Transcript No Slide Title - Western Oregon University

Fisheries and Aquatic Ecosystem of Klamath Basin
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ABSTRACT
LOST RIVER and SHORTNOSE SUCKER, (3)
Cody Hoehna
ES: 473 Environmental Geology
The Klamath Basin has a wide variety of anadromous fish. It encompasses all
species of salmon, steelhead and other trout, and two types of sucker fishes, very
important to the Klamath tribes, recreational and commercial purposes. The
Basin was once the third highest producer of commercially fished salmon and
steelhead. Today some of these fish stocks are almost depleted such as two
sucker species which live in Upper Klamath Lake, and Coho salmon who are now
an Endangered Species, (1). There are a number reasons for these declines in
fish populations, such as water loss, dams, pollution, and over fishing. The way
we deal with this economically important resource is very vital to the fisheries
survival and reaching the numbers it once did.
PACIFIC LAMPREY
• Pacific Lamprey (Figure 2, attached to
salmon) historically could have migrated
upstream past Iron Gate Dam but no
farther than Spencer creek due to
geographical barriers, (3)
http://bio.classes.ucsc.edu/bio137/images/lamplife.GIF
Figure 6, Shortnose Sucker,
Live up to 33 years
Figure 5, Lost River Sucker,
Live up to 43 years
•Sucker species’ have greater reproductive potential the older they are
• Fish kills of 1997-2001 suggest that the older suckers died
• This results in lower reproductive numbers than, than earlier years
• Harvesting of large older suckers is detrimental to the survival of the species
EULACHON, (3)
• Historically abundant in Lower
Klamath River
• Now extinct in Klamath River
Figure 7, Eulachon
GREEN STURGEON, (3)
• No Historical evidence above Iron
Gate Dam
• Current population of sturgeon in
U.K.L. are from white sturgeon
introduced
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pages/page-30
http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/staff/lackey/pubs/illusion.htm
http://www.watershed-watch.org/ww/Photos/eulachon1.htm
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/es/card.htm
Figure 8, Green Sturgeon
CONCLUSION
•
•
Figure 3, Anadromous species associated with Klamath Basin, picture from
(Lackey)
•
Figure 1, Klamath Basin map of Dams, USBR
http://rogueimc.org/en/2005/07/5035.shtml
•
INTRODUCTION
•
The Klamath Basin fishery has gone under significant changes in the past 100
years. There has been issues with water rights between various groups that
inhabit the region. What was once a thriving ecosystem for fish has gone through
major change. Specifically the Lost River Sucker and Shortnose Sucker, which
have a great deal of importance to the local Klamath Tribe, have been reduced in
numbers, to allowing the harvest of one fish per year, (1). Another species is the
Coho Salmon which have been put on the Endangered Species list in the
watershed. Other anadromous species, stated below, have been limited by the
placement of dams, (3).
•
REFERENCES CITED
1 Braunworth,
W.S., Jr., Welch, Teresa, and Hathaway, R.L., eds., 2002, Water
Allocation in the Klamath Reclamation Project, 2001-An assessment of natural
resource, economic, social, and institutional issues with a focus on the Upper
Klamath Basin: Corvallis, Oregon, Oregon State University Extension Service,
Special Report 1037, December, 2002, 401 p. View complete report Note:
supercedes Oregon State University, and the University of California, 2001.
SALMONIDS, (3)
• There is evidence of runs of Chinook and Steelhead in tributaries above Upper
Klamath Lake
• Evidence of salmon from personal accounts, photos, and records of bones
• This evidence shows runs existing above where dams are now placed
• Only 40 km above Iron Gate Dam is the farthest upriver Coho (endangered)
could have existed
• Sockeye historically may have existed in this region, at present they no longer do
•.There is no evidence of Chum above Iron Gate Dam
• Cutthroat Trout were also not present above I.G.D
• Pink Salmon historically have not been found above I.G.D.
Species seen in figure 3, pre-dam distribution seen in figure 4
Coho are endangered in the Klamath Basin, and sucker populations are low
There is significant evidence of Chinook and Steelhead historically located
above the Iron Gate Dam and in tributaries upstream of Upper Klamath Lake,
(3)
Most other anadromous species are not effected by the dams, or at least not
as limited as Chinook and Steelhead compared to historical distributions
Research suggests that the main issue for most other anadromous fish in the
basin is not so much dams but more of a water quality, quantity, and overfishing issue
This is a very complicated issue dealing with many different groups, both
federal and state agencies, tribes, agriculture, fishing industry, locals, power
companies and many others battling over water rights
There is no simple solution to the water rights problem in the basin
2
Lackey, Robert T. 2000. Restoring wild salmon to the Pacific Northwest: chasing
and illusion? In: What We Don’t Know about Pacific Northwest Fish Runs – An
Inquiry into Decision-Making. Patricia Koss and Mike Katz, Editors, Portland State
University, Portland, Oregon, pp. 91-143.
3
Figure 4, Evidence of upstream distribution of anadromous fish in Klamath
River and tributaries, from (Hamilton)
Hamilton, J.B., Curtis, G.L., Snedaker, S.M., White, D.K., April 2005, Distribution of
Anadromous Fishes in the Upper Klamath River Watershed Prior to Hydropower
Dams – A Synthesis of the Historical Evidence, Fisheries, Vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 10-20.