Many of the approximately 830,000 juvenile salmon released into Northern California's Klamath River are believed to have died from gas bubble disease, state wildlife officials announced Monday.
This condition is caused by severe changes in air pressure. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the incident occurred while the fish was passing through a tunnel at Iron Gate Dam.
The tunnel and its namesake dam are scheduled to be removed later this year.
The agency, known as CDFW, said in a statement that the approximately 830,000 juvenile Chinook salmon are the first stocking from the Fall Creek farm, which is expected to increase the salmon population after the Klamath River weirs are fully lifted. It is a $35 million project designed to help. .
It was released on February 26th.
According to a ministry spokesperson, it is not clear how many of the approximately 830,000 fry died, but the mortality rate is said to be “high.”
The 440-mile river, which runs from Oregon through Northern California, shows no signs of water quality issues and is home to other healthy yearling coho and chinook salmon downstream from the dam, according to CDFW. It is said that there is
From now on, other releases will occur downstream until the dam and tunnel are removed, the ministry said.
The Klamath River was once the third largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast, but dams have since decimated the salmon population, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The fish deaths are “another sad reminder of how dams on the Klamath River have negatively impacted salmon runs for generations,” CDFW said.
