Last fall, I travelled to the Klamath River to see the wild salmon that are clinging to existence in that troubled watershed.  In days of searching, I saw two salmon returning to their spawning grounds.  Two fish.  On different days.  Considering that tens of thousands of wild salmon and steelhead once filled this river -- enough to keep people awake at night with their splashing-- this was a depressing result.  Even more depressing is that populations are near extinction in many other watersheds of the western U.S., including the San Joaquin, Sacramento, Columbia, and Snake Rivers.  All told, twenty-six unique populations of wild Pacific salmon are endangered in the United States.

Pacific salmon, including Chinook, pink, sockeye, coho, and chum salmon and their close relatives, steelhead, spawn in fresh water where their juveniles grow for a weeks to a few years before migrating to the ocean.  After a few more years and swimming for hundreds to thousands of miles in the ocean, adult salmon find their home streams and migrate long distances upstream to spawn.  After spawning, they die.

As they travel on these long-distance migrations, wild salmon weave together a variety of natural and human communities.  In the ocean, Orca pods specialize in hunting salmon.  In the rivers where they spawn and die, salmon flesh feeds a great variety of birds, mammals, and insects.  These fish-eaters rely on and distribute the energy and nutrients the salmon carry with them from the ocean.  With the right tools, you can find nutrients from the ocean far inland, in spruce trees, redwoods, and even in the wine from grapes grown near salmon spawning grounds.

Salmon support human communities as well.  From the native tribes of the Pacific coast, to the first European settlers, to the fishermen who once sold their catch in the west's storied ports from Monterey to Seattle and beyond, wild salmon have always been a fundamental part of the culture and cuisine of the Pacific coast.  But those cultures are disappearing along with our wild salmon stocks and the return of fresh salmon, formerly an important marker of the seasons, is being supplanted by the ubiquitous "farmed" Atlantic salmon -- a fatty creature of dubious nutritional value.

The communities of the Pacific coast have formed the SalmonAID coalition to restore the rivers of the west coast and recover their wild salmon populations.  SalmonAID brings together commercial fishermen, anglers, conservation organizations, tribes, and fine chefs to convey the magnificence and plight of our salmon.

At first, this coalition seems unlikely - commercial fishermen and conservationists are often at odds.  People reflexively blame commercial fishing for declining fish populations.  But unlike some fisheries, commercial salmon fishing is a well-regulated endeavor; salmon are caught using hook and line, not giant indiscriminate nets.  Conservation groups like The Bay Institute and NRDC have long collaborated with fishing organizations such as the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations to protect our rivers and our fisheries.  Commercial fishermen and conservationists, tribes, chefs, and food safety organizations share the understanding that recovery of wild Pacific salmon requires restoration of our rivers and estuaries.  And, whether we think about it daily or not, we all rely on the natural flow of rivers.

During September, the SalmonAID coalition will host Salmon Month at Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco.  Exhibits, events and activities will engage Aquarium visitors with the many threads of connection between us and our rivers and the amazing wild salmon that weave those threads together.  We hope to see you there.