Climate Change Effect on the Capitol Lake Dam Salmon

Just below the Tumwater Falls leading to Capitol Lake.

NO FISHING 2016 Season!!!

Salmon can be observed from the Capitol Lake Dam during their annual return to the local rivers for breeding season. Washington State has implemented ways of protecting wild fish populations through the use of hatcheries where scientists breed fish and return the young fry (baby fish) to the rivers and lakes. The adipose fin is cut off to help anglers identify wild species versus hatchery species, thereby helping keep the wild population numbers protected from overfishing. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) started one such hatchery at Percival Cove in 1971. Percival Cove sits to the west of Capitol Lake, southeast of Marathon Park. Salmon coming through Budd Bay Inlet, and up the fish ladder of the Capitol Lake Dam, have the choice of going into Percival Cove or through Tumwater, up the falls and into the Deschutes River. WDFW stopped using the site in 2007.

All this effort to no avail. The number of salmon returning has been declining for certain species due to warming ocean temperatures. The Northwest Fisheries Science Center states the warmer water has possibly led to poor feeding conditions for the salmon, thereby affecting their population. As a result, WDFW temporarily closed the Puget Sound-area to recreational fishing.

Nick Bond is the Washington State Climatologist and senior research scientist with the Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) of the University of Washington (UW).  Bond published his findings in June of 2014 about a warm “blob” in the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast of Alaska, America, and Northern Mexico. Some scientists state that the blob is not a part of climate change, but rather a result of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) leading to warmer El Niño conditions. That sounds to me like global warming, therefore warmer water, but I am no scientist so who am I to say.

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The Blob off the coast of Washington and Oregon (states coast outline seen on right side)

The PDO cycle. The left is the cold cycle, the right is the warm which we are currently experiencing. The American continent can be seen in the upper right side of each globe.