The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said on Tuesday that one of its tankers was in an accident on March 29, resulting in the escape of thousands of live salmon that were being moved as part of a federal and state program to replenish stocks depleted by dams.
After navigating a sharp corner, the 53-foot tanker, which was carrying about 102,000 fish, rolled onto its passenger side, skidded, went down a rocky embankment and flipped onto its roof.
About 25,525 smolts that were thrown onto the creek banks “were not able to flop down into the water,” Andrew Gibbs, the department’s fish hatchery coordinator for eastern Oregon, said in an interview on Wednesday.
In his 10 years on the job, Mr. Gibbs said, the accident appeared to be a rarity for the state and federal program, which moves smolt-stage salmon from Oregon’s hatchery to stock populations affected by dams built on the lower Snake River.
The department said in its statement that the smolts that were lost made up about 20 percent of the total fish that state hatcheries planned to release into the Imnaha River this year.
The accident interrupted what is already a tortuous journey in the smolt life cycle, in which they encounter predators, fishing activity and habitat alterations that affect migrations, including the dams.
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The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said on Tuesday that one of its tankers was in an accident on March 29, resulting in the escape of thousands of live salmon that were being moved as part of a federal and state program to replenish stocks depleted by dams.
After navigating a sharp corner, the 53-foot tanker, which was carrying about 102,000 fish, rolled onto its passenger side, skidded, went down a rocky embankment and flipped onto its roof.
About 25,525 smolts that were thrown onto the creek banks “were not able to flop down into the water,” Andrew Gibbs, the department’s fish hatchery coordinator for eastern Oregon, said in an interview on Wednesday.
In his 10 years on the job, Mr. Gibbs said, the accident appeared to be a rarity for the state and federal program, which moves smolt-stage salmon from Oregon’s hatchery to stock populations affected by dams built on the lower Snake River.
The department said in its statement that the smolts that were lost made up about 20 percent of the total fish that state hatcheries planned to release into the Imnaha River this year.
The accident interrupted what is already a tortuous journey in the smolt life cycle, in which they encounter predators, fishing activity and habitat alterations that affect migrations, including the dams.
The original article contains 606 words, the summary contains 219 words. Saved 64%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!