A thousand juvenile Chinook salmon were released last week in a creek near Bandon. It’s the latest effort by the Coquille Tribe to restore the fish’s numbers.
A tribal member sang a song to bless the salmon, which Coquille officials say are among the first of thousands more expected to be released this year. The 2021 spawning project was done with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and other partners, after surveys showed Chinook salmon numbers had fallen to near extinction in the area.
In a video released by the tribe, Coquille tribal Chair Brenda Meade said she’s proud.
“Proud of the fact that we are all coming together as a community to make this happen because there’s no way the tribe could have done it by themselves," she said. "We gotta keep going though, this is just step one, it feels like baby-steps. But it’s the first thousand that are going out, and it’s something to celebrate.”
Invasive bass, climate change, and pollution are seen as factors in the decline of Chinook salmon.
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