Fly Fishing For Bull Trout! Unexpected Find!!! #salmon #bulltrout #fishing

[eatwhatukiii]

They were already 💀 folks, because salmon usually 💀 after spawning. What he’s trying to say is that this was a natural yearly occurrence in these waterways back when salmon were flourishing, so the stream received this heavy dose of nutrients (and invertebrates younger fish eat would have in turn had abundant food to thrive on, thus boosting their own numbers). Since wild salmon numbers have dwindled so low the stream is no longer receiving this yearly boost of nutrients, so this hatchery deposits their breeder salmon after they pass away…instead of tossing them in a garbage heap to be composted.

Hopefully this pays off in helping wild salmon offspring to boost their population.

[amymanoharan]

For those that don't understand: salmon die after they return where they were born and spawn. This is natural AND good for the environment. They are supposed to be there

[okanaganhunk]

That’s the natural life cycle of salmon. They die after spawning.

[Your_Future_Overlord]

Took me a second to realize this was a loop and not just an endless chain of dead salmon in every stream.

[petesahad]

I watched a documentary once about the salnon runs in Alaska and how they impact the whole region. The nitrogen from the salmon is found in trees and bushes miles away from the rivers where they fertilize the land through the droppings of eagles, bears and other predators and the rotting carcasses left behind. Fascinating stuff.

[PaulRudd]

This just unlocked an early memory of a school trip I had in the early 2000s. Our teacher took us to a salmon hatchery! We saw all sorts of dead salmon in the river. I remember one of the employees told us that wolves would eat only a small part of the salmon, and that it was perfect for bears since they were bulking up for hibernation. Thanks for reminding me of that school trip all those decades ago!

[bethanysmith]

One of the rare times when dumping waste is a good thing.

[harryfp]

Great for ammonia and nitrate and nitrite . All very good for the plants and micro fauna . Also they grow a great biofilm that’s also good for everthing

[davidbrewer]

This is actually not a case of disposed salmon from farms. Its actually the effect of the Hash Slinging Slasher.

[ladyofthemasque]

You have to ALSO remember that the forests on either side of a salmon spawning waterway (river, stream, etc) often had salmon carcasses for quite a disance, too. Why? Because bears would catch the salmon in the whitewater sections, carry them onto land to eat them, and often had to carry them a ways into the woods to avoid other, lazier bears trying to steal their catches from them.

Eagles would catch salmon and carry them to land to eat, but also would carry them up into the trees, letting bits rain down onto the forest floor. (Or get stuck on branches halfway up; the forests could get a bit whiffy during spawning season--also, if you're hunting bear, the bear will taste like whatever it eats, so try to bag a bear during berry season, no fish season.)


Foxes, coyotes, crows, hawks, martens, wolverines, etc, etc, etc would also dart in to grab a fallen bit of fish, then race off into the forests to eat it within the safety of the bushes, etc. Fish bits would wind up everywhere as a result.

Why am I mentioning this? Because those carcasses delivered vital nutrients to the soil for quite some distance outside of the waterways, enriching the landscape immeasurably.

There has been a palpable difference noticed in the quality of the forests alongside salmon waterways that were cut off from spawning by a dam downstream. Building in decent spawning ladders, removing dams, these things restore health not only to the river and the embankment areas, but will add nutrients to the soil for a hundred yards/meters or more into the lands around them.


...In short, these hatcheries need to be chucking some of those expired spawners into the bushes on either side, too. Maybe use one of those teeshirt cannon things to get a good bit of distance.

[marshmallowlemons]

you know a bear or bobcat was FEASTING after running into this 😄

[Guyman-tqlt]

From the stream to the ring to the pen to the king

[andrewjohnson]

Love practices like this. People like this need to make this industry standard, how can we give back into nature to continue the cycle

[rickybaker]

Used to do coho carcass tossing when I was young. Local chapter of Trout Unlimited did it every spring. Lots of fun chuckin chunks of dead salmon into holes knowing it would help out the local ecological system!

[gamerplays]

For us idiots that took a while: By spawning he meant laying eggs/fertilizing them. And not spawning to existence in the world.

[fakeoutrage-mhpu]

I use to live in an area that had a good salmon run. Years of poaching is what did it in. Salmon stop eating soon after they start their way up stream and most won't even take a bait so they're almost impossible to catch legally. People would put on multiple treble hooks and rip them through the water to foul hook them. 15 years later the salmon run was a fraction of what it was there. It's getting a little bit better but now game wardens patrol the area when the salmon run starts.

[PokeKidgeco]

Yes this is normal and very crucial to the environment! They are the bloodline to ecosystems nearby, especially places like Alaska and Washington. There is a river i used to live near by and will see them swim up already falling apart but still pushing to spawn. So if you are at a salmon spawning river and see alot of dead salmon, it's a good sign that they made it and repopulate for the next run!

[ALL_CAPS_]

Damn, imagine living your whole life just to battle up a stream, avoiding getting eaten by bigger predators all just to die after busting a that's the life, lol

[alexisleonard]

It's called nutrient enhancement. Its not necessarily for streams with lower run numbers but is to provide food for naturally spawned fry that when they hatch feed on the carcasses of the adult salmon. Salmon die shortly after spawning as they dont really eat anything once they return to the rivers. They put so much physiological energy into egg and milt production that by the time they spawn, they are too weak to eat or survive.

[KH-txlg]

During the early days of salmon conservation, they used to remove the dead salmon. It's only recently that they either leave them in the water or throw them onto the banks.