Thank efforts over the years for salmon show

THE OLYMPIAN | • Published September 04, 2009

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Little kids cry out with squeaky voices and gasp at the big fish.

Adults lean against the steel railing and gaze at silvery chinook salmon swimming in swirling schools and smile.

And, once again, a metal platform that overlooks where Capitol Lake flows into Budd Inlet is one of the best places in western Washington to see the centuries-old life cycle of the chinook salmon.

But, strangely enough, this marvelous spectacle is mostly the creation of humans.

Schools of big chinook salmon haven’t always returned to Capitol Lake and South Sound’s own Deschutes River.

The Deschutes River’s big falls – which still thunder away at Tumwater Falls Park – blocked any natural runs of chinook salmon for centuries.

Coho salmon and steelhead had the speed – and lighter weight – to jump the falls, but the thicker, heavier chinook couldn’t make the leap.

That all changed in 1953 and 1954, when the state Department of Fisheries – now the Department of Fish and Wildlife – built the fish ladder at Tumwater Falls.

The fish ladder, a series of staircasing concrete boxes that help fish climb the falls, made it possible to introduce chinook salmon to the Deschutes River. A fish hatchery was built at the top of the falls, and humans created a run of chinook salmon.

The amazing thing is this all happened at a time when humans were busily spending billions of dollars to build dams and damage wild salmon runs throughout the Northwest.

But South Puget Sound has a long tradition of working for salmon.

Activists saved the Nisqually Delta, now being restored into a salmon-friendly saltwater estuary, from development decades ago.

Present-day groups – such as Stream Team and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group – keep fighting for salmon.

If you go to the Fifth Avenue Bridge during the next few weeks, there’s a good chance you’ll meet a Stream Team volunteer. These good people stand on the bridge for hours, in all weather, to explain the salmon life cycle to anyone who will listen.

Lots of South Puget Sound kids got their first salmon sighting – and lesson – on that big steel platform that overlooks where the Deschutes River finally flows into Puget Sound. A good number of people, of all ages, learn a lot when they see a 15-pound chinook salmon swim below Fifth Avenue, churn through the fish ladder at Tumwater Falls Park or gouge a nest out of river gravel.

They see that these fish – still worshipped by the tribes – are among the most magnificent creatures on the planet.

They go to the Pacific Ocean as tiny fish, survive for several years in the rough, cold, rich waters of the northern waters and then come back home.

Fewer than 5 percent of the salmon that were born in river gravel or a hatchery make it back to spawn. These fish are so tough – and as stubborn as we humans.

Give the salmon a chance – in the form of free-flowing rivers, a clean Puget Sound and ocean – and they will come roaring back.

This year, about 10,700 chinook are expected to rumble into Capitol Lake, run up the fish ladder – although you’ll see a few stubborn fish trying over and over again to leap the falls – and go into the fish hatchery.

A few chinook pass through the hatchery and spawn in the Deschutes River. It’s easy to find the big fish rototilling gravel nests at Pioneer Park.

Some anglers fish for the spawning salmon, but these fish are ravaged from their long journey, mating, producing eggs and milt and gouging into riverbottom gravel to create redds.

It’s best to leave spawning fish alone and just enjoy the timeless spectacle that humans had a big part in creating.

Chester Allen: 360-754-4226

callen@theolympian.com

If you go

Right now: The Deschutes River at Tumwater’s Pioneer Park. Just walk along the river – stay away from spots where the steep bank is eroding – and look for big fish. It’s best to stay low and move slowly – then the fish won’t spook. For more information, visit www.streamteam.info.

In November: Thousands of chum salmon return to Kennedy Creek in November, and the public can see the cycle of life and death at the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail. The trail is usually open on November weekends, the Friday after Thanksgiving and Veteran’s Day. Taylor Shellfish Farms owns the land and has allowed conservationists to create a trail to see the salmon. For more information, visit www.spsseg.org.