The story of Frank and Jeanne Moore has gained deserved attention in the past few years- from Frank’s service on the beaches of Normandy during WWII to his enduring love for both his wife and the North Umpqua River, to Jeanne’s stewardship as a botanist in the Umpqua basin. If you’re lucky enough to have fished the North Umpqua, you’ve …
Science Friday: Are some fish caught more than others, and if so, why?
We’re deep in the heart of winter steelhead season now. But if you’re like us, you are probably suffering from high-wateritis right about now — a common affliction for winter steelheaders. Living on the Olympic Peninsula, I have it bad. Non-stop rain for days. Rivers punched. Headaches due to lack of chrome-ium. Conditions better improve quickly…or I might not …
Science Friday: Space, time, and maximizing habitat capacity
All steelhead, all the time, here at Wild Steelheaders United. Over the past few weeks we have examined the scientific concepts and tools used to evaluate how productive a given stream can be for wild steelhead. Such assessments are an important component of managing a steelhead fishery — especially if the run in that watershed is ESA-listed (in the Lower …
Science Friday: The importance of both space and time in managing wild steelhead
This is the third of four posts on the nuts and bolts of estimating wild steelhead populations, spawning success, and other key management variables. First, we covered the concepts of carrying capacity and density dependence and how habitat can be used to estimate carrying capacity. Last week’s post shifted gears to review studies that found the spatial distribution …
Upcoming Public Meetings for Skagit Catch and Release Fishery
One of the few real success stories in steelhead conservation over the past decade is the comeback of wild steelhead in the Skagit River system. As we have been saying for several years, the rebound of this population has been substantial enough to consider re-opening the Skagit for a spring steelhead season. Wild Steelheaders United and other angling advocates have …
Science Friday: Juvenile Density, Distribution and Habitat Capacity
By John McMillan New Year, new Science Friday! Last week we looked at the concept of carrying capacity, how it is estimated, and the most important habitat factors used to come up with those estimations. This week we shift gears a bit and review studies that illuminate how patterns in fish distribution can affect assumptions about carrying capacity. Recall …
Science Friday: The habitat that steelhead prefer, and how we use it to estimate capacity of rivers
By John McMillan How many steelhead can you fit into a given watershed? Put another way, what is the carrying capacity of a given watershed for steelhead? This question, and its answer, are important for steelhead fishery managers, and anglers, as we collectively try to rebuild wild fish runs up and down the West Coast. To be clear, we …
Cutting TLMP threatens Tongass Steelhead
The incredible fishing opportunity in Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest has survived despite years of timber wars across the region. Logging the impressive old growth trees of the Tongass poses direct threats to wild salmon and steelhead by increasing the amount of sediment in streams, raising water temperatures and removing key spawning habitat. However, with a recent amendment to …
Snake River Steelhead Recovery Plan Released by NOAA
By Rob Masonis The recent release of the final federal recovery plan for Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook salmon and steelhead is a milestone in the decades-long effort to reverse the precipitous decline of salmon and steelhead runs in the Snake River system. The Snake was historically the most productive region in the Columbia Basin for spring/summer chinook and steelhead, …
Science Friday: The fate of stranded post-spawn adult steelhead
By John McMillan One significant way in which steelhead differ from salmon is that O. mykiss have the ability to survive spawning and try to make the journey again. This behavior is referred to as repeat spawning. Repeat spawner rates are highly variable among populations of steelhead, with rates being higher in coastal streams than among inland populations …