Fisherman Found At Locks Drowned

SEATTLE - A 34-year-old commercial fisherman whose body was found in the fish ladder at the Ballard Locks drowned, the King County medical examiner's office said today.

The man's body was pulled from the fish ladder shortly before 6 p.m. yesterday after two tourists reported seeing him clinging to a section of the ladder.

The man appeared to be alive and bleeding from his mouth when first noticed in the water about 4:40 p.m., said Sean O'Donnell, Seattle Police spokesman. Water to the ladder was shut off, and police divers found the body 1 1/2 hours later.

The fisherman lived near the Locks. The medical examiner's office withheld his name until his family could be notified.

A 4-foot high concrete wall surrounds the area at the top of the pedestrian ramp where the body was first seen, said Patricia Graesser, spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the Locks.