— Story and photos by Joe Scordino
Project leader, Edmonds Stream Team
January 1, 2025
The Edmonds Stream Team completed its annual adult salmon surveys in Edmonds’ Shell Creek and Lunds Gulch Creek (located in Meadowdale Beach Park) in December. The Stream Team documented the highest number of chum salmon spawners in November 2024 since surveys began in Shell Creek in 2017.
A one-day count of adult chum salmon in Shell Creek Nov. 10 exceeded the sum of the total counts over the past three years.
Student volunteers from Meadowdale High School and Edmonds-Woodway High School as well as adult volunteers started the surveys in late September and started seeing large numbers of chum salmon entering both Shell Creek and Lunds Gulch Creek in early November. By late November, most of the salmon had spawned and expired (salmon die shortly after spawning). A minimum estimate based just on the dead salmon recovered would be over 300 salmon returned to Shell Creek and 200 to Lunds Gulch Creek in 2024. Final estimates will be available after data analysis is completed in January.
The surveys not only documented the number and species (coho or chum salmon) observed, but included examination of dead salmon to determine species, sex, size, and spawning status and the condition of the habitat where they might lay their eggs (for example, clean gravel versus a sediment-impacted stream bed).
Some of the returning adult salmon appeared to be affected by toxic pollutants that enter the streams from storm drains and died in the creek before they could spawn. Others were killed by predators (racoons, river otters, eagles, herons) before they could spawn. The Stream Team found “pre-spawn mortalities” in both Shell and Lunds Gulch Creeks, and some of the fish had no predator marks, suggesting they may have been killed by toxic pollutants in the creeks. Several live coho salmon were observed to have the characteristic “erratic” behavior that leads to death from the effects of a compound in tire dust (6PPDq) found in stormwater that enters the creeks during rain events.
The Edmonds salmon surveys have focused on Shell and Lunds Gulch Creeks because they are the only streams in Edmonds that currently have adult salmon returning to spawn. Perrinville Creek had salmon until 2021, when the City of Edmonds blocked the creek’s connection to Puget Sound and diverted the creek outflow into a pipe to prevent residential flooding during rain events. Willow and Shellabarger Creeks had salmon until the 1960s, when the Port of Edmonds Marina was built and the Edmonds Marsh outlet was diverted into a 1,600-foot pipe exiting under Marina Beach to Puget Sound. Although Shell Creek has significant streambed sediment problems from upstream erosion in Yost Park and a manmade waterfall that blocks upstream access, the lower portion of the creek still has some suitable spawning habitat. much to the credit of Edmonds’ property owners who care about salmon and their use of the creek.
The Edmonds Stream Team not only counted salmon in the fall, but worked with property owners during the salmon migration to resolve salmon passage issues as they arose in both Shell Creek and Lunds Gulch Creek. At the restored estuary created by the new railroad bridge in Meadowdale Beach Park, the Stream Team found that a summer’s growth of a freshwater plant called watercress was blocking salmon passage into the creek channel. The team worked with Snohomish County and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to create a path through the vegetation for salmon migration.
In Shell Creek, the Stream Team worked with a property owner to obtain an emergency hydraulics permit from WDFW to quickly resolve a unique situation where the excess sediment in Shell Creek built up under a bridge and blocked salmon passage (see related article here).
The Edmonds Stream Team thanks everyone who helped make this year’s surveys a success, including Shell Creek residents who allowed the Stream Team volunteers access to their backyards to do the surveys, the park rangers in Meadowdale Beach Park, the park visitors who texted their photos and videos, and donations from Edmonds’ Rotary Clubs, Olympic Fly Fishers and Puget Sound Anglers that allowed us to purchase chest waders, boots, and field supplies needed for the all-volunteer Edmonds Stream Team to function.
Final reports with additional photos and videos of the salmon will be posted online at EdmondsEnvironmentalCouncil.org in late January.