Fish Fling 2008

[Quixotic]

I helped out a little last year and found it fun and interesting. They need 2 PU trucks Oct 28, Oct 30 and Nov 4 and Nov 6 to help carry fish totes full of dead coho to throw back in the river. Different schools and cub scouts will help too. I have included two photo album links to last years Fish Fling and the sponsors webpage. Call or email Brian at (206) 529-9467 or brian@midsoundfisheries.org

Mid Puget Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group

Picasa Web Albums - Quixotic - FishSlinging#

Picasa Web Albums - Quixotic - Fish Sling 2 ...#

Harold

[ROCK FISH]

Yep I get the e-mails every year just never have the time....maybe this year.

[Cornfed]

So these are the dead silvers from the hatchery?

[ploughman]

That's my understanding. I haven't done this with the GH side, but have done this many times down on willapa bay. I'm on the RFEG down here and we have been doing this "nutrient enhancement" stuff for several years. The bulk of the fish are the spawned ones.

[marlyn]

can you explain the benefit of throwing dead fish in a river to us southerners?ive never heard of this.....

[Irish Rogue]

In a natural (non hatchery) environment, the adults run up the rivers, spawn, and die. The rotting carcasses are an important source of nutrients to the whole ecosystem, including of course the fry as they hatch.

So instead of trashing the carcasses, you use them as effectively "fertilizer" to try to keep the rivers healthy.

[ROCK FISH]

Originally Posted by marlyn

can you explain the benefit of throwing dead fish in a river to us southerners?ive never heard of this.....

Enhancement / Carcass Distribution

Salmon carcasses fly each year in fall as part of Mid Sound's habitat restoration program in the Green River Basin. The placement of salmon carcasses in creeks and rivers has been proven to play an important role in the nutritional enhancement of salmonoid watersheds and the restoration of salmon populations. Studies show that returning salmon transport valuable marine derived nutrients, such as phosphorous, nitrates and carbon, into the freshwater systems of the Pacific Northwest. In addition, salmon carcasses provide food for invertebrates that juvenile salmon feed on, and for other wildlife.
Fish carcasses are distributed by hand, or with the help of special fish spike tools. An adult Coho weighs in at about 4 to 8 pounds, adult Chinook at up to 18 pounds! However, hungry inhabitants of streams and creeks, such as aquatic bugs and critters, take good care that after a month, not more than the bones are left.
The Carcass Distribution Program - aka "Fish Flings" - is one of our organization's most popular volunteer events! It offers an extraordinary and different experience to its participants and is an excellent teaching tool. We fling fish each fall, starting with Chinook salmon in September, and ending with Coho in November, depending on fish availability. If you'd like to join the flinging fun, start checking our Volunteer Calendar for flinging dates in late summer. Be sure to wear old clothes and raingear, and bring a nose for stench.
To keep this project safe, Mid Sound places information signs at all distribution sites to notify the public, advising everybody to avoid decomposing fish and keep pets away from them.

[marlyn]

ill be damned,you learn something new everyday.thanks for the enlightenment guys.all those carcasses they find floating down the L.A. river must have been placed there by environmentalists.......

[goatram]

Plus the Bald Eagles need to eat also over the winter