Wednesday August 30, 2023
Port of Seattle —
Estuarine habitat recovery is underway on the Duwamish River. One year after opening the Duwamish River People’s Park and Shoreline Habitat (DRPP), the largest restoration project on the Duwamish River in a generation, a team composed of Port of Seattle environmental staff, fish biologists, and University of Washington (UW) researchers found more than 7,300 juvenile salmon and extensive, healthy marsh vegetation.
“Community engagement and environmental stewardship are making a difference for Seattle’s only river and those who live along its shores,” said Port of Seattle Commissioner Ryan Calkins. “There is still so much to do to support a clean and healthy Duwamish River, but we have the right community and environmental experts working together. That powerful collaboration makes me optimistic about our future.”
This year marked the first of 10 years of monitoring the Port will conduct at the site to ensure that the habitat restoration project delivers results. The sampling found:
- Over 7,000 juvenile chum salmon (~7169)
- Almost 250 juvenile natural origin Chinook salmon (243)
- Over 900 non-salmonid fish (922)
- Robust marsh vegetation including bulrush and beachgrass over knee-high and an expanding blanket of wetland emergent plants. Healthy marsh vegetation protects fish from predators, improves water quality, and supports an ecosystem full of food that fish like to eat.