Mukilteo Salmon Survey 2013 -- Japanese and Big Gulches
10 Pages Posted: 7 Jan 2014
Date Written: December 30, 2013
Abstract
At the request of the City of Mukilteo, students and staff from the Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology Field (LEAF) School at Edmonds and Everett Community Colleges surveyed Japanese Gulch and Big Gulch for spawning salmon from November 1 through December 15, 2013. The survey demonstrated that adult coho have returned to Japanese Gulch for the second year in a row after the completion of a significant stream restoration project removing four major barriers to salmon migration. The survey also confirmed reports of chum returning to spawn in Big Gulch. Both streams provide valuable salmon spawning habitat in an urban setting. The efforts of the City of Mukilteo to protect and restore Japanese and Big Gulch are important endeavors reaping tangible benefits for people, fish, and wildlife. The investment of Paine Field Airport and the City of Mukilteo in the removal of barriers to salmon access in Japanese Gulch is showing early evidence of success. Small runs of spawning salmon in the heart of urban Mukilteo need continuing vigilance and care to ensure that future generations of people and salmon can continue to share these vital ecosystems at the edge of the Salish Sea.
Keywords: Environmental anthropology, urban anthropology, applied anthropology, LEAF School, Mukilteo, salmon, Edmonds Community College, Everett Community College, Japanese Gulch, Big Gulch, coho, chum, Paine Field Airport, Salish Sea, restoration, ecology
JEL Classification: H40, R52, Z10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation