West Linn Green Team Students Toss Salmon Carcasses

For three Saturdays this fall volunteers from West Linn High School have been working with SOLV, the Clackamas River Basin Council and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to place salmon carcasses in the upper Clackamas River. Since salmon population numbers have declined dramatically over the years, this will provide a nutrient boost to help the current salmon population thrive. Historically, plenty of wild fish returned to these streams to spawn and die, recycling nutrients into the aquatic ecosystem. Juvenile fish feed on insects and invertebrates that are nourished by the fish carcasses and some may also feed directly on the carcasses. In the Portland area, much of the salmon in our rivers and streams are hatchery fish. Every November, these salmon return to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife hatcheries, and the nutrients their carcasses would provide are missing from our upper watersheds - unless we add them back in!. The addition of the hatchery salmon carcasses to the Clackamas River mimics this natural process.

“Tossing salmon carcasses into the watershed is beneficial because they provide valuable nutrients for the stream and a food source for aquatic and terrestrial creatures,” says Becki Walker from the Clackamas River Basin Council. “Though carcass tossing may be slimy and smelly at times, a great ‘side effect’ of this project is that more students and community members are exposed to natural beauty of this area.”

The majority of the volunteers participating in these “Fish Tosses” have been from SOLV’s West Linn High School Green Team. SOLV’s Green Team is a service-learning program that guides high school and middle school science classes through stream restoration projects. West Linn Green Team students have been working with SOLV throughout the school year to remove invasive plants and replace them with native trees and shrubs, sample for macroinvertebrates and install stream bioengineering at Abernethy Creek in Oregon City. “Through this salmon toss experience students learn more about the salmon life cycle and why their restoration work at Abernethy Creek is vital to enhancing habitat for the small salmon population it supports and hopefully one day even more salmon will return to Abernethy Creek,” says Meghan Ballard, SOLV’s Green Team Program Specialist.

Thank you to West Linn High School students!!