Did Fish and Game Officials Just Cause 850,000 Juvenile Salmon to Die? – California Globe

Removing dams along the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, Northern California was sold to Californians as necessary to save salmon — specifically, “to restore habitat for endangered fish,” it reported of the Globe.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recently released between 850,000 and 1 million salmon juveniles into Fall Creek which flows into the Klamath River, even after reports that “every living mollusk, crawdad, turtle, fish, insect in and around the river is DEAD! ” William Simpson told the Globe when they were released that juvenile salmon would also die from the muddy clay sediment.

In a discussion with the Globe last Wednesday:

“Simpson said about 850,000 salmon fry were released into Fall Creek this week by California Fish And Wildlife. Fall Creek flows into the Klamath River.”

“Simpson said it was peanuts. He said he was concerned that fluctuating conditions in the Klamath River would likely harm/kill small fish as they enter the sediment-laden Klamath River, which is described him as muddy clay.

“He said that ‘water flows are likely to be low in the coming months which includes adverse conditions for any aquatic life, let alone small salmonids which are relatively vulnerable to turbidity and pollutants from the clay. lake bottom sediments.'”

The Globe was alerted by Theodora Johnson that CDFW is releasing approximately 1M juvenile salmon despite deadly conditions. So we contacted Fish and Wildlife on Feb. 26, 2024 to ask why:

I received a reply the following day telling me:

“Good morning Katy,

Thank you for contacting the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. All media inquiries are directed to our communications offices in Sacramento and one of our team of information officers. I will look into this matter and get back to you. Thanks again.”

And then nothing – no other contact from Fish and Wildlife. There are no answers as to why they released hundreds of thousands of juvenile salmon under the worst imaginable conditions, only to have them die.

How does it save endangered fish? And is it a giant social and scientific experiment – with the people of the region as well as the fish and wildlife?

So far, the California Gov. has facilitated. Newsom the destruction of one of California’s largest rivers and the draining of giant reservoirs.

The Globe reported in 2020:

Governor Newsom’s appeal implored Buffett to support the demolition project to save salmon populations that depend on the many Native American tribes in the area. “The river is sick, and the tribes of the Klamath Basin are suffering,” Newsom said in his letter. “Removing the Klamath dam is a shining example of what we can do when we act on our values.”

In his letter to Buffett, Newsom said the dam’s destruction could also revive salmon populations for regional Native American tribes that depend on salmon fishing.

Now we know that 850,000 to 1 million are dead. From Siskiyou News:

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), ‘830,000’ taxpayer funded salmon are dead. Interestingly on the day of the release, at the release site, the Senior Environmental Scientist for CDFW, Mr. Eric Jones, told William Simpson that they had released 850,000 salmon fry, but in their release the news seemed to be underestimated they are the number who died.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced today that fall-run Chinook salmon fry released for the first time from its Fall Creek Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County are presumed to have died of gas bubble disease in the Klamath River.

On Monday, Feb. 26, CDFW released approximately 830,000 fall-run Chinook salmon fry into Fall Creek, a tributary of the Klamath River above Iron Gate Dam. The fish are hatched at CDFW’s new, $35 million, state-of-the-art Fall Creek Fish Hatchery, which represents California’s long-term commitment to supporting and restoring both Chinook and coho salmon runs in an undammed Klamath River.

“According to Simpson, he believes the so-called ‘bubble disease’ is a red herring, and that clay-mud turbidity has contributed to the death of salmon fry, which are highly susceptible to poor water quality and turbidity,” Siskiyou reported news

CDFW insists the massive die-off is not caused by the water quality of the Klamath River, “which is still undergoing a long- and controversial dam-removal process. According to the CDFW, the turbidity and dissolved oxygen measurements in the river became ‘appropriate’ on Monday, February 26th,” reports KRCR TV.

“Everyone, including fisheries scientists, is speculating about what might happen next in this grand environmental and financial dam-removal experiment,” Simpson told the Globe.