Chum salmon appear to be having a boom year in the northwest. Numerous runs from Puget Sound to the Columbia River have seen near-record returns already, more than a week before the season usually peaks.
At Carkeek Park in North Seattle, a chum salmon run on Pipers Creek that was revived in the 1980s is a case in point. A community group started the efforts in the watershed and got help from the Suquamish Tribe, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Seattle Public Utilities.
The chum returning to the park on Wednesday were fighting each other for space in the water as they forged toward the hatchery, males lunging for females and females using their strong tails to dig nests in the gravel, where they lay their eggs.
There were lots of fallen branches and a constant whirr of chainsaws in the park – cleanup after the bomb cyclone that hit the region. But that didn’t stop dozens of families from coming out to see the big surge of chum salmon that were still fighting their way up Pipers Creek; some spawned out and lying lifeless along the shoreline.
“I see a dead salmon!” rang out the voice of an excited young boy, here with his dad and sister, who worked together to identify male and female fish by their shapes and markings.
Andrew Bradburn brought his kids here, including his second-grader Emma, who’s been learning about salmon all year in school at Thornton Creek Elementary.
“They’re really cool because they have teeth on their tongue,” Emma exclaimed.
“They're really cool creatures. They can go to salt water and fresh water!”
Bradburn said he’s grateful for all the restoration work that community groups have done here for decades. And he said it’s especially amazing to see this run right through an urban park.
Favorable ocean conditions likely boosting this year’s runs
David Koon is the director of salmon programs for the Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project, which counts the fish as they come in.
“We already know we’re more than double the biggest year,” Koon said. That was in 2022, when they counted 975 chum for the entire season. This year, they’ve already counted nearly 2,000, and they’re still counting.
Along with the numbers, he said the health of the fish is impressive.
“We’re seeing some really good, big, healthy fish. Maybe not quite as big as a decade or two ago, but still quite good - and healthier than I've seen in many years,” Koon said.
He said that, along with the reports of booming chum returns all around the region, including British Columbia, point to good ocean conditions, providing cool water and plenty of food.
While all of this is impressive and exciting, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said it’s still too early to draw big conclusions. Some Puget Sound chum runs have already slowed down and the peak of the fall chum runs usually comes around Thanksgiving. So in some cases, the run might have just come in early.
Two of Carkeek’s lowest runs in recent history happened just two years ago, with only 190 fish returning in 2020 and 54 in 2019. The dynamics of salmon returns remain somewhat mysterious, with ocean conditions creating the biggest variables.
Joy for salmon extends to orcas
Some of the regulars at the park remember the down years too and were especially excited to see this year’s boom.
George and Pat Smith brought their grandson to see dozens of the foot-and-a-half-long fish pushing their way upstream.
“It's wonderful to see all these fish coming back!” enthused George.
He said watching them is inspiring.
“These animals, who are so determined, struggling to survive and get up and lay their eggs -- that's a good lesson for life.”
Pat said it also gives her hope for the Puget Sound’s critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales. As of early November, their population is estimated to be down to 72 whales.
“Because I think there are a lot more orcas in the sound this year than have been in recent years, and I think it's because of the bumper crop of the fish. They seem to be hanging around a lot longer,” she said.
Federal scientists at NOAA Fisheries have used DNA analysis of orca feces to confirm that chum salmon comprise nearly a third of southern resident orcas’ diets from October to January – second only to Chinook salmon as the highly endangered whales’ preferred prey.
If you want to see the fish, the record-breaking run at Carkeek Park is slowing down, but is expected to continue through this weekend. Puget Sound’s fall chum runs usually peak around Thanksgiving.
