If only it was as simple as an adipose fin. The presence of an adipose fin is universally recognized as the mark. An individual with an adipose fin is, with a few exceptions, considered a wild steelhead. On the other hand, those marked, clipped, or ad-intact fish, they are the hatchery ones. Although it is but a small mark, the …
Science Friday- What Have We Lost?
Imagine going back in time 100 years to the Columbia River. What do you think the steelhead looked like then? How long were they? How much did they weigh? In the early 1900s scientists working with the federal Bureau of Fisheries visited the Columbia River, which was considered the center of steelhead abundance for the Lower 48 – and frankly, …
Science Friday: How do steelhead survive in intermittent streams?
It’s the first Friday in October — officially, “Septober” for us steelheaders. Unfortunately, steelhead runs across much of the West Coast have been down this year, and now there is another blob of warm water in the North Pacific. Things don’t look good right now, but wild steelhead have withstood these types of conditions before. As long as we …
The Choice for Hatchery Residual Steelhead
Do you know that not all hatchery steelhead smolts actually migrate to the ocean? Some remain in freshwater. Either way, these O. mykiss face a future that could be heroic (survive long enough to mate with a wild steelhead adult female) — or not-so-heroic (survive the summer in freshwater but perish during the difficult conditions of the winter). We …
A Genetic Basis for Summer and Winter Steelhead – a follow up
By Charlie Schneider We’re going to bring things full circle this week, with a look at how emerging science can meld with policy and restoration efforts to help reach our ultimate goal of improving steelhead runs. A previous SF post (http://www.wildsteelheaders.org/much-at-stake-in-listing-decision-on-northern-california-summer-steelhead/ ) highlighted the petition to list summer steelhead on the Eel River in Northern California, and discussed …
eDNA and O. mykiss, part II
Natalie Stauffer-Olsen Two weeks ago we looked at the use of eDNA in monitoring for the presence or absence of aquatic species. While our post was not a comprehensive review of this subject, we did include some of the most promising aspects — and some of the challenges — associated with using this new technology. In short, eDNA …
Science Friday: The value of new technology: eDNA and O. mykiss
By Natalie Stauffer-Olsen It is always exciting when new technology becomes available that can help us understand, manage and protect wild steelhead, the mavericks of the Pacific salmonids. Steelhead and rainbow trout populations can be difficult to predict, model and understand because of their very plastic (scientific term for highly variable) life histories, from juveniles to adults. What’s …
Science Friday: What happens when you cram the big’uns in with the small’ins?
We sure do love this beautiful weather! It’s almost the first day of June. Summer is officially within sight. This week’s Science Friday goes back in time over 20-years to 1997. We review a study conducted by Brett Harvey and Rodney Nakamoto. We have reviewed some of their work previously, which focused on habitat usage by adult steelhead. Today …
Science Friday: Successful habitat restoration on the Washougal River
Welcome to another Science Friday post from Wild Steelheaders United. In this space we usually review scientific studies that have implications for wild steelhead conservation and management. But we take a slightly different path this week. I was born and raised on the banks of the Washougal River in SW Washington. The poor Washougal has suffered more than most steelhead …
Science Friday: Why is your lateral line different than mine?
Most of us working on behalf of wild steelhead love our jobs. Still, after a long week we are ready to hit the water — and share some more Science Friday steelhead knowledge. This week we touch on a study conducted by Andrew Brown at the University of Washington, along with several co-authors. The paper is here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0059162 …