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Update on Oregon South Coast Steelhead Management Plan

In Oregon by Sophia Kaelke

Last Friday, the ODFW Commission met to discuss the Rogue-South Coast Plan. The virtual meeting was open to the public and many anglers, guides and elected officials showed up to comment. Out of fifty comments focused on the issue of harvest, thirty-seven people testified in support of a catch and release alternative.

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What You Can Do to Help Wild Steelhead of Oregon’s South Coast

In Oregon by Sophia Kaelke

Throughout their range, the odds have not been looking good for wild steelhead and in many cases ODFW and other agencies are taking steps to prioritize the long-term health of wild steelhead, as seen with closures to the Columbia Basin tributaries in Oregon. So, why won’t ODFW apply the same level of caution when it comes to the issue of harvest in Oregon’s south coast?

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Coquille Bass Blitz – Revisited

In Oregon by Dean Finnerty

Wild Steelhead Initiative Manager, Dean Finnerty, and his son recently assisted ODFW with electro-fishing on the Coquille River, one of Oregon’s finest salmon and steelhead waters. ODFW’s electro-fishing efforts help remove non-native species that adversely affect native fish.

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Winning the Ecological Lottery

In Oregon by Sophia Kaelke

In this week’s installment of a five-part series into steelhead biology and fishery management, we dive into a discussion around life history diversity and how it relates to estimating habitat capacity.

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What Is a Stock-Recruit Model? And Why You Should Care

In Oregon by Sophia Kaelke

In the third installment of our five-part series on the Rogue-South Coast Plan, we look into how scientists and managers most commonly estimate if harvest is appropriate for a certain population and at what level. This is generally done with modeling, which is nothing more than taking all of the data that is available for a certain population and combining it with a little bit of math and a few assumptions.

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For the First Time in My Life

In Oregon by Dean Finnerty

For the first time in my life, I won’t be skating flies over glassy tailouts for summer steelhead this year on my beloved North Umpqua River. That’s because the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has closed this legendary fishery until December due to extreme low flows and dangerously high water temps.