Our olfactory senses seemingly become more acute during the fall and winter months as we venture out to the various salmon streams around the Pacific Northwest. Although many find the aroma of dead, rotting salmon carcasses offensive, they need to step outside of their sensual prejudices and take a look at the bigger picture of what these anadromous corpses mean to the ecosystem as whole.

Healthy spawning not only means that a significant amount of eggs have been distributed, it also indicates that the fry will then have plenty to eat to become healthy returning adults. The aquatic insects that feed on the dead fish in turn become a tasty meal for the young fry. The insects continue to fulfill the juvenile salmon's appetite needs during their time in the fresh water systems until they venture out to their ocean habitat. Concurrently, the dead carcasses both directly and indirectly support at least 137 known species of other wildlife in the Hood Canal watershed for example.

Each salmon species plays its own role in the survival of other salmon and wildlife species. Anadromous fish, those that return to fresh water after living in the ocean, play a key role in providing nitrogen and carbon back to the system. This happens because once salmon venture out to their ocean home, their diet is obviously strictly from the ocean itself.

Salmon in general do not feed once they have entered the freshwater systems. Therefore when the salmon die, the nutrients they release are almost entirely of marine origin (C. Jeff Cederholm et al. 1999). This happens once the salmon dies and its biotic components become mineralized. The link is that now this seemingly less than desirable dead salmon's mineral composition now becomes redistributed throughout the entire system.

For example, a mink or bear which feeds on the salmon carcass, deposits fecal matter in the forest which then becomes fertilizer for the plant flora and fauna in the forest. As well, just the decaying carcasses themselves act as a fertilizer as they decompose and are further broken down by the invertebrates and macro invertebrates' scavengers in the watershed.

The point is that the return of salmon and the resulting dead salmon mean nutrients back in the system which starts the circle of life once again. So the next time you are near a creek or river during the "smelly" time of year, remember this is a good thing and that the more dead salmon we have means generally more returns for the following year.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank those volunteers who helped with carcass distribution in the past, and who continue to monitor their dispersal in the systems. Please call Julie Easton for more information if you would like to be a salmon volunteer for this or other salmon enhancement projects @ 360-275-3575.