Cache Valley salmon studied by students
Members of USU’s chapter of the American Fisheries Society, AFS, visited Porcupine Reservoir on Sept. 25 to observe the Kokanee Salmon run.
“Lots of people don’t know that there are salmon right here in Cache Valley,” said Christy Meredith, Ph.D student in ecology and AFS president. Kokanee salmon are the same species as sockeye salmon but are a landlocked population, she said. The Cache Valley salmon spend most of their lives in the reservoir then swim up small streams to lay their eggs, she said.
Five students accompanied by Watershed Science Department Head Chris Luecke met Ben Nadolski of the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources, UDWR. at the reservoir Thursday afternoon. After a brief lesson in the natural history of the reservoir they caught a male and a female and watched the peculiar fish in the stream. When the fish are four years old, both males and females develop a bright red coloration. The males grow a pronounced hump and their bottom jaw protrudes and hooks into what is called a kipe. They stop feeding and migrate upstream to the same gravel bed where they were spawned. The salmon devote all of their energy to reproduction, neglecting other normal bodily functions, Meridith said.
“Once they start to spawn you don’t want to fish for them anymore, they start to deteriorate and their flesh turns to mush,” Meridith said.
After the fish have spawned, they die, providing an important nutrient source for vegetation around the stream and insects and algae in the stream.
“Seeing the salmon spawning up here in Cache Valley was a slight surprise because I didn’t truly comprehend just how close they were to Utah State,” said Kara Taylor, freshman in fisheries and aquatic sciences and co-secretary in USU’s AFS chapter.
Porcupine Reservoir is located east of Avon, in the south end of the valley, about 30 minutes from USU. This year’s run recorded record numbers, Meredith said.
“This year over 12,000 salmon ran, more than ever before,” she said.
But all is not well at Porcupine. Even with this fall’s record run, last week the Utah Department of Health issued a warning that brown trout from Porcupine contained unsafe levels of mercury. Adults are recommended to limit their consumption to one 8-ounce meal per month and pregnant women are advised not to eat trout from the reservoir at all.
“The fish represent the overall health of the watershed,” Meredith said.
The source of the mercury contamination isn’t yet known, she said.
However, she said, having the salmon run so close to USU is an unusual opportunity for students.
“I know it’s cliche, but I see nature as unpremeditated art, it’s just there,” Meredith said. “Sometimes as students we get wrapped up in our lives and miss out on this whole world going on around us. We’re lucky here in Logan because we have lots of access to nature and are pretty connected to it.”
The next AFS activity will be a fly-fishing workshop given by Devin Olsen at Third Dam up Logan Canyon, Oct. 10 at 4:30 p.m. For more information, contact Christy Meredith at usuafs@gmail.com.
–ben.abbo@aggiemail.usu.edu