New Program To Recycle Hatchery Salmon Carcasses Into Oregon's Coastal Rivers
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon marine program is being billed as "stream enrichment," but it's a lot smellier than it sounds.
That's because the program really comes down to dumping hundreds of excess hatchery fish carcasses into tributaries. It's a conservation program billed as a way to make up for the loss of marine-derived nutrients that get flushed from West Coast streams.
Fish biologist Chuck Fustish calls it the "no muss, no fuss method," and studies show carcass placement can put nutrients into streams that were absorbed by salmon in the ocean and carried inland during their spawning runs.
"We're giving the whole ecosystem a boost in nutrients," Fustish said. "It will provide ocean nutrients in fish that would have been here normally. And it's a lot more of a beneficial use than sending them to the landfill." Cole River Hatchery workers are keeping thousands of extra salmon and steelhead carcasses this year, including thousands that would have gone to landfills in other years.
EDIT
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Salmon-carcasses-recycled-as-nutrients-for-streams-4265689.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
Im not sure there will be enough dead salmon to make a major difference at first since the numbers are so low and the rivers are long. Where I live we get the same amount of salmon on 4-5 miles of river, and we still redistribute the carcasses. Here is how fall looks (and smells):
