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Lake Sammamish Kokanee Salmon recovery – From early March to late June members of our chapter trap, count and release Kokanee Salmon fry as they return to Lake Sammamish. Starting at sunset on Lewis, Laughing Jacobs and Ebright creeks the volunteers lower traps into the streams so that a majority of the water in the streams flows through the trap. The Kokanee fry are caught in a catch basin. Every hour the traps are cranked out of the water and the fry are counted. They are the size of a small pine needle with eyes which makes it very delicate work to get an accurate count without damaging the fish. At least three cycles are repeated to get the most accurate counts. In between the counting times, the volunteers get to sit on the shores of Lake Sammamish and enjoy other wildlife that inhabit the lake like heron, otters, a variety of species of ducks and even the occasional beaver.
The work to recover the Kokanee is much larger than just our TU group. The Kokanee Work Group (KWG) is an ad hoc collaborative group formed in 2007 to identify the causes for the decline of native kokanee in Lake Sammamish and the key actions to turn around that decline, and then foster implementation of those actions. The goals of the KWG encompass returning the kokanee population to robust health and ultimately re-establishing a fishery for kokanee on the lake. The KWG membership includes watershed residents, each of the five local jurisdictions in the Lake Sammamish watershed, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Parks, the Snoqualmie Tribe, Trout Unlimited, Friends of Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, Save Lake Sammamish, Friends of Pine Lake, and additional stakeholders. http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animals-and-plants/salmon-and-trout/kokanee/kokanee-workgroup.aspx
Project Healing Waters – Giving back is not limited to fish. Our chapter sponsors a fish out for veterans through the Project Healing Waters initiative. https://www.projecthealingwaters.org/ This year’s event will be held on April 16th. We are in need of volunteers with boats so that we can get all the veterans out on the water. Last year we had 11 boats and 24 veterans. Everyone caught fish. The Daughters of the American Revolution provided donuts, coffee and goody bags for all the vets. Our chapter provide a barbeque lunch, dry flies for all the participants and lots of encouragement. It was a great time and we are looking forward to this year’s event. |