King Salmon Return to the Elwah River- And guess who else has discovered a new home?

The miracle of life seen in native salmon 

returning to a habitat recreated in the Elwah River.

[click here to view video of spawning]

Great effort and faith returns a habitat buried for decades.
Al Bergstein's Olympic Penninsula Environmental News writes on the return of King salmon to the Elwah River and spawning habitat recreated by the removal of dams.  As Mr. Bergstein notes, it took great effort, focus and money to remove the Elwah Dam and Glines Canyon Dam which had been in place for over 100 years. That removal freed the river, recreating habitat lost to native salmon, part of the Lower Elwah Klallam Tribe's traditions for untold generations.

Guess who else has discovered the Elwah River?

Thank you Cooke Aquaculture.

Nonnative invasive Atlantic salmon

escaped from Cooke Aquaculture's failed net pen

moving into the Elwah River.

It's "only one" because the river is closed to fishing. How many more are migrating upstream, undetected, to a new habitat? 

The Department of Fish and Wildlife's "catch map" now notes a nonnnative invasive Atlantic salmon having been caught just up from the mouth of the Elwah River on September 6. Despite the fact that the Elwah River is closed to fishing. These fish being caught by citizens and being reported to WDFW are not being snagged. They are aggressively pursuing lures and/or bait in order to survive. They are far from what NOAA has described as "couch potatoes" who will linger around pens if they escape and who don't know how to eat anything but artificial feed and coloring. 

This is not the same.

Cooke Aquaculture's failed net pen in August.

This, after a partial collapse in July.

"It's happened before, don't worry. Trust us. We have studies." It's not the same.

What happened on August 19 has not happened before. Attempts to establish Atlantic salmon in the past did not use 160,000 mature, 10 pound adult salmon released in the heart of Puget Sound. Escapes in the past were not 160,000 adult salmon, mature and ready to spawn. They were young, immature salmon, adolescents lost in the woods. Cooke Aquaculture, NOAA and other agencies attempting to pacify the public by using self serving studies only continues to darken the veil industrial aquaculture has created through false narratives and contract scientists in order for a few large corporations to profit greatly from the public waters of Puget Sound and rivers feeding into that body.

"Look at this new home they made for us!"

Atlantic salmon do not belong here.

Get involved. Demand these pens be removed and moved to upland, isolated facilities. 

Chris Dunagan writes in the Kitsap Sun about the possibility of the Puget Sound Partnership agreeing that these net pens should be banned from Washington's waters. Cooke Aquaculture saying "we're sorry" isn't good enough. These should never have been allowed in the first place. Claiming they "can do better" is not good enough. Agencies forming emergency response teams, after the fact and all fumbling along the way is not good enough. It only takes one mistake to destroy what took millions of dollars, untold hours and perseverance to do - recreate a habitat for native salmon to return to, spawn at, and create a new circle of life for future generations.  It was not done for nonnative invasive Atlantic salmon to claim as their new home.