THE LAST COHO
THE LAST COHO is a fine art and documentary photography project exploring the decline and recovery of endangered Coho Salmon in California's Russian River watershed.
Shot on large-format film using an heirloom land camera that once belonged to Ansel Adams, the project invites audiences to see Salmon not simply as fish, but as an enduring symbol of California's natural heritage and ecological future.
Horizon
Water begins to trickle into one of dozens of new enhancement sites along Dry Creek. Sewn with native flora and studded with wooden poles, this development will eventually form a year-round, cold-water refuge for young Salmonids and other native animals. Before the first sprout even broke through the burlap, this site was already being occupied by pescavorian birds - a sign that despite this incredible degree of disturbance, the habitat system was already beginning to function.
Archival Photo Print
32 x 26”
Coho #154
Conservation breeding work on endangered Russian River Coho Salmon began at an extreme genetic bottleneck with just a handful of individuals. In order to recover the genetic diversity of the population, male fish are bred with multiple females according to a carefully calculated matrix that minimizes inbreeding. Comparatively, the steelhead hatchery program at Warm Springs Dam requires no matrix as an adequate number of individuals are available each year.
Digital Photography
Giclée on aluminum
34 x 43”
Coho #226
The Russian River once hosted enormous runs of Coho Salmon - so much so that a commercial fishery and cannery operated here. In the last report released on returning adult Coho, estimates did not exceed 50 fish, total.
4x5 film photography
Giclée on archival paper
40 x 48”
Edges
Hundreds of acres of creekside vineyard along Dry Creek have been committed to the Dry Creek Enhancement project which diverts and slows the consistent cold water outflow from Warm Springs Dam. The carefully engineered eddies, riffles, and pools are shaded by a robust riparian cover of native plants and trees, making perfect habitat for spawning and juvenile Salmon. The project is a collaboration between landowners, NOAA, US Army Corp, and Sonoma Water and may be a model for how agriculture and wildlife can sustainably share a water system.
Archival Photo Print
32 x 22”
The New Way
A new enhancement site on Dry Creek nears completion. This side channel runs parallel to the main stem of the creek, and was hydrologically engineered to slow water and create eddies. It also features a long riffle, a favorite water feature of Salmonids.
Archival Photo Print
32 x 22”
Anthroposcene #1
Dry Creek, fed by the mandated outflow of Lake Sonoma, hosts the only year round cold water source in the Russian River Watershed. However, the waterway is channelized by years of high velocity flows leaving no refuge for young Coho who must spend a full year in the watershed before migrating to the sea. Sites like this create slow moving water and are being installed along Dry Creek to create miles of ideal Salmon habitat. Properties with these habitat enhancements also enjoy the co-benefit of erosion control.
Archival Photo Print
32 x 22”
Pathways
After hatching, Coho Salmon spend up to 18 months in freshwater before heading out to the open water, typically in smaller tributaries than other Salmonids. The success of their young depends on consistent, cold water throughout at least one summer season, during which water levels can dip precariously. Drought, and the human demand and diversion of water supplies often entirely block or deplete many of the tributaries that Russian River Coho rely on.
4x5 film photography
Giclée on archival paper
40 x 48”
Milt
Cups of recently collected Coho Salmon milt are carefully organized and refrigerated at the Warm Springs Hatchery. Without the effort of the US Army Corp fisheries biologists, it’s unlikely that Coho would still be returning to the Russian River watershed at all.
Archival Photo Print
32 x 22”
Division of Labor
A temporary dam is installed to divert water away from an enhancement site under-construction on Dry Creek. This project aims to co-opt the consistent cold water outflow from Lake Sonoma and create 6 miles of year-round Salmon habitat. Further up the watershed sit Warm Springs and Coyote dams which collectively block up to 169 miles of historically important spawning and rearing habitat.
Archival Photo Print
32 x 26”
Coho #272
Coho Salmon spawn in creeks from Alaska to Central California. The Russian River is near the natural southern extent of the species’ geographic range where they have been listed as threatened or endangered since the early 90s. Development, daming, human demand on water, and climate change have all played a role in pushing the unique Russian River Coho population to near extinction.
4x5 film photography
Giclée on archival paper
40 x 48”
Past, Present, and Future
Sonoma Water cleans the viewing window at their inflatable diversion dam below Wohler Bridge on the Russian River. This narrow passage in the dam’s fish ladder allows for an accurate count of returning fish, hatchery bred or otherwise. 2022/2023 saw record low returns despite adequate water.
Archival Photo Print
22 x 32”
Pit
Shannon Rockmon holds a PIT tag before it’s surgically implanted into a juvenile Salmon. Thousands of Salmon reared at the hatchery are implanted with these tags each year so that their life history can be tracked. In a natural system, it’s estimated that only 2% of Salmon survive to adulthood.
Archival Photo Print
26 x 32”
Pyramid
Coho Salmon die after spawning and the oceanic nutrients released from their bodies become a critical part of the food chain in a healthy Salmon watershed. Invertebrates, otters, and importantly young Coho Salmon rely on this food source. This Salmon was spawned at the hatchery upstream and manually planted by volunteer conservationist Doug Gore. Doug confided that he was concerned that he was seeing less invertebrate life in his regular sites - a concern echoed by biologists throughout the world.
Archival Photo Print
32 x 22”
Coho #219
Coho #219 was a precocious Jack, meaning that he sexually matured at age 2 instead of age 3. This behaviour is a natural part of Salmonid biology and creates an opportunity for genetics to be shared between breeding years. The preservation and expansion of the native gene pool is a keystone objective of the US Army Corp’s Conservation hatchery.
Digital Photography
Giclée on archival paper
31.5 x 39”
Ceremony
Ken Leister repeats a careful choreography - delivering the body of a female Coho. Unlike production hatcheries, the Warm Springs conservation hatchery is dealing with a protected and endangered population. Each egg is important to the survival of the Russian River Coho population. The margin for error in the recovery of these fish is slim.
Archival Photo Print
26 x 32”
THE LAST COHO
Conservation Photography Exhibit
Based in Sonoma County, California, Kaare Iverson creates fine art, editorial, and documentary photography focused on conservation, environmental storytelling, and the intersection of people and the natural world. THE LAST COHO documents the ongoing effort to restore endangered Coho Salmon to the Russian River while exploring broader themes of biodiversity, climate resilience, water conservation, and the future of California's wild landscapes. The project is available for gallery exhibitions, museums, conservation organizations, educational institutions, editorial features, and environmental campaigns throughout California and beyond.
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Exhibition History
2024 — 41st Salmonid Restoration Conference, Santa Rosa, California
2024 — Heron Gallery, Santa Rosa, California
2025 — Rotary Club of Sebastopol, Sebastopol, California
2026 — The Brower Center, Berkeley, California
Publications
Sierra Magazine
Sonoma Magazine
The Sebastopol Times
Support
Funded in part through a grant from The Puffin Foundation.