Adventures at Ennis: A Snapshot of Salmon Surveys in the Field
While explaining work as a SFEG Spawner Survey Intern, I’m usually met with one or a combination of three faces: blank confusion, bewildered support, or instant intrigue. Most people would imagine being bundled up in multiple layers, out in the frigid winter weather, and hiking some nebulous trail along a random stream counting fish. To a certain extent, they wouldn’t be wrong.
The temperature most days settles around the high 40’s, but often feels much colder under the canopy of trees. Truth be told, I hardly feel the cold regardless of the knee-high glacial melt and frigid air once we get moving. It’s the one day I look forward to every week, rain or shine. Once a week, there’s a chance to catch a glimpse of salmon spawning in their native stream.
On an offshoot of Highway 9 is one of the most important tributaries in the Samish Basin. It’s the spawning ground to one of the state’s most iconic organisms and a cultural touchstone of the Pacific Northwest: salmon. At first glance, Ennis Creek can easily be overlooked. It’s a sight that is representative of thousands of other streams all over Washington State that are currently or once historically salmon-bearing streams. It might not even occur to you to wonder if salmon make the 1000-mile trip to this very creek to ensure the life cycle continues. Ennis Creek is merely one of the dozens of streams SFEG monitors through their volunteer program to determine the success of restoration efforts and evaluated by the WDFW for escapement forecasting.
Ennis Creek, a site my field partner, Casey, and I survey, is more than 0.7 miles of hard terrain changing frequently due to seasonal windstorms and natural hydrological processes. Starting in October, we bundle up in SFEG provided gear – an assortment of thermal wear, raincoats, life jackets, reflective vests, waders, and gloves – before we begin the long hike to our designated endpoint, a waterfall which is the natural end of salmon access in this waterbody.
Despite following the same stretch of stream to a fixed destination, every week is a new adventure with new challenges. It’s amazing to watch the stream change in these short periods of time. In climate weather will cause alterations to the stream. Windstorms can fall trees into the stream, providing natural woody debris to alter the streamflow and streambed. Intense rainfall and natural flooding can completely change the topography of the stream channel.
Weather and stream changes aside, our main goal is to document the presence or absence of salmon spawning within these select sites of the Skagit and Samish watersheds. With the data collected during the course of these surveys, SFEG is able to determine prospective restoration sites and monitor the success of past efforts.
Each week we climb over new treefalls, cut through dense native plant thickets along stream banks, and side-switch with careful consideration to these potential new redds. When female salmon find locations suitable for harboring offspring, they dig these gravel nests called redds. For several weeks, we find no presence of salmon. However, keep our eyes peeled for the first tell-tale signs of fish. This could be a flash of movement cutting through the water, an inexplicable dark shadow hovering in the stream, or evidence of gravel nests that can’t be explained by natural stream hydrology. Granted, looking for these signs pales in comparison to actually counting salmon, but it’s a critical period to establish baseline channel characteristics before salmon arrive.
It’s not until several weeks later, at the start of November, that we will see the first signs of coho at the mouth of the creek. Our flutters of excitement accompany the vibrant red bodies of coho, nearly hidden within the shade of the bridge at the starting point. From absolutely zero fish from the week before, suddenly there were hundreds.
Historically, thousands of coho once used Ennis Creek to spawn. The Ennis Creek site remains as one of the main spawning grounds of the upper Samish River Basin. Despite its significance to the local salmonid population, Ennis Creek has suffered significant habitat degradation from straightening, dredging, inadequate culvert placement, and redirection into a roadside ditch in the past. SFEG and affiliated agencies have restored the historical channel and re-established the channel across a major fish barrier into the Samish River.
As we conduct our survey, I can’t help but feel a sense of awe walking along the streambanks. We eagerly log of the number of fish, both live and dead, and their redds. Already, we are recording significant increases of salmon at Ennis, and other locations, in comparison to past years. It’s yet to be determined if populations will surpass historic milestones, but 2021 appears to be promising.
There’s something both humbling and impressive about being immersed in habitats used by these anadromous fish. We have witnessed their resilience while acting upon millions of years of instinct and genetic memory to ensure the next generation of offspring is successful. It’s endlessly rewarding to see firsthand the effects of restoration efforts made by organizations like SFEG; effects that make a difference toward a species with long lasting impacts on both humans and the larger interconnected ecosystem. This is an experience I have been incredibly lucky to both participate and contribute through SFEG’s Spawner Survey program. I would eagerly recommend the program to anyone interested in the Skagit Watershed, salmon ecosystem and population restoration, or community planting parties.
