Rotten Enrichment

Sun., Dec. 24, 2000

Staff Reports

Environment

About 2,000 fall chinook salmon carcasses weighing about 13.5 tons were distributed in the tributaries of the upper Naches River northwest of Yakima last week to enrich the waters with nutrients needed by young salmon.

The fish came from the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department’s Priest Rapids Hatchery where they were used for egg and sperm collection for fish production. Hatchery crews stored the fish carcasses in freezers and arranged for the Washington State University pathology lab to test and certify them disease free.

This is the third consecutive year for the project.

Northwest ecosystems evolved with salmonids transporting nutrients from the marine environment to the freshwater systems, researchers have learned. Salmon carcasses provide a significant amount of the nutrients which feed stream life.

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