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Re: “Inside the effort to truck sockeye salmon past Lake Washington” [Nov. 30, Local News]:
Although the recent story about Cedar River sockeye included more of the true story about this introduced species, there was one huge omission. Regardless of whether adults are conveyed around the Ballard Locks and Lake Washington, out-migrating fry and smolts still die in huge numbers. Official estimates indicate that upward of 70% of the fry (naturally spawned and released from the Cedar River Hatchery) do not make it past the locks into Puget Sound. They die in the lake, they die in the Ship Canal, and, if they are lucky enough to make it that far, they are chewed up by the barnacle encrusted locks as they try to leave.
With warming waters, increased flooding, etc., it is unlikely that this introduced run will ever get large enough again for anyone to be able to fish for them. A better use of the millions of dollars spent every year would be to support the native Chinook and coho runs, which have been recovering nicely, even as the sockeye runs collapse. Some might argue that reduced competition for limited spawning areas from hundreds of thousands of sockeye adults may actually be contributing to the recovery of native Chinook and coho.
Ralph Naess, Seattle
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