Salmon work paying off: Record chinook return expected in Whatcom Creek
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- Hatchery program forecasts record 7,000 Chinook salmon in Whatcom Creek.
- Lummi Nation and BTC lead co-managed effort to restore Chinook population.
- Returning Chinook support orca diet, fisheries, and student aquaculture training.
A record 7,000 Chinook salmon are expected to return to Whatcom Creek this fall, an encouraging sign for efforts to protect the fish and the endangered southern resident orca that feed on them.
Lummi Nation and Bellingham Technical College have been collaborating for several years on a hatchery program near the creek mouth west of downtown Bellingham, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Monday in a statement.
Lisa Wilson, vice chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and a member of Lummi Nation leadership, said the partnership is now thriving.
“We have been working collectively and diligently to bring back salmon for all of our tribal people, as well as all Washington state residents and our future generations. We created a 10-year, co-managed hatchery plan for these Chinook and we are now seeing the results of this hard work,” Wilson said in Monday’s statement.
Whatcom Creek Hatchery, which is located on the site of the city’s former sewage-treatment plant, is operated by BTC and managed cooperatively by Fish and Wildlife and Lummi Nation. Aquaculture students began work on creating a Whatcom Creek chinook run after a 2018 executive order from former Gov. Jay Inslee that set new protections for Salish Sea orcas and proposed educational steps and other actions — such as increased hatchery production, according to previous Herald reporting.
Chinook are not native to Whatcom Creek, but aquaculture students have created a Chinook run by making the fish think that they were born in its waters. Here’s how it works:
- Chinook salmon eggs are taken from spawning fish and hatched at a site near Kendall in water from Whatcom Creek, so the fish imprint on its chemical makeup as their birthplace.
- The tiny fish are trucked to the Whatcom Creek hatchery ponds, where they grow into fry and are released into the estuary to swim into the Pacific Ocean.
- Adults return to spawn in two to five years, usually in summer. Pacific salmon species die after spawning.
Edward Eleazer, WDFW’s North Puget Sound Region Fish Program manager, said the Whatcom Creek Chinook should start arriving soon, and their spawning run will last into mid-October.
“We’re forecasting the largest return of Chinook on record back to Whatcom Creek over the next two months and are thrilled by how successful this partnership has been. These hatchery salmon provide prey for southern resident killer whales in important foraging areas, support recreational salmon fisheries in marine areas and lower Whatcom Creek as well as tribal treaty and youth fisheries, and help train the next generation of fisheries professionals at BTC — it’s a win-win-win,” Eleazer said.
Fishing in Whatcom Creek
Those with a valid license and salmon catch record card can fish for Chinook on Whatcom Creek during daytime hours on weekends through Sept. 14. Fishing is closed Monday through Friday. Only hatchery Chinook may be retained; any other salmon caught must be released. Fishing is closed at night from one hour after official sunset to one hour before official sunrise.
Chinook fishing is allowed from the Whatcom Creek mouth upstream to the footbridge below Dupont Street. Signs are posted showing the fishing area boundaries.
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Salmon work paying off: Record chinook return expected in Whatcom Creek."
