The Port of Tacoma’s environmental team partnered with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians on November 19 for “chum chucking,” an annual hands-on effort to restore vital nutrients to the waterway and support salmon recovery. 

Chum chucking involves tossing spawned chum salmon carcasses into the water and along the banks of Lower Clear Creek, a Port habitat site.  

The team threw more than 200 fish, which were provided by the Puyallup Tribe after fisheries staff spawned the salmon at the Tribe’s hatchery. Now they will play a crucial role in sustaining future salmon populations and supporting biodiversity at the habitat site.  

“As they decompose, the valuable marine nutrients that they've absorbed during their life in the saltwater are then returned to the freshwater to support future generations of salmon,” said Port of Tacoma Biologist Kristin Evered.  

Blake Smith, Fisheries Enhancement Chief for the Puyallup Tribe, emphasized the ecological importance of the effort. “We’re feeding the ecosystem,” Smith explained. “These nutrients help fish like char, steelhead, cutthroat trout, and coho salmon overwinter in off-channel habitats like these where the water is warmer.” 

The chums also drive the local food chain in Clear Creek, creating more insects, feeding local wildlife, and allowing young fish to grow larger before they leave the creek and head to the ocean in the spring. 

“It’s all part of the salmon lifecycle,” Smith said. “We want to keep the salmon going for the next generation and many generations to come.”