Salmon that took a fatal wrong-way turn into a narrow waterway are now stinking up some North Stockton neighborhoods.
And officials so far haven’t decided what, if anything, to do about the mess.
Some of the Chinook salmon that swam up the Mokelumne River seeking their spawning grounds ended up in Pixley Slough, where they died, the California Department of Fish and Game confirmed.
While it’s all part of nature taking its course — the salmon return from the Pacific Ocean to the freshwater rivers where they were born to spawn and then die — Stocktonians who live nearby now have to deal with the stench of rotting fish.
San Joaquin County officials issued a statement saying its Department of Public Works maintenance staff visited the slough Tuesday “to observe the situation,” but there was no word on whether they would clean up the site.
State Fish and Wildlife officials, whom the county says are responsible for the environmental aspects of the issue, are taking a long view of the problem.
For starters, they say Stockton isn’t the only city where the fish are getting stranded.
Dying salmon are showing up in other waterways across Northern California, including such unexpected places as Oakland, Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Tira said.
This year, a record run of more than 30,000 salmon have made efforts to return to their Mokelumne River hatcheries for spawning season, which typically runs from September to January, according to figures from the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Their numbers are up because heavy rainfall over the past couple of years left many rivers swollen.
But along the way, some of the fish get lost, and Tira said this wrong-way pileup has occurred in Pixley Slough before.
“It’s a stinky, messy process,” but all those rotting bodies provide nutrients that keep the rivers and surrounding lands healthy, Tira said. “It’s an important, valuable contribution to the environment.”
The trail of dead salmon extends about a quarter-mile along Pixley Slough. On Wednesday, scores of fish carcasses floated beneath the concrete pylons at the dead end of the channel, while others lay dying in small, receding pools of water. Orange-tinged salmon roe dotted the muddy banks where the water line had been higher when the Chinook laid their eggs.
The good news is that the smell should not last long, Tira said, as birds and animals feast on the dead fish. Wading birds were already making their way to the riverbank buffet by mid-week.
“Nature will clean that up very quickly,” Tira said.