Here’s what state Fish and Wildlife says about 2021 Nooksack salmon runs
Forecasts for this year’s salmon runs show a doubling of spring chinook in the Nooksack River, giving room for hope even though the species remains threatened across the Puget Sound region, according to fisheries managers and environmental officials.
Projected runs for 2021 show 7,540 spring chinook returning to the north fork of the Nooksack River, almost double the 3,949 fish that returned in 2020, according to Fish and Wildlife data published in late February.
Numbers were similar for the Nooksack’s south fork, with a forecast of 7,248 spring chinook in 2021 against 3,619 fish that returned in 2020.
Those were almost all hatchery fish, said Chad Herring, a salmon policy analyst for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“This is a pretty decent increase from last year’s forecast,” Herring said. “(But) over the last 20 years, Puget Sound chinook continue to decline.”
Puget Sound chinook, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, are the primary food of the Salish Sea’s endangered orcas, called southern resident killer whales.
“It’s a good sign whenever we see an increase in the forecast of fish,” said Rachel Vasak, executive director of the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association.
NSEA focuses on habitat restoration and salmon education in Whatcom County.
“All the salmon are important, but historically the chinook are the most important” because they are spiritually significant to the Salish Sea’s native people, Vasak said.
“Let’s celebrate the incremental success but not forget that we still have a long way to go.,” she said.
Meanwhile, state officials and tribal governments are discussing what the forecast numbers mean this year for Native American, commercial and sport fishers.
A federal court ruled in 1974 that historic treaties give half of the annual catch to the tribes.
Officials with Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe weren’t immediately available to discuss the salmon forecasts, but tribal officials are part of the forecasting process, Herring said.
Forecasts issued Feb. 26 cover likely returns of chinook, coho, sockeye, pink, and chum salmon in Puget Sound, the Columbia River, and the Washington coast.
These figures will help state and tribal fisheries manager decide how many fish of each species can be caught, Herring said.
Pink salmon return to Puget Sound in odd-numbered years, and more than 2.9 million wild pinks are expected in 2021, similar to the 2019 run.
Some 240,000 pinks were forecast for the Nooksack River.
Fisheries managers expect there will be a fishing season for pinks, according to the forecast report.
But a low return of chum isn’t expected to allow fishing, said Kyle Adicks, intergovernmental salmon manager for Fish & Wildlife.
A fall chum run of 27,674 fish was forecast for the Nooksack.
But coho salmon were expected to see an increase across the Puget Sound, with the figure at 80,066 in 2021 for the Nooksack, up from 49,203 in 2020.
