|
Kokanee Project
Lewis Creek Kokanee - Photo by Bill Priest, King
CountyLake
Sammamish Kokanee
After taking a look around at all of our local
waters, we have come to the conclusion that the fish needing the most
help are the Lake Sammamish Kokanee. Their numbers have dropped to
dangerously low levels in the last 2 decades, with the early run
declared officially extirpated in 2001. Spawning in only a handful of
tributaries, thee late run has dropped to less than 5000 fish in a
given year. We have a lot of habitat and monitoring work ahead of us
starting with Lewis Creek. In partnership with Save Lake Sammamish, the
City of Issaquah, King County, and the Washington Dept. of Fish
Wildlife, we will do everything we can to bring our fish back from the
edge of extinction. To make this work we need your help. Whether it be
grant writing, rock rolling, stream monitoring, project management,
media exposure, community outreach or a cash donation a team effort
will be required.
Good
News - USFWS has decided to consider Lake Sammamish Kokanee for
protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Read
here ...
One of the first steps in getting this project
started was to install the fish trap to catch the outmigrating
fry. Here's a video of the trap being
installed in Lewis Creek -
Installing Kokanee fry trap
in Lewis Creek (5.4Mb)
Final Report on
Lake Sammamish Project
The Lake Sammamish kokanee are one of the last
truly native salmonids left in the Lake Washington/Sammamish basin.
These kokanee are unique to Lake Sammamish and are currently at great
risk due to habitat loss and worsening environmental conditions. They
currently spawn in just a handful of streams in central/south Lake
Sammamish including Lewis, Laughing Jacob, Ebright, and Pine Lake
Creeks. The early run of these fish ran up Issaquah Creek, but was
officially declared extinct in 2003. These are among the latest running
of salmons, appearing in late November and running well into January.
The Bellevue/Issaquah Chapter of Trout Unlimited,
in partnership with Boy Scout Eagle Scout candidate Colin Wick, Troop
677, Save Lake Sammamish, the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife and the City of Issaquah have just completed the first ever
survey of out migrating Lake Sammamish late run kokanee on Lewis Creek,
a tributary of Lake Sammamish. This project spanned over 2 months and
took up well over 500 hours of volunteer time. The baseline data
collected will be used to assess the number of fry in the system, the
timing of their run, and 4 years from now, percent that survived to
return to spawn. It is critical information if we are to save this
special fish.We plan on expanding this program to other spawning
streams in the basin.
< p>
|
