scientist" had no idea how many fish there were at any time.
13 posted on 06/19/2003 4:41:44 PM PDT by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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To: bedolido; farmfriend; fish hawk
A recent change in operations will provide more water for fish in the late summer and fall, but little additional water was provided for late spring.

The lower Klamath drainage had one of the wettest winters on record and there is lots of water in the river plus the Trinitys flows have been increased to near flood stage from Trinity Lake. This could a big setback for the "we need more water crowd" if the kill grows.

14 posted on 06/19/2003 5:01:58 PM PDT by tubebender (FReepin Awesome...)
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To: bedolido
Probrably due to the scrothy weed smokers swimming in the river up stream.
15 posted on 06/19/2003 5:05:08 PM PDT by jetson
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To: fish hawk
Aloha back at you.
Be well,er...Aloha
D.
16 posted on 06/19/2003 7:08:48 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: Iconoclast2
If this were happening on any other river, we'd be hearing how it was the hatchery's fault for releasing inferior fish.

Bingo!

How's the Columbia Basin doing?
D.
17 posted on 06/19/2003 7:10:48 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: sasquatch
It is the crooked greenie scum trying to do a number
on the public again.The flow info from the guages shows that
Upper basin flows have nothing to do with fish kills.
The flow the last 30 days is more than what was flowing in 2000 for the same period,,Even though Irongate on some days is a little less.Wet spring and high inflows from other areas, makes the middle Klamath a rough place, SO YOU
SHOULD GET SOME MORTALITY WHEN HUGE NUMBERS ARE RELEASED.
They say they found a hundred, Big f'en deal,What a bunch of crooks, and folks who clamor for water shutoffs to farms,
because of these crooks, need slapped upside their mutton
heads with a dead fish.Ed.
18 posted on 06/19/2003 8:33:47 PM PDT by hubel458
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To: farmfriend
The Ecocatastrophistic Environmentalists must have woke up early this year!

Maybe their just collecting film clips for that new program coming to National Geographic Explorer, "The Ecocatastrophistic Environmentalists Terrorist Hour"

(Can you tell I really enjoyed Jay Walley's latest article on Henry Lamb's web site)

http://www.eco.freedom.org/el/20030602/
19 posted on 06/20/2003 3:30:47 AM PDT by Fearless Flyers
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To: hubel458; sasquatch; tubebender
Upper basin flows have nothing to do with fish kills.

How many times do I have to tell you, we can't let scientific facts get in the way of eco policy. Sheesh!

20 posted on 06/20/2003 8:24:38 AM PDT by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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