BIWC has initiated the second season of the Cooper Creek Salmon Supplementation! A wonderful group of volunteers met Saturday, January 9th to improve the path, install the raceway and piping we'll need to get clean water to the fish. We're scheduled to bring eggs in within the next week or so and will be looking for volunteers to monitor the site, with feeding of the salmon fry to start in mid-February after hatching.

Volunteers bringing the raceway, where the young salmon will be placed, down to the site.

The Cooper Creek salmon supplementation program is a joint effort of the BIWC, the Suquamish Tribe, and the City of Bainbridge Island. In 2001, Cooper Creek was made fish passable through the removal of an in-stream impoundment and culvert replacement. BIWC has been monitoring this stream since 2004, and a few adult returning salmon have been seen. However, the small size of Bainbridge streams and the heavy pressures on salmon in our region make it difficult to re-start a salmon population on a stream that was previously fish impassible. By using a local stock of chum salmon, and conducting supplementary feeding on-site, volunteers help increase the chances that these released chum will survive to return as spawning adults in Cooper Creek.

Installing the pipe that will bring water to the raceway.

In the coming weeks we'll have a signup for helping to monitor and feed the salmon. If you are interested in getting involved in this important program, please email info@biwatershedcouncil.org or use the "contact us" link on this website.