The Squaxin Island Tribe's coho run has nearly disappeared, so they're taking immediate action with 90,000 fish to figure out why.
"The fish that are leaving this facility are not making it out of the Puget Sound," Joe Peters said.
Peters is the Natural Resources Policy Rep for the Squaxin Island Tribe. They've started a coho survival study to see why most of the fish raised here never return.
"If you try doing this with a fully mobile fish, it's going to be really hard," said tribal fisheries biologist Daniel Kuntz.
Kuntz handled dozens of fish Tuesday morning that were paralyzed by anesthesia. He used a machine that injects them with a nearly invisible thread.
"They're putting in a coded wire tag," Peters explained. "It's a very small tag in their snout."
Of the 1.8 million coho released here every year, less than 1 percent will likely spawn.
"In the next year we're expecting to see 1,800 return," Peters said.
The tribe believes the fish aren't making it past the Tacoma Narrows, and possibly get stuck again near Seattle, but they don't know what's choking them or if there's even a solution.
"There's always that question, it might be too late. But as tribal people we always look forward," Peters said.
That's why the fish will be barged to two different spots in May, one north of Tacoma and one north of Seattle. If they make it back, officials will scan their tag and see if release location helps or hurts the fish.
"If you can keep chipping away and doing small things, over a long period of time it will make a difference," Kuntz said.
Squaxin Island tribal members have relied on salmon for centuries.
"Our fish die, we die. It's important," Peters said.
