It is Fall. It is raining. In Washington, that means there are salmon coming up the creeks and rivers to spawn. The spawning female salmon make nests in which to lay eggs. They move their bodies and tails back and forth in the gravel to create a cone shaped hollow. They may create several in succession. The male salmon swim alongside the females as they are laying their eggs and fertilize the area.

Wildlife biologists monitor streams and count the redds (nests) to determine how successful the spawning season has been.

In Pierce County, many of us are new to the area or simply not old enough to remember seeing spawning salmon in the creeks. The Chinook released recently into Chambers and Leach Creeks from the Chambers Dam are a recent phenomenon. Wild salmon have not been allowed past the dam in at least 25 years. The hatchery usually catches them when they get past the tribal members fishing for them.

The hatchery cuts off their head and extracts the eggs which are fertilized and raised in the hatchery environment. Those fish are marked by cutting off their adipose fin before release back into the river or stream. Hatchery fish can be caught by sports fishermen. Salmon with the adipose fin, wild salmon, must be thrown back. Tribal members, in times of low returns, also adhere to this restriction to help ensure future runs.

The point here is, be careful in the creeks this year. Watch, but don’t go slogging around or chasing fish. Let them do what salmon are supposed to do and enjoy the beauty of the natural process. It is the job of each one of us to protect our amazing salmon for the future.