Three Rivers Trout Unlimited - October 2024 Newsletter
Written with support from Austin Elliott, Natasha Kacoroski, Dave Kyle, and Rebecca Lavier
Three Rivers Trout Unlimited Member Wayne Lamm going into Ebright Creek to assist with kokanee fry release. Photo provided by Natasha Kacoroski.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, November 5th, 6:00 to 8:00 PM: Three Rivers Trout Unlimited Board Meeting
Join us for our November board meeting to learn more about chapter operations, leadership opportunities, and how to get involved. All are welcome, however, please keep in mind that this is a working meeting and not a social event. Attend in-person at the Watershed Science Center on the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (125 West Sunset Way, Issaquah WA, 98027) or virtual via this Google Meet link.Saturday, November 9th, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM: Stewardship Saturday with Trout Unlimited
Join Trout Unlimited and Green Issaquah for Stewardship Saturday at the Anthology Open Space. This month the goal is to plant native vegetation and dig out invasive blackberry root balls in the wetland area along a section of Tibbetts Creek. Learn more and register here.Wednesday, November 13th, 6:30 - 8:30 PM: Three Rivers Trout Unlimited November Social
Bring your family and friends for a chapter social at the VFW Post 2995 in Redmond (4330 148th Ave NE, Redmond, 98052). Connect with each other during the first hour and listen to a couple presentations for the next. We have a Lake Sammamish Kokanee Update by Trout Unlimited’s Lake Washington Basin Program Manager Dave Kyle, and Salmon and Searun Cutthroat Fishing by Miriam Leino and Lucas Martinez from Seattle Orvis. Food and beverages are available for purchase from the VFW Club menu.
Kokanee fry released into Ebright Creek. Photo provided by Dave Kyle.
Kokanee Fry Release Recap
As part of the supplementation program to recover the Lake Sammamish kokanee, juvenile salmon were released into Lake Sammamish directly from boats on October 17th and via Ebright Creek on October 24th. This extended rearing strategy is one of many implemented by the Kokanee Work Group 5 years ago when it was evident that the existing hatchery program was not resulting in increased returns. The idea is that raising the fish a little longer in a more protected environment helps to mitigate the mortality impacts from predators and the high temperature dissolved oxygen squeeze in the lake over the summer. Kokanee need to be close enough to the lake surface where there is enough dissolved oxygen in the water for them to breathe, but deep enough where water temperature is cold. During the summer, this sweet spot in the lake where the water is cold enough and has enough dissolved oxygen is squeezed and sometimes disappears due to hot weather.
A portion of the eggs taken for the kokanee supplementation program are hatched at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and raised until they are sufficiently large to put in the pond on Ebright Creek. A bigger portion are reared at the hatchery as well, and then released on Lewis Creek. These fish are reared until they are approximately 1 year old and released to the wild when the lake de-stratifies and the high temperature dissolved oxygen squeeze breaks up. The fish are also much larger than fry and are less susceptible to predatory fish. All hatchery fish are thermally marked, and the extended rearing strategy has been more successful than other strategies. That being said, fish raised in the remote stream incubators are producing returns, so that remains an important strategy for increasing and recolonizing streams with a historical kokanee run. This year was a record-high release of around 12,000 fish released into Lake Sammamish with the Ebright Creek release at close to 4,000. For more information and pictures on the release, check out King County’s Kokanee salmon recovery partners release record-high number of young fish into Lake Sammamish while new research shows a potentially faster path toward stabilization article here.
Three Rivers Trout Unlimited Table at Salmon Days. Photo provided by Rebecca Lavier.
Salmon Days Recap
Salmon Days was a huge success. Over the course of 2 days, 12 volunteers from 3RTU and the community helped with set-up, talking with visitors, and cleanup. A big thanks to everyone that volunteered at our TU booth and spoke with visitors about what we're all about! We engaged many people throughout both days, and out of those, 34 signed up to learn more about volunteering, events, kokanee conservation, and watershed health. The weather was perfect, the company was great, and if you didn't make it to Salmon Days this year, we encourage you to come visit our booth next year, and consider volunteering!
Kokanee Run Participants. Photos provided by Austin Elliott.
Kokanee Run Recap
On a beautiful fall day on Saturday, Oct 12th, nearly one hundred runners and walkers came out to tackle the 5K and 10K course for the chapter’s 14th Run With the Kokanee at Lake Sammamish State Park. This event raises awareness of the Lake Sammamish Kokanee and raises funds for our chapter’s operations and conservation programs. The top 12 finishers in their categories took home special commemorative coffee mugs and a good time was had by participants as well as the volunteers. Sincerest thanks to our volunteer members Jennifer Klock, Scott Goddard, Kristin Wyatt, George Hankey, Denis Ransmeier, Craig Nelson, Wayne Lamm, Bruce Tyson, Laurie Gogic, and Bill Gerdts for their time and dedication. A special thank you goes out to the National Junior Honors Society of Issaquah Middle School for providing additional volunteers. The kids were a big help and we could not have done it without them. Great job everybody!
Photos provided by Imen Elloumi-Hannachi.
Kokanee Fry Monitoring Improvements Project Update
This month we kicked off the Kokanee Fry Monitoring Improvements Project with planning and project development. University of Washington Bothell (UWB) team members came down for a site visit on Lewis Creek and to view the traps in storage at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery. We also transported a trap up to the UWB campus for students to start modeling using computer aided design (CAD) software and assess existing materials with the help of creek flow and past kokanee fry trapping data.
In addition to trap work, we began building a volunteer engagement and training strategy for the 2025 season. It would be helpful to have photos of fish or volunteering from past kokanee fry monitoring seasons. If you have any to share, please send to Natasha Kacoroski at natasha@threeriverstu.org. Thanks!
In December we will also start a match crowdfunding campaign for the project. If you would like to learn more or support, please reach out to natasha@threeriverstu.org. Thanks!
