FOLLOWUP: Salmon release for all concludes record season on Fauntleroy Creek

| Fauntleroy | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Story by Judy Pickens
Photos by Tom Trulin
Special to West Seattle Blog

On Sunday afternoon (6/1), 118 community residents capped another salmon-release season on Fauntleroy Creek by putting the last coho fry in the water.

Among them, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a West Seattle resident (seen below with volunteer Dennis Hinton, after releasing a fry she named “Justice“):

Between April 28 and May 31, volunteers with the Fauntleroy Watershed Council hosted 778 students and 301 adults for 22 school releases. Those, plus the community release, introduced 2,281 coho fry to the freshwater habitat that will be their home until next spring.

Fifteen West Seattle schools received eyed eggs in January through the Salmon in the Schools Program. The students who cared for them until release day ranged from preschool through post high school.

Fry released during the community event were the last of the “back-up” fry reared by volunteer Jack Lawless to ensure that, even if a school lost a lot of its fish, every student would have one to put in the water. His fry also enabled children from five area preschools to have a release experience in Fauntleroy Park.

A record number of volunteers (23) staffed all the releases and hosted many of the students for lunch and Q&A on the lower creek.

Fry released at the big bridge in the park will linger there for a few weeks, so veteran volunteer Dennis Hinton encouraged park visitors to look for them.

“Between release fish and home hatch from spawning, the entire creek has salmon in it year round,” he said. “Visitors can help protect them by keeping their dogs out of the water and leaving fell limbs in the channel as they create essential habitat for these juveniles.”

Next up for the general public: the annual drumming in October to call in spawners and, if it’s successful, a weekend “open creek” in November. Last year, a record 347 spawning coho came in.

Fauntleroy Ferries June 3, 2025 (7:12 pm)

What a wonderful report on the spring salmon release! Thank you Judy and Dennis and all who hosted and facilitated these participation in these events. It gives us hope—and so wonderful to see Congresswoman Jayapal, too! Fingers crossed for a healthy cohort return in October 2025.

kris June 4, 2025 (5:42 am)

Thank you to all who volunteered! This is a treasured tradition and the students at Arbor Heights Elementary look forward to the salmon project and release each year!

Hugo June 4, 2025 (1:14 pm)

This park is a gem and unique to the city. Thank you volunteers from raising the salmon, releasing them, transferring them to the lower reach and then counting when they return. I am dreading the day when Fauntleroy Park, creek and salmon habitat have to get torn up when the old 8 inch sewer lines that were installed running directly through the park and creek in the 1950’s (serving Arbor Heights and including Summit Atlas) get overloaded. The city’s blanket approval of allowing 3-4 home/ADU/DADU units per residential lots citywide does not take into account infrastructure issues in different areas of the city- such as this one. In fact, when we specifically asked city reps about this ecological infrastructure issue with the park, they had no idea that the sewer lines serving hundreds of property lots and the school run directly through the heart of the park and salmon habitat. We had to show them their own city utility maps showing this. There is no easy fix for this specific sewer system serving a huge part of Arbor Heights when it becomes overloaded. The Park and Creek will have to be torn up to replace or repair it. Most main lines run under a city street, which is much easier to access and upgrade when needed- not this one.