EUREKA, CALIF. - Thousands of chinook salmon died in 2002 because of low water flows in the Klamath River, according to a preliminary U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report. The draft report, obtained by the Eureka Times-Standard Tuesday, said "decreased discharge" delayed migration of the salmon, which died from disease in the crowded lower river in September 2002.
The executive summary, written in the spring before it was sent to Washington, D.C. to be vetted, said factors that led to the deaths of 34,000 salmon trace back to the delayed migration.
The fish kill claimed about one-fifth the total salmon run, which the report said was exceptionally large in relation to flows.
The California Department of Fish and Game came to similar conclusions after its investigation.
Fish were present in the lower river earlier than usual, allowing diseases more time to proliferate before the fish moved upstream, according to the report.
It's unlikely the fish kill was a result of bad water quality, it said.
The unfinished report was not considered in the National Research Council's final Klamath River report, and the council said it was uncertain that low flows led to the die-off. The council's report was released Tuesday.
Peter Moyle, one of the scientists who wrote the research council report, said one reason the council's report took so long to be released was scientists were waiting for the Fish and Wildlife report, which they never received.
While the data on the fish kill is scant, it would have helped the council in drafting its conclusions, he said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
source: http://www.katu.com/printstory.asp?ID=61790 29oct03
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