Blog – Creeks – Edmonds Environmental Council

Stream Team report: Record number of salmon in Shell Creek

Posted Sunday, January 12, 2025 6:12 pm

By Joe Scordino
Edmonds Stream Team

Maija Jinneman observing a female chum salmon protecting her eggs laid in the gravel. (Photo courtesy Joe Scordino)
Meadowdale High students – Maija Jinneman, Aspen Spivey, Maya LaBelle, Emma Roberts. (Photo courtesy Joe Scordino)
Meadowdale Beach Park visitors responded to this sign with photos and videos. (Photo courtesy Joe Scordino)
Edge of this bridge was modified to provide a salmon passage channel after the underside of the bridge was blocked by sediment, (Photo courtesy Joe Scordino)
Avery Bergan helps salmon passage in her backyard by clearing debris that washed into creek during rainstorm. (Photo courtesy Joe Scordino)
High scchool students collecting data on stream conditions and salmon .occurrence. (Photo courtesy Joe Scordino)
Maya LaBelle examining a chum salmon that died before it could lay its eggs in the creek. This “pre-spawn mortality’ may have been caused by toxic tire dust (6PPDq) that enters the creek through storm drains on roads.

There’s good news coming from the Edmonds Stream Team after completion of its annual adult salmon surveys last month in Edmonds’ Shell Creek and Lund’s Gulch Creek in Meadowdale Beach Park.

2024 surveys show record number of salmon in Shell Creek

— Story and photos by Joe Scordino
Project leader, Edmonds Stream Team
January 1, 2025

High school students collecting data on stream conditions and salmon occurrence.

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.

Salmon eggs begin Edmonds journey

Story and photos by Chris Walton
Posted: December 6, 2024

Kaelie Spencer, Edmonds Fish Hatchery manager, receives 85,000 coho salmon eggs at the state hatchery in Issaquah.

On Thursday, a team of Sound Salmon Solutions volunteers processed this year’s batch of coho salmon eggs at the Edmonds Fish Hatchery located at the foot of Pine Street in Edmonds.

Letter to Shell Creek residents

By Joe Scordino
November 23, 2024

Shell Creek Residents:

As many of you have noticed in your creek, we are having a banner year in the numbers of adult chum salmon returning to Shell Creek.

I want to THANK YOU for allowing the Edmonds Stream Team to continually access your property in the fall to collect data on the salmon run. We’ll be continuing our salmon surveys into mid-December when most of our observations will probably shift to just examining dead salmon to collect data on their spawning success (we’re currently still seeing ‘new’ arrivals as well as dead spawned-out salmon).

Letter to Edmonds Stream Team

From Joe Scordino
November 23, 2024

Students – Linked below is a news article on the Edmonds Stream Team “coming to the rescue” to resolve a fish passage problem for spawning salmon in Shell Creek.

The stream habitat and salmon abundance data collected by students was used to justify an emergency permit from the WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife to make changes to a blockage DURING the salmon run. Normally, such instream work would not be allowed during salmon migration – – but I had the data (collected by students) to justify the emergency action.

So… THANK YOU for participating in the Stream Team. You have made a big difference for our local salmon population!

Joe bypassing Shell creek salmon barrier

Guest View – Perrinville pipe under tracks could spell disaster

Posted Saturday, November 23, 2024

By Bill Lider
Lider Engineering

One of the most important duties of City government is to protect the health and safety of its residents. Besides the obvious police and fire protection, it is the Public Works department’s duty to assure the safety of its residents, too.

While potholes in public roads can be ignored or put off for a long time, or roads can be closed pending repairs, the rail traffic on the Edmonds waterfront cannot. Every day, tens of thousands of gallons of hazardous, toxic, and explosive materials move up and down the Edmonds waterfront.

Video of salmon getting over the Shell Creek blockage

Video showing Chum salmon successfully managing to pass an obstruction in Shell Creek.

Video courtesy of Karen Barnes
November 22, 2024

Scene in Edmonds: Finding passage for salmon

My Edmonds News
Posted: November 20, 2024

Joe Scordino on the scene. (Photo courtesy Karen Barnes)

It is salmon migration season and significant numbers of chum salmon are actively making their way up Shell Creek. As is always the case, they need to pass many obstacles along the way. This year they were presented with a new and unexpected challenge.

It’s salmon ‘SEEson’ in Meadowdale Beach Park

Posted: November 10, 2024
By Joe Scordino

The Edmonds Stream Team, working with adult and student volunteers from Meadowdale and Edmonds-Woodway High Schools, has been surveying local creeks for salmon – – and the team reports many adult salmon are returning to Shell and Lunds Gulch Creeks.

Letter to Mayor Rosen – THE REST OF THE STORY – Excess sediment in Shell Creek impacting salmon

By Joe Scordino
November 2, 2024

Mayor Rosen;

As you may know, this is the time of year when I’m out with Edmonds Stream Team volunteers (students and adults) in/along the “salmon-bearing” creeks in/near Edmonds (i.e., Shell Creek and Lunds Gulch Creek in Meadowdale Park) to survey adult salmon returns and spawning. Besides the salmon occurrence data, we also collect habitat condition data (and have been doing that each fall since 2017).

Future stewards lend a hand to baby salmon

My Edmonds News
Posted: May 27, 2024

Last week marked the final releases this year of “baby” coho salmon from Edmonds’ Willow Creek Salmon Hatchery into local streams to help the salmon populations in Puget Sound. On hand to help were community volunteers including future stewards of the environment and even Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen.

Lucy-and-Theo-Kopp-take-special-care-in-releasing-salmon-into-lower-Shell-Creek

Reader view: Can we stop the demise of Edmonds salmon streams?

By Joe Scordino
Posted: August 26, 2023

First it was Perrinville Creek and now it is Shell Creek that is losing its natural functions and salmon habitat — this time because of neglect and inaction by city administration in Edmonds’ Yost Park.

In the case of Perrinville Creek, the loss of salmon is due to both inaction to implement a watershed restoration plan (as promised by Mayor Nelson in a press release over two years ago), and an apparent illegal action the city took in January 2021 to totally block salmon access to Perrinville Creek.

Letter to the editor: What’s the status of Perrinville Creek restoration project?

Posted: September 26, 2021

Letter to the editor: What’s the status of Perrinville Creek restoration project?

Scene in Edmonds: At work on Shell Creek

Posted: March 5, 2019

Scene in Edmonds: At work on Shell Creek

Students Saving Salmon help restore local salmon populations

Posted: January 14, 2019

Students Saving Salmon help restore local salmon populations