Will Klamath salmon outlast the dams?

GREEN ALGAE BLOBS choke handmade gill nets that should be filled with salmon. The Klamath River is warming, heated by drought and dams, and that allows the algae to thrive, making it harder and harder to catch fish. Some days, Yurok tribal members capture nothing but green goop.

And some algae is toxic; one microscopic blue-green variety has made the water hazardous to the public. Warming conditions have also encouraged the spread of Ceratonova shasta, which infected 97% of juvenile salmon in the Klamath last spring, killing 70%. The crisis extends to the communities that depend on the fish for sustenance.

“We’re not able to catch enough fish to feed our people anymore,” said Barry McCovey, Yurok tribal citizen and director of the Yurok Fisheries Department.

Finally, after two decades of paperwork, the dams are scheduled for demolition in 2023. on the West Coast.