Wednesday October 12, 2022
KING 5 —
Salmon migration and spawning peaks in October in western Washington, but the record-breaking warm and dry summer in 2022 is having an impact on salmon numbers.
All salmon first pass through the Ballard Locks before returning to the streams and rivers where they were born to lay their eggs and eventually die, thus completing the salmon lifecycle.
Jason Mulvihill-Kuntz, the salmon recovery manager for the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed Salmon Recovery Council, said they’re seeing good numbers of fish passing through the Ballard Locks, but the fish are not moving to the streams and rivers yet, which he believes could be because of the warm and dry summer.
Salmon need two big factors to successfully migrate: cold water and a lot of it. Mulvihill-Kuntz believes the salmon might be waiting in lakes until temperatures cool and rain falls, which is delaying their migration.