(PatriotSpotlight.org) – Hundreds of thousands of salmon fry met a grim demise following their release into a California river, state authorities said on Saturday. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) had released over 800,000 young Chinook salmon into Fall Creek, a vital tributary of the Klamath River, on Feb. 26 as part of a concerted effort to replenish the species in the region. Chinook, coho and steelhead were previously abundant in the majority of California’s key fresh waterways but are now on the brink of extinction.
It appears that a major number of the freshly released salmon fell victim to what officials described as “a large mortality event,” thought to have been prompted by so-called “gas bubble disease.” This fatal condition likely took hold as the fish traversed the Iron Gate Dam tunnel, an outdated structure which is scheduled to be demolished.
The newly launched $35 million Fall Creek Fish Hatchery, responsible for bolstering the river’s salmon numbers, now faces a setback due to this issue. The U.S. National Library of Medicine says that the disease is the result of an unusual increase in dissolved gas pressure above ambient air pressure, leading to the death of fish without any visible signs of disease.
The wildlife agency stressed that the issues linked to the Iron Gate Dam tunnel are temporary, but complained that this issue was yet another reminder of how local dams have been damaging the salmon runs for decades, adding that they would plan all future releases near the Iron Gate Dam until its planned removal.
The CDFW claims that the incident was not related to water quality issues in the Klamath River, and downstream observations suggest that other fish populations in the river remain well. The state’s Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, previously backed the controversial proposal to dismantle four hydroelectric dams that sit along the course, a move aimed at revitalizing the region’s ecosystem. Yet, the very animals he said the new rules would now protect are facing peril down to them.
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