The Nisqually Stream Stewards will hold the first public salmon carcass tossing of the season Saturday in Eatonville. Volunteers are needed for the event.
While tossing a frozen fish carcass into a stream might be fun, it also provides an important food source for juvenile salmon and other species throughout the watershed.
Where: Meet at Smallwood Park, Eatonville.
When: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday
The fish: The carcasses for the salmon tossing program come from Nisqually Indian Tribe hatcheries. The Stream Stewards plans to place, with the help of volunteers, more than 3,000 carcasses during recent carcass tossing seasons.
Why: Salmon carcasses are a critical part of the Nisqually River’s ecosystem. When salmon return to their native streams and die, the marine nutrients they brought with them are eaten by organisms ranging from insects to bears or absorbed by plants. Where salmon carcassesare plentiful, juvenile salmon grow bigger by feeding on the carcasses and the increased abundance of stream insects.
To register/more information: To sign up for the carcass toss, contact Don Perry, volunteer coordinator for the Nisqually Indian Tribe, at 360-438-8687, ext. 2143, or perry.don@nisqually-nsn.gov.
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