Endangered cold water fish are appearing leaps and bounds ahead of where they were in the past five decades thanks to efforts by one Northern California region to restart local salmon runs.
From the Pacific Ocean to 20 miles up Alameda Creek, the endangered red chinook salmon have made it farther than in any season since the 1950s, according to the Alameda Creek Alliance.
Once native to the stream, the salmon have been unable to reach the upper portion of the 45-mile waterway because of concrete barriers and other infrastructure blocking their path. Salmon populations are down 60% since tracking began in 1984, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
"It's epic," Jeff Miller, director of the nonprofit alliance, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "... It's going to be a really interesting change and enhancement for a lot of wildlife but also for the public."
Over the last three decades, the Alameda County water and flood control agencies, backed by environmental groups, have completed restoration projects to encourage fish migration. They removed small dams and built fish ladders to help trout and salmon travel upstream.
Pacific salmon, guided by smell and magnetic cues, swim upstream to return to hatcheries so they can lay eggs and ensure the survival of their offspring — a process called anadromy. Freshwater offers safer, oxygen-rich gravel beds for eggs and young fish.
Beyond tribal and commercial benefits, the returning fish benefit the wider ecosystem by providing predators and scavengers such as bears, orcas, and birds with food. They also transport marine nutrients inland and boost forests when their decomposing bodies enrich streams and support vegetation growth. Chinook salmon, endangered in Northern California, are an example of a keystone species that plays an outsize role in both marine and freshwater ecosystems.
"I think of salmon as kind of the soul of our rivers," Miller said. "My hope is that these fish will get people to really care about the stream and the watershed."
For many locals and supporters of the creek restoration, it was difficult to watch the fish try to jump over dams and concrete barriers.
But now, "they can make their way upstream to their home," Dan Sarka, a photographer and Alameda Creek Alliance volunteer, told the Chronicle. "It's just marvelous. It really is."
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