There was a "large mortality" of the salmon fry when they went through a tunnel in a dam in the Klamath River owing to "gas bubble disease." This disease caused the salmon fry to die in significant numbers.
Officials from the state wildlife department announced on Monday that they believe a significant percentage of the about 830,000 salmon fry that were discharged into the Klamath River in Northern California have perished as a result of gas bubble sickness.
A sudden and significant shift in pressure is the root cause of the illness. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the incident took place when the fish were traveling through the tunnel of the Iron Gate Dam.
Approximately 830,000 Chinook salmon fry were the first to be released from the Fall Creek Fish Hatchery, which was a $35 million operation aimed to support salmon populations in the Klamath River after it is completely undammed, according to the wildlife agency.
As of February 26th, the fish were released.It is unclear how many of the approximately 830,000 fry that were killed, according to a representative for the department; nonetheless, the phenomenon is being referred to as a "high mortality rate."
In addition, there are other healthy yearling coho and Chinook salmon that came from downstream from the dam, and there is no sign that there are any concerns with the water quality in the river, which is almost 270 miles long and goes from Oregon to Northern California.
Any more releases will be carried out downstream of it, according to the agency, beginning today and continuing until the dam and the tunnel are dismantled permanently.
The Klamath River was originally the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast; however, dams have contributed to the drop in salmon production since that time, as stated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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