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Shelton Mason County Journal
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November 9, 2023     Shelton Mason County Journal
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November 9, 2023
 
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LFI Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023 - Shelton—Mason County Journal — Page 37 Serving the communities of Belfair, Allyn, Grapeview, Tahuya, Mason Lake, South Shore and Victor .6 Above, Josh O’Hara, the salmon and steel- head biologist for the Hood Canal Salmon En- hancement in Belfair, holds a female coho at the group’s fish trap on the Union River. Left, volunteers monitored the fish trap on the Union River around the clock from mid- August to mid—October. They counted 3,912 adult summer chum returning to spawn. Courtesy photos Nearly 4,000 chum returned to UnionRiVer By Gordon Weeks gordon@masoncounty. com Between mid-August and mid—Oc— tober, 3,912 adult chum salmon re- turned to spawn on the Union River in Bell’air. That’s the count at the adult fish trap operated by the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group in Bel- fair on state Route 300. That’s the fourth highest total counted in years when the fish were not supplemented on the river, said Josh O’Hara, the salmon and,steelhead biologist for the group. “It was definitely a good year,” he said. The annual counts have been conducted since 2000. The higher counts in nonsupplemental years were 6,479 in 2021, 5,810 in 2017 JESFIELD Construction, Inc. Sewing the North Mason area since 1968 Specializing in Seawall Repair, Remodeling and Additions 360-275-6684 Steve Merrill Allyn, WA Lic #JESEII*228DO Noam 7' LicrNsiNG i HER VISITOR CENTER mm MASONCHAMBER.COM NORTH MASON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE and 5,368 in 2022. The decrease from last year is not startling, O’Hara said. The parent group of this year’s summer chum adults is from 201.9, when 1,887 re— turned, then an estimated 69,475 outmigrated, he said. For the 2022 count, 3,628 of their parents re- turned in 2018, and 368,283 outmi- grated in 2019. In other words, O’Hara said, “Both the 2023 and 2022 returns were higher than their likely parent run by at least 1,700 chum.” During the count, volunteers logged 2,468 hours compared with 3,023 last year, O’Hara said. Since 2000, the fish trap has been operated by research interns and vol- unteers around the clock from mid- August to mid~October. The previous year, summer chum salmon in the BELFAIR LlCENSlNG ;.Cal|'Theresa; army at (360) 426-4412 Strait of Juan de Fuca and Hood Ca— nal were listed as threatened under the US. Endangered Species Act. Starting in 2000, salmon group has been working with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to supplement the Union River sum- mer chum run as part of the Summer Churn Salmon Conservation Initia- tive, prepared by the WDFW and the Point N0 Point Treaty Tribes. In 2003, stock supplementa- tion ended after it was determined the Union River summer chum run was healthy enough that it became a donor to stock the Tahuya River, where summer chum was classified as “recently instinct.” The organiza— tion began releasing summer chum fry into the Tahuya River from the Union River stock in 2004 and con— cluded the supplementation in 2015. 50 NE ROMANCE Hitt RD, BELFAiR é 560.275.42673 Western Red Cedar Lumber Monitoring continues on both rivers. Estuary restoration was com— pleted on the Union River in 2012, and the number of summer chum has fluctuated: 1,882 in 2013, 676 in 2014, 1,232 in 2015, 3,512 in 2016, 5,810 in 2017, 3,628 in 2018, 1,887 in 2019, 1,777 in 2020 and 6,479 in 2021. On its website, HCSEG states that summer chum are the first run of“i’ertilizer" for the Hood Canal this time ofyear, keeping the biodiversity oi" the watershed high. “Many species of fish depend on nutrients brought by chum during summer. including Chinook, sea- run cutthroat, steelhead and young coho. Summer chum bring marine— deprived nutrients back to trees, shrubs, insects, birds and other crea— tures as well." wags, LS. Eedar Company Top Quality oi All Types We deliver 00-572-33 1-8 NORTHMASONCHAMBER'COM .