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 …
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: 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 …
Science Friday: Restoring the River Salmon: The Coho Return
Today we are re-publishing an excellent article by Dan Bottom on the remarkable against all odds recovery of Salmon River Coho. This article was originally written for and published by the Reflections program at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology near Otis on Oregon’s Salmon River. This article was submitted by Dan Bottom, a current Howard L. McKee …
Science Friday: The latest from the longest running steelhead monitoring project in British Columbia
Thank goodness it’s Friday. Fall is in the air and it’s time to get on the river! But first, let’s give our steelhead IQs another booster shot with a new Science Friday post. This week we have a guest writer and scientist, Colin Bailey, a PhD student studying fisheries science at Simon Fraser University under Jonathan Moore (Moore …
Not too hot, not too cold, the ocean must be just right
Two weeks ago we were on the Dean. This week we go even further north, to Auke Bay near Juneau, Alaska, for our next Science Friday post. The greater Juneau are is home to several rivers that host wild steelhead runs. Auke Creek is perhaps the most important of these feeder streams, as scientists at the Auke Bay Marine …
Science Friday: Who’s who in the Elwha after dam removal
By John McMillan We should not be surprised by steelhead and salmon rushing upstream to pass former dams. That is their nature — to push boundaries, access new habitat. Unbuild it, and they will come. And come they have in Washington’s Elwha River, where in 2014 two old dams were taken down. Not only have we observed hundreds …
Rise of the Phoenix: wild summer steelhead in the Elwha River
By John McMillan, science director, Trout Unlimited Wild Steelhead Initiative A few years back, while working on the Elwha dam removal project, I donned a wetsuit for one of many snorkel surveys I conducted that summer. I had been snorkeling the main-stem Elwha, but that day – a crisp cool day in mid-October – I found myself drawn to …