Nature Has Its Reasons

Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of introducing Siuslaw Elementary’s 4th graders to the Smolt Trap—and teaching them about the work we do there. When we talk about the salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout that make up a majority of the catch, I am amazed by how much the kids know. While most of the conversations are about anatomy, physiology and natural history, ultimately some of the discussions veer toward the cruelty of nature. Kids ask questions like, “do the fish eat each other?” and “why do the fish have to die after they spawn?” Some of the questions I get are so profound that I couldn’t begin to address them in a few hundred words. What I can do is offer some insight about why nature’s cruelty is necessary.

You’ve Got Two Chances: Slim and None (And Slim Just Swam Away)
Even before a salmon hatches, it is already a highly sought after food source. Other fish will attempt to feed on the eggs as they’re being deposited in the gravel. Cutthroat trout will stage behind spawning salmon in an attempt to pick up eggs. For the trout, eggs are a nutritious and plentiful food source that will help them put on the extra energy needed for their own upcoming spawn. As the salmon fry emerge from the gravel, trout, sculpin and larger juvenile salmon are all looking to feed on them. Blue herons and kingfishers expertly wait for recently hatched fish as well.

Not only do salmon fry have to survive the onslaught of predators, they must somehow survive flood conditions that can suffocate, crush, or leave them stranded in an isolated pool to be found by a raccoon or wash them downstream before they are prepared.

On their migration downstream, behind every boulder and logjam, in every riffle and pool, in front, behind, below and above them, awaits another potential predator. One of the saving graces for these fry is that they tend to migrate in large numbers. So while large numbers fall prey, some are able to make it to the next stage of the journey.

This all sound harsh to us humans, but it’s nature’s way of making sure only the best survive. The slow, the weak, the small, the careless (and the unlucky) never even make it out of Knowles Creek. And the trials don’t end—ever. Once juveniles make it to the main river, gulls, cormorants, otters, larger trout, pikeminnow and many other predators take their turn at weeding out the weak. All this time, juvenile salmon have to worry about their food, looking for invertebrates and smaller fish on which to feed.

By the time the juvenile salmon reach saltwater, things aren’t any easier. Maturing salmon have to be fortunate enough to find plentiful food and dodge the many predators. Seals and sea lions, orcas, salmon sharks and, another effective predator, man, all take ocean salmon in large numbers. As adult salmon stage in the ocean and in their home rivers, commercial and sport fisherman further reduce the salmons’ numbers. Being taken out of the mix in this case is more about bad luck for a salmon than a comment on its overall fitness.

What I tell the 4th graders is this: nature has its reasons for taking so many of the young salmon. It’s to help the next generation of salmon be as strong as possible. Only the best are able to make it home to spawn.

See you on the water,
Action Jackson

(Please send comments or questions to Action Jackson at 268-6944 or www.actionjacksonfishing.com)