Off Edmonds pier, a new generation of salmon begins an old cycle
EDMONDS — Opening the net was like a dam breaking. Thirty thousand coho salmon rushed out into Puget Sound all at once, and just minutes later, they were gone.
Volunteers clad in yellow rubber waders hoisted the now-empty net, coated in grime and heavy with seawater, up on to the Edmonds fishing pier. Another group hitches the pontoon frame that supported the net to their boat and speeds away to the nearby beach, where they’ll dismantle the frame and store it for next year.
The baby salmon called the net pen home from the time they were fingerlings, back in February, said Dan Stauffer, vice president of the Puget Sound Anglers Sno-King Chapter. The group has been doing this for six years running, Stauffer said, with the goal of keeping the waters off the pier stocked with coho for local anglers.
“The seals and birds seem to appreciate the effort, too,” Stauffer said.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/off-edmonds-pier-a-new-generation-of-salmon-begins-an-old-cycle/