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Something Fishy on the Square by Kristian Knutsen The Daily Page, May 14, 2008

Today's image is titled Something Fishy on the Square and was photographed by Angela Richardson.

"If you aren't often downtown late at night," notes Richardson in the caption to this photo, "then you might not know that giant fish swim around the Capitol Square after dark." This particular fish is an oversized denizen of the Snake River in Idaho and the traveling representative of Save Our Wild Salmon, an environmental group in the Pacific Northwest that is focused on removing four dams from the river in order to improve runs for the dwindling numbers of the fish that spawn in its waters.

The group is currently in the midst of a 20-state roadshow promoting its cause, one that started in Seattle in early April and arrived in town last Friday for a long tour stop in south-central Wisconsin. "While Fin was quite a hit with reveling college students Friday night, Saturday morning at Dane County Farmer's market she was even more popular," notes salmon wrangler Bill Cassidy in his report on the group's stop in Madison. He discusses the groups grassroots lobbying efforts from their station at MLK Blvd. and Main opposite the market, which included a member dressed up in a salmon costume that was a hit with the kids, as well as their Sunday stop at the west-side Fontana Sports and Monday visits to Spring Harbor Middle School and the local offices of Representative Tammy Baldwin and Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl.

Save Our Wild Salmon spent Tuesday at the UW Library Mall and the Washington Hotel Coffee Room on Monona Bay, and will be moving on to the Wisconsin Expo in Beaver Dam on Thursday before hitting the road once again for stops in Kenosha and Chicago over the weekend. "So far we're having a great time in Madison," declares Cassidy. "Although, I feel even then, we'll wish we could stay longer."