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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=gguillen@ix.netcom.com href="mailto:gguillen@ix.netcom.com">George
Guillen</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=tstokely@trinityalps.net
href="mailto:tstokely@trinityalps.net">'Tom Stokely'</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, June 14, 2004 7:28 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> RE: [env-trinity] Klamath Herald and News- Parasite
spreading concernon Klamath River </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>FYI,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>I think Dylan must have mis-quoted Dr.
Barholomew:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2> <SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>"</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT
color=#0000ff><FONT size=2>The microscopic parasite spends part of its life
floating in the river as a tiny, 3-millimeter-long worm, said <BR>Jerri
Bartholomew, an assistant professor of <BR> microbiology at Oregon State
University.<SPAN class=648431102-15062004>"</SPAN> <SPAN
class=648431102-15062004> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>** WRONG - the free swimming microscopic parasite
infects the an invertebrate host - a polychaete worm. It alternates
between infecting this host and the infected
fish.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>Most of the rest of the story is close
enough.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>Also, I think based on the information provided at the
Klamath Symposium it is clear that there are other variables the influence the
life history of this parasite and it's intermediate worm host. T<FONT
face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>he data presented by Dr. Bartholomew regarding the
small scale distribution of the polychaete host points also to the need to
consider habitat, velocity, and the role of
nutrients. </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN class=648431102-15062004>There
is an urgent need to evaluate the effect of the "modified" river including
flow regime, velocity, changed habitat, and nutrient dynamics on the
survival of the "worm" and C. shasta. Maybe what is needed is
evaluation and development of HSC for the worm
host!</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>However, f</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN class=648431102-15062004>low
is a controllable variable that should effect the density and transmission rate
of the parasite, assuming all other modifying variables remain
constant.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=648431102-15062004>George G.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B>
env-trinity-bounces@velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
[mailto:env-trinity-bounces@velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Tom
Stokely<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, June 14, 2004 1:57 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
env-trinity<BR><B>Subject:</B> [env-trinity] Klamath Herald and News- Parasite
spreading concernon Klamath River <BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<P><A
href="http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/06/10/news/top_stories/top1.txt">http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/06/10/news/top_stories/top1.txt</A>
<P>Parasite spreading concern on Klamath River
<P> Published June 10, 2004
<P> By DYLAN DARLING
<P> A parasite that is causing infection and death among young salmon in
the lower Klamath River is raising <BR>concerns for federal and state officials
and other water <BR> interests.
<P> The high level of infection in fish comes as a surprise because water
conditions in the river are relatively <BR>good, sources say.
<P> "It has us real worried," said Dave Sabo, manager of the Klamath
Reclamation Project.
<P> U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials are worried that the Klamath
Project will be blamed if something <BR>happens to salmon fingerlings being sent
down the river <BR> from the Iron Gate fish hatchery near Yreka.
<P> The parasite Ceratomyxa shasta, called C shasta for short, is common in
the main stem of the Klamath River <BR>system, from the Pacific Ocean to the
Williamson <BR> River.
<P> The microscopic parasite spends part of its life floating in the river
as a tiny, 3-millimeter-long worm, said <BR>Jerri Bartholomew, an assistant
professor of <BR> microbiology at Oregon State University.
<P> The worms find their way into the digestive tracts of salmonid fish,
which include salmon, steelhead and <BR>trout.
<P> Some fish are resistant to the parasite. Most are not.
<P> Inside the fish's intestine, the parasite feeds on tissue and
reproduces, often killing the fish by causing an <BR>infection.
<P> Depending on the water temperature and other factors, the fish will die
within 20 to 30 days after the <BR>parasite has entered it. The warmer the
temperature, the <BR> faster the spread of the parasite and possible spread
of infection.
<P> "We are seeing a high incidence of disease in our out-migrant fish,"
said Toz Soto, fisheries biologist for the <BR>Karuk Tribe, one of the
downstream tribes.
<P> "It's always around, but we are really concerned because the infection
rate seems to be really high this year," <BR>Soto said.
<P> In early May, scientists on the Klamath River started finding dead
salmon fingerlings in traps between I-5 <BR>and the Scott River, said Al Donner,
spokesman for the <BR> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The parasite has
killed 50 to 80 percent of the young salmon in some places.
<P> At the Happy Camp trapping site on the river, tribal scientists found
75 to 80 percent of the young salmon <BR>headed downstream appear to be
suffering from <BR> infection.
<P> Officials and scientists couldn't immediately estimate how many total
fish the parasite might kill. It's <BR>presumed that some dead fish can't be
seen in the murky <BR> water, and that birds consume many dead fish before
they are seen by scientists.
<P> Adding to the mystery of the infection outbreak is the lack of
stressful conditions often blamed when fish start <BR>dying.
<P> "The temperatures are good and the oxygen levels are good for fish,"
said John Engbring, director of the Fish <BR>and Wildlife Service's California
and Nevada <BR> Operations office in Sacramento.
<P> He said scientists will continue to collect samples to try to figure
out what is causing the parasite to spread.
<P> "At this point, we don't know if this is more natural, or if there are
some human causes that are making it <BR>more significant," Engbring said.
<P> Sabo said the Bureau is doing what it can to help the situation, but
higher flows might not be the answer.
<P> "We want to make sure that the fishery is as healthy as it can be,"
Sabo said.
<P> Observers hope the infection doesn't affect as many fish as it did in
2000, when an estimated 300,000 young <BR>salmon and steelhead died from the
same parasite <BR> and a fungus that attacks the gills.
<P> The California Department of Fish and Game released more than 5 million
fish from the Iron Gate Fish <BR>hatchery over the past month.
<P> The fingerlings were released a million at a time, about four or five
days apart, with the first release on May <BR>13 and the last on June 3, said
Kim Rushton, <BR> hatchery manager. The hatchery also held back 900,000
young salmon to be released in the fall.
<P> The C shasta parasite is just one of the many dangers salmon face in
their life cycle. Larger fish, birds, seals <BR>and fishermen all take a toll on
fish populations.
<P> "You raise millions to get a few thousand back," Rushton said.
<P> He said the average return for each run of adult chinook salmon is
10,000 to 15,000. The hatchery needs <BR>8,000 adults to collect eggs.
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