- By Max Matza
- BBC News, Seattle
A truck carrying 102,000 live salmon in the US state of Oregon crashed last week into a creek bed, accidentally releasing thousands of juvenile fish into the water.
Young Chinook, also known as King, salmon are transported from the Lookingglass Hatchery in the north of the state, to the Imnaha River, where they are listed as endangered.
But the crash caused about 77,000 fish to splash into Lookingglass Creek, boosting that waterway’s population.
Wildlife officials said Tuesday that the driver lost control on a tight turn, causing the fish tanker to roll onto a rocky embankment. The driver suffered minor injuries, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) said in a statement.
The crash happened at a tight corner on March 29, the statement said, where the 53-ft (16m) truck “rolled onto its passenger side, skidded onto its side on the pavement, and then went over a rocky embankment that caused it to roll. on its roof.”
While thousands of fish escaped the water, many more were left stranded on the shore
More than 25,000 salmon smolts – two-year-old fish – died inside the tanker truck or on the creek bank.
The local sheriff’s office responded to the crash, officials said. “Small amounts of diesel fuel were quickly contained,” the release said, adding that a hazardous material spill response was unnecessary.
The Nez Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation also responded and assisted by collecting and scanning transponders on dead fish.
Salmon are anadromous, meaning they spend most of their lives in the ocean but return to freshwater rivers to spawn. Many are now raised in government-run hatcheries before being released back into their native waters to return to the same hatcheries.
ODFW officials said the loss represents about 20% of the fish it intended to release into the Imnaha River this year.
They expect about 500-900 fewer adult fish to return to spawn in 2026-2027 due to the loss.
The 77,000 smolts in Lookingglass Creek will likely lead to about 350-700 additional adults returning there.
“We are thankful that the ODFW employee driving the truck was not seriously injured,” said ODFW fish hatchery coordinator Andrew Gibbs.
“This should not affect our ability to collect future brood stock or maintain full future production goals.”
