Klamath River Salmon Carrying Parasite Head Downriver

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GRANTS PASS, Oregon — "California fisheries officials are worried that a parasite killing young salmon and steelhead migrating down the Klamath River to the ocean could kill hundreds of thousands of the fish in coming weeks. Young chinook, coho, and steelhead infected with the parasite Ceratomyxa shasta began showing up in traps that sample the annual migration around May 1, said senior California Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist Neil Manji.

The parasite is found up and down the river, but the cause of the outbreak remains unknown. The parasite infestation injected another source of strain in continuing tensions over dividing scarce water among farmers on the Klamath Reclamation Project, endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, and salmon in the river.

"We get put in a very awkward position," Manji said. "Do you want to use (water allocated for salmon) not to kill adult fish coming back or to help young fish go out?" Releases down the Klamath River have been reduced after it became clear drought conditions were worse than expected, but the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is meeting Endangered Species Act mandates for water for endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and threatened coho in the Klamath River, said bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken."

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-04/s_24534.asp