Great News: Nearly 10,000 salmon have migrated up the Klamath River above the former dam sites!

The return of salmon on the Klamath River above the former PacifiCorp dam sites has exceeded all expectations. 

Preliminary data from California Trout’s SONAR fish counting station below the former Iron Gate Dam site reveals nearly 10,000 salmon and counting this fall. The nearly 10,000 adult-sized fish (≥ ~2 feet) migrated upstream between September 12 and November 14, according to a social media post by CalTrout.

This preliminary estimate is 30 percent higher than the group’s fish counts at this same time last year. The peak passage day was on October 9 with 681 fish, the group said.

“It is a relatively compressed run: 90% passed in just 25 days (Sept 26 - Oct 19),” the group revealed.

Data was analyzed using hand counts + AI modeling developed by the Fisheye team (joint project between Caltech, MIT, UMass Amherst).  

Why does this matter? “Scientific monitoring has enabled us to document this historic dam removal project and better understand how salmon are responding and returning to habitats blocked for generations,” CalTrout stated. “Our SONAR + AI integration provides timely, high-quality data that supports Tribal, state, and federal partners in making informed restoration and fisheries management decisions.”

“As the world’s largest dam removal project, the Klamath is creating a blueprint for river restoration globally. Ongoing scientific monitoring has already documented dramatic improvements in water quality, temperature, and the rapid return of native salmon to newly opened habitats,” the group wrote.

The group noted that these are preliminary estimates and more updates are to come as they refine our analysis. “This is likely a conservative estimate of the number of Chinook salmon passing former Iron Gate Dam - as we continue our analysis, we expect this number to increase,” they stated.

As the only journalist to cover the battle by Tribes, fishermen and environmentalists to remove the dams from beginning to end, I am very gratified to see the salmon now returning to habitat above the former dam sites. Some of the salmon that passed through CalTrout’s SONAR fish counting station are now spawning in the Williamson, Sprague and Wood rivers above Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon.

The Klamath River Salmon Monitoring program is a collaboration between CalTrout and 14+ other partners including Tribes, NGOs, and agencies.