Warrior Word

By Hutch Clarke and Sophia Woeck

After a year and a half of being stuck at home, our featured club is ready to get outside and in the field. Students Saving Salmon has had a drastic uptick in members during the recent school year. It is larger than ever, as they are a joint club with Meadowdale High School under the supervision of the Edmonds Stream Team.

This club is overseen by the Edmonds Stream Team; a group led by retired fishery biologist Joe Scordino and advised by Meadowdale’s Diane Thompson and Edmonds Woodway’s David Millette. The club meets on weekends and assesses the conditions of the streams and banks throughout Edmonds with the aim of bettering the conditions for our local salmon population. As their motto goes: “If the salmon are healthy, it means everything else is.” 

Students Saving Salmon has three main focuses: first is to assess the quality and to take measurements of the habitats—their temperature, pH, oxygenation, and more. They will also go out and inspect local streams, deciding if the streams and surrounding areas are easily traversable by salmon. The second focus is to incubate and introduce salmon eggs and fry into the environment. Students help to incubate around 80,000 eggs at our local hatchery, the Willow Creek Hatchery in Edmonds. After the incubation period, the eggs are placed in hatch boxes, and then into streams. The third focus is to present the data to the local government and suggest changes to help better the salmon’s environment. One recent suggestion was for the removal of a toxic chemical in tires. It can wash into creeks off the highways, damaging the habitat and health of the habitating salmon. The data collected by students is a key factor to pushing the changes made to helping protect local salmon.
Students Saving Salmon is an incredible opportunity for students as a way to gain field experience. Students interested in natural sciences or helping the environment will find it a great way to help out. If you’re interested in getting involved or want more information about the club, talk to Mr. Millette in room F-107 or email him at milletted@edmonds.wednet.edu