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 …
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 …
Much at stake in listing decision on Northern California summer steelhead
We love all steelhead here at Wild Steelheaders United, but some anadromous O. mykiss populations may deserve more love than others. Consider wild summer run steelhead in Northern California. The available data for wild summers between Redwood Creek and the Gualala River (including the legendary Eel River watershed) suggest their numbers are greatly depleted — probably enough to warrant …
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 …
Lessons from a steelhead rescue and captive rearing program on California’s Carmel River
By: Natalie Stauffer-Olsen, Staff Scientist, TU’s California Science Program One of the things that I have always admired most about O. mykiss is how adaptable and resilient they are. The rainbow trout, in both its resident and anadromous forms, evolved to take advantage of the most abundant habitats for their different life history stages as well as the genetic …
Timely & Accurate Fish Counts on Oregon’s North Umpqua River
Knowing exactly how many salmon and steelhead comprise a particular run is crucial for proper fisheries management. Throughout wild steelhead range, agencies struggle with tight budgets and frequently, monitoring returning adults falls to the bottom of the priority list. Since the 1950’s the fish ladder and viewing window at Winchester Dam near Roseburg, Oregon on the famed North Umpqua river …
Olympic Peninsula Guide Legislation
Trout Unlimited has been working with guides and anglers to discuss and facilitate limited entry guide legislation for the Olympic Peninsula (OP). As part of this process we collaborated with the Olympic Peninsula Guides Association (OPGA) to draft and pass a budget proviso during the last legislative session. The proviso directs the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (the Department) …