lamprey

The Native Plant Garden has hosted some local stars this Spring – after crossing the bridge, take a hard left, walk past the spawning ponds and water tower, and find yourself in the Native Plant Garden (NPG).  Trilliums have made their brief appearance, holding forth, then yielding to more colorful offerings, such as Camas, the bulb of which is a staple food for the Salish Coast tribes.  No, YOU can’t dig them up!  Drop by and see what natives are on offer, any time of the year.

NPG Team

Proud to attend the 44th Annual Issaquah Community Awards Dinner and present Grace Reamer with the FISH Volunteer of the Year Award. Grace Reamer, embodies the very spirit of FISH’s mission. A month into my job as the new executive director, the FISH volunteer coordinator left on short notice, understaffed, and heading directly into the hatchery’s busy season, Grace stepped in with remarkable composure and expertise, seamlessly taking charge of coordinating more than 400 educational tours, ensuring critical projects stayed on track and trained existing staff and volunteers amidst unforeseen challenges.

Whether it’s leading a tour of school kids, explaining a fish dissection at a science fair, or onboarding new volunteers, Grace approaches each task with a level of enthusiasm and detailed attention that is truly remarkable. Her ability to connect with visitors at the gift shop, to gently refocus a misbehaving student on a tour or to advocate for salmon at an outreach event, Grace clearly shows her dedication to FISH. And if you haven’t had a chance to read the 30 years profiles that Grace has interviewed, compiled and written: Check out the page.

Thank you Grace, for your outstanding service and for being a shining example of what it means to give back to a community and helping to ensure Issaquah’s iconic salmon’s survive for future generations.

A recent publication describes a strategy that could make an immediate positive impact on Resident Orca populations:  terminal fisheries.  According to data, 80%+ of salmon caught off British Columbia and SE Alaska are of Washington and Oregon origin. This includes the Puget Sound Chinook populations (and from among others, Issaquah Salmon Hatchery), all of which are still under the EPA “threatened” designation. The concept of a terminal fishery is to wait until the returning fish have sorted themselves out, and design a harvest strategy on a run by run basis (Coho arrive at the hatchery a month later than the Chinook), rather than harvesting a mix of threatened and non-threatened runs on the high seas. This study suggests that switching to a terminal fishery strategy would make 25% more Chinook (the mainstay of the Resident orca diet) available to them.  It may also increase the average size of the Chinook caught, by reducing the harvest of immature fish on the high seas.

The DFW released 915,000 Chinook smolt into the Issaquah Creek, on Monday 13, 2024. As the weather turns warmer, conditions get worse for the smolt. 

Today we were lucky enough to catch a unique freshwater fish that calls Issaquah Creek home, a lamprey.