Unspawned Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) and Other Dead Fish

Observation by Erica Esmailka:

Dog salmon, one shee fish, one lush all dead along the river going towards the creek opening. Kenny went down to grab his hooks he lost and said the birds aren’t touching them either, and a few whole dog salmon washed ashore last night by the boat landing. It is pretty significant to have that many dead fish in our area. I saw two the night before. The next day my son went out to get hooks he lost when the water was high. He came back and told me he had seen forty fish floating, and many of them had not spawned. We went back to Kaltag River where they spawn and sure enough we saw dead dog salmon that looked healthy, like they were not ready to spawn, but they were dead.

Posted with the assistance of LEO Member Carolyn Craig.

Comments from LEO Editors:

LEO has received several observations in the past week about salmon mortalities in rivers along the western coast, possibly related to warm water temperatures from the recent high temperatures across the state.

These observations are being forwarded to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and Tanana Chiefs Conference.