Survival of 77,000 Salmon Fish After Truck Accident

A truck transporting over 100,000 salmon fish overturned in a mountainous area of the western United States, but most of its cargo managed to reach a waterway, according to U.S. authorities. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Agency stated in a Tuesday announcement that "about 77,000 small salmon successfully made it to the river." The truck was traveling in a mountainous region when it "flipped onto its side" at a "sharp turn." The driver was not seriously injured; however, not all of the salmon survived, as 25,000 fish perished either in the truck or on the road. The Chinook salmon species is threatened with extinction due to the drought that has affected the American West in recent years. Due to the significant decline in their numbers, a fishing ban was imposed last year off the coast of California and many areas in Oregon, and it is likely that the ban will be renewed until 2024. Salmon are migratory fish, born in rivers and swimming towards the Pacific Ocean when they reach maturity. They spend several years in this water before ultimately returning to the waterways where they were born to spawn and die. However, this cycle has been disrupted due to the drought that has impacted the American West over the past decade, leading to decreased river water levels or significantly increased temperatures. To assist the salmon, authorities raise juvenile fish in tanks and then transport them by tanker trucks to waterways near the Pacific Ocean, as soon as they reach a size sufficient for migration to the ocean.