Volunteers count summer-run chum between August 15 and October 15, when the fish travel up waterways like Union River from Hood Canal.

The average number of summer chum returning since 2016 is four times higher than before the species was listed as threatened.

BELFAIR -- In front of a short metal cage, Mike Shaw, a 78-year-old Harstine Island resident, stands with chest-high waders while swirling a net around cold river water flowing between the maroon bars. A sudden splash breaks the flow as Mike scoops the net over the top of the cage and grips the mesh, staring deeply at its content thrashing around.

"Coho, that's a big girl," he says after a minute, before turning over the net into the rushing stream of Union River. The dazed catch, a coho salmon, lingers in the water around his fee

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