![]() The entire ecosystem benefited, right along with the fish, from this food source.Īnyone that’s really immersed themselves in the issue of season-setting has a certain appreciation for the science that’s applied and the difficulty in managing these fisheries…starting with a crystal ball. ![]() ![]() Research showed that marine isotopes from these carcasses could be found in the surrounding flora and wildlife. In places like Alaska where rivers freeze over in the winter time, the only significant food source is the flesh that’s shed from the decomposing salmon carcasses after the spawn. It was the first-ever project of its kind in Oregon. Years ago, I was involved in a pilot project to plant salmon carcasses in tributaries of Eagle Creek in the Clackamas basin. A month later the price will level off at $50 a pound for a fresh fillet and $100 a pound if it’s smoked…but good luck finding any commercially-available smoked springer, that’s a rarity unless you sportfish. If you could find them in the store they’ll be as much as $60 or $70 a pound. Still it’s a bodacious last supper and probably the reason these early Springers are so delicious and command such a high market price. It’s the last picnic they’ll enjoy before the rush of freshwater shuts down their urge to feed. They are little fat-bombs with fins, oily and surely a treat for early returning spring chinook. Smelt enter the river late in January, through February and into March. One of the distinct high points for a Columbia Basin spring chinook is their run timing matches up nicely with the return of Columbia River smelt. If the predators, dams and environmental conditions don’t do them in, the spawn will. They all die when they return from the ocean. That’s another trait common to all salmon.
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