SALMONIDS, 3

1
ABSTRACT 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.

• LOST RIVER and SHORTNOSE SUCKER, (3)
• 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

Figure 6, Shortnose Sucker, Live up to 33 years

• Figure 5, Lost River Sucker, Live up to 43 years

• 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
http//www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/es/card.htm
http//www.watershed-watch.org/ww/Photos/eulachon1
.htm

• CONCLUSION
• 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
  over-fishing 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

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. 2 Lackey, Robert T. 2000. Restoring wild
salmon to the Pacific Northwest chasing and
illusion? In What We Dont 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 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.

• 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

Figure 4, Evidence of upstream distribution of
anadromous fish in Klamath River and tributaries,
from (Hamilton)