DISCOVERY BAY — Wednesday was moving day for thousands of small coho salmon and stickleback living in Salmon Creek.
About 15 volunteers helped relocate the fish from a part of the creek that’s being abandoned after a new section was built by the state Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Jefferson County Conservation District Director Al Latham said the new creek channel was built to prevent flooding caused by silt that fills the part of the watercourse that is being abandoned.
Latham said that up until the late 1800s, the creek had many channels just south of present-day U.S. Highway 101 as it made its way to Discovery Bay.
Farmers channelized the creek, which created the flooding problems.
Digging and debris
The conservation district provided funding and obtained permits for digging the new channel, and the North Olympic Salmon Coalition bought woody debris that will provide fish habitat.
On Wednesday, morning volunteers dipped fine-mesh nets into shallow pools left in the abandoned part of the creek in order to save fish and other creatures that make the water their home.
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