For the past three years, a diverse group of anglers with a shared passion for Puget Sound steelhead have worked to develop a portfolio of watershed-specific conservation, fishery, and hatchery strategies for that population. We’re excited to share with you a sneak-peek of the Quicksilver Portfolio.
WDFW grants permission to Cooke Aquaculture to raise triploid trout in Puget Sound
By John McMillan, Wild Steelhead Science Director Conserving and restoring our wild steelhead runs requires a blend of habitat work, adjustments in management and angling policy, and advocacy from the angling community. As anyone who follows us here at Wild Steelheaders United knows, one of the issues we look at frequently is the impact of captive-hatched or reared fish on …
Science Friday: Can innovative methods for a wild broodstock hatchery rebuild a depleted wild population
This week we send you off with a review of a recent before-and-after study on hatchery steelhead published by Barry Berejikian and Donald Van Doornick (find the study here). The goal of this long-term study, conducted in a handful of rivers in Hood Canal, Washington, was to determine if a well-designed hatchery program could help rebuild populations of steelhead that …
Can a Wild Coho Salmon Population Recover Following Closure of a Hatchery Program
Today’s post is the conclusion of our two part guest series on the recovery of Coho in Oregon’s Salmon River. (Click here for last weeks post) Lately we have shared several studies on Pink and Coho salmon, which provide important lessons for salmonid recovery efforts across a range of species and watersheds. Perhaps the most important lesson is that decisions …
The Elwha Files: My oh my, what have we found
By John McMillan Should we invest in dam removal? It’s a question that many communities, businesses and policy-makers are facing these days — partly because of aging infrastructure and financial liabilities, and partly because of legal obligations to protect water quality and recover declining salmon and steelhead populations. To that, I say: let the fish tell us what works. One …
Science Friday: How summer steelhead are genetically different than winters
Many anglers over the years have no doubt wondered why some steelhead return to freshwater during the hottest and driest part of the year. The reasons why are both simple and complex. The most obvious difference between summer steelhead and their winter run brethren is that they enter freshwater streams in summer and fall, not winter. Duh. But that …