End of an Era

Took a walk today with a friend to the fishery ponds at the U of Washington. The rather slim coho salmon run is returning now. These fish have come back from the Pacific ocean through the locks and Lake Union to the pond where they were released. They are collected from this pool and killed by this guy and then taken inside to recover the eggs which will grow and be put out in the pond nearby in the spring (with nets over the top to attempt to discourage the herons.) We talked with a gal whose project was testing some environmental pesticides and she was looking for more of her test fish from 3 years ago. But in a few years the whole facility will be closed (budget cuts!) so no more salmon will be released here. This is a real shame - it's been such a steady welcome educational sight and the salmon keep losing more natural streams in which to spawn.