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<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>What's killing Klamath's fish? Thriving parasites may
threaten salmon more than ever</span></font></b><b><span style='font-weight:
bold'> <br>
By <st1:PersonName w:st="on">John Driscoll</st1:PersonName> The Times-Standard <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Monday, June 21, 2004 - <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Populations of salmon-killing parasites on the <st1:place
w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> appear to be <br>
growing in recent years, and scientists are trying to get a grip on why the <br>
problem is becoming so severe. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>In the past five weeks, biologists have been sampling
juvenile chinook <br>
salmon and finding many of them infected with one or two parasites. One hits <br>
the fishes' digestive tract, the other their kidneys. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>While some suspect low flows and warm, poor-quality water are
making the <br>
fish more susceptible to the parasites, scientists are just beginning to <br>
understand the scope of the problem. Some say the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath
River</st1:place> is a system <br>
so out of whack that the parasites have begun to flourish in ways not common <br>
in parasite-host relationships. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>U.S.</span></font></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'> Fish and Wildlife pathologist Scott Foott said it
appears the high rate <br>
of infection this year is a result of an exceedingly high dose of the <br>
parasites. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The first parasite is Ceratomyxa shasta, which has been known
to infect <br>
between 12 and 40 percent of juvenile salmon in recent years. The other is <br>
Parvicapsula minibicornis -- which has in the past been found in nearly all <br>
juvenile salmon. This year, some 63 percent of the little fish are thought <br>
to be affected so far. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Foott could not say whether the die-off compares to the 2000
juvenile fish <br>
kill, when an estimated 200,000 succumbed to the diseases. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>C. shasta's intermediate host is a freshwater worm, and a
similar host may <br>
hold P. minibicornis, though pathologists aren't sure. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>While both crop up along the length of the river, the problem
appears most <br>
acute in the area just below the Klamath's lowermost dam, <st1:place w:st="on">Iron
Gate</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"We're thinking that the hot spot for infection is
probably in the upper <br>
reaches," Foott said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Foott said he doesn't know why. But he said some have
suggested that the <br>
Klamath's flows are crimped by irrigation and hydropower at critical times <br>
of the year. Winter and spring flows may have previously scoured many of the <br>
intermediate hosts from the river, the hypothesis goes. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>A graph of the river's historic flows -- still a disputed
topic -- generated <br>
from information by the National Marine Fisheries Service, shows a <br>
bell-shaped curve. After the dams were built on the Klamath, the graph shows <br>
more water coming down in late fall and winter, only to be cut back in the <br>
spring when water for the federal government's upstream Klamath Irrigation <br>
Project is stored. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Foott said scientists may have missed a chance to study how
big winter and <br>
spring flows affect the abundance of the parasites in 1997 and 1998, an el <br>
Niņo year that dumped huge amounts of rain and snow in the watershed. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Just two years later, though, more than 200,000 infected
juvenile salmon <br>
died in the river. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Portland, Ore.,-based PacifiCorps' hydropower dams also alter
the river's <br>
flow regime. The reservoirs behind the dams also act to enrich nutrients and <br>
warm the already poor-quality river water let loose from <st1:place w:st="on">Upper
Klamath Lake</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>That sparks algae blooms that turns the water alkaline and
drops the amount <br>
of dissolved oxygen in the lakes, according to research done by the Klamath <br>
Basin Tribal Water Quality Work Group. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Salmon get stressed in such conditions, making them
vulnerable to diseases. <br>
<st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State> water quality officials have said the
conditions are <br>
unacceptable. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>In contrast, the disease rate in Klamath tributaries like the
far-cleaner <br>
Salmon and Trinity rivers are markedly lower. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>PacifiCorps six dams now in the federal relicensing process,
and lower river <br>
proponents are pushing for a major investigation of the facilities' effects <br>
on water quality. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>'Serious problem' <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>This year was declared a dry year by the Reclamation Bureau.
That was a <br>
change from the initial "below average" forecast, which would have
allowed <br>
more water down the river. Through a multimillion-dollar water bank, <br>
Reclamation is supplementing the flows this spring. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Reclamation spokesman Jeff McCracken said there is another
10,000 acre feet <br>
-- 3.25 billion gallons -- available should state and federal wildlife <br>
agencies request it. He said the bureau hasn't heard anything from the <br>
agencies to date. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The California Department of Fish and Game is still mulling
over whether to <br>
use the water. While flows were cut back on Tuesday, and water temperatures <br>
are climbing, Fish and Game Fisheries Program Manager Gary Stacey said the <br>
relatively small amount of water might not do any good. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"There's not a whole heck of a lot of water to go
around," Stacey said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>If water temperatures climb high enough to force the several
million young <br>
fish in the system to crowd into the cooler mouths of tributaries, Stacey <br>
said, things could get worse. Temperatures above 70 degrees can cause the <br>
parasites to multiply rapidly, especially in crowded conditions, putting <br>
heat-stressed fish at even worse risk. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Water temperatures at Klamath Glen hit 68 degrees on Friday. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Fishermen are concerned that strung together, the 2000 fish
kill, the 2002 <br>
adult fish kill that claimed 34,000 salmon, a spring die-off this year and <br>
another potential adult fish kill this fall could put the brakes on <br>
commercial, sport and tribal harvest. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The 2002 fish kill was caused by a protozoan infection
commonly called ich <br>
and a bacterial infection called columnaris. Fish and Wildlife found that <br>
low, warm water held up migration of the fish in the lower river, leaving <br>
them prone to infection. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"There's a serious problem in that basin," said <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Eureka</st1:place></st1:City> commercial
fisherman <br>
Dave Bitts. "The signs are not good." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>He said Reclamation is ignoring a key element: That its
operations are set <br>
up to prevent harm to threatened coho salmon, not chinook, which spend more <br>
time in the main channel of the river. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The National Research Council, in its report on the Klamath,
held the same <br>
view. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>As biologists try to piece together the disease complex, they
are also faced <br>
with the reality of inconsistent funding. Foott said scientists need to <br>
figure out why C. shasta, for example, isn't found in Klamath tributaries <br>
even though its spores are released after spawning fish die. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"It's not a well-funded effort at all," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Reclamation may be beginning to feel the importance of the
issue. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>McCracken said the bureau is exploring the possibility of
further funding <br>
state, federal and tribal efforts to monitor the problem. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Consultant, California Trout, Inc.</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 ce</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><em><i><font
face="Times New Roman">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</font></i></em></a><em><i><font
face="Times New Roman"> (secondary)</font></i></em><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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