Thursday October 10, 2024
Northwest Sportsman —
The announcement came out last Friday from new ODFW Director Debbie Colbert and tribal Chairman Brenda Meade, two and a half weeks after the dieoff came to light and three and a half weeks after the smolts were initially released on September 11.
“ODFW biologists thought Beaver Slough would support salmon. It is now clear that conditions at Beaver Slough at the time of the smolt release did not support survival,” the joint statement says, according to local reports.
Initial speculation focused on a lack of disolved oxygen in the slough. Members of the public first spotted the dead fish. The loss angered local anglers and last night there was a public meeting at the Coquille Community Building.
TV station KOBI reported that the “traditional release site” – an acclimation pond on the Coquille River – wasn’t available, so ODFW and the Coquille Tribe needed to turn the fish loose elsewhere, with the latter partners pointing towards the upper North Fork Coquille River and the former wanting to go with Beaver Slough, which dumps into the mainstem Coquille about 20 miles above the mouth at Bandon.