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 …
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: Surviving heat, drought and ponded streams
It is that time of year again. Heat wave after heat wave. As summer progresses stream flows will continue to decline all across steelhead country, and in some cases, smaller tributaries will go dry. In other cases, streams won’t be completely dewatered; instead, they will become ponded. This occurs when flows diminish so much that the only remaining surface …
Science Friday: How does catch and release affect steelhead?
Today we review a study on the impacts of catch and release angling on wild steelhead in the Bulkley River, the largest tributary to British Columbia’s legendary Skeena system. Conducted by Will Twardek and several others, this study looked into the effects of catch and release, air exposure and fight time on behavior and survival to spawning. The study …
Science Friday: Do these lipids make me look fat?
For most anglers who have encountered both winter and summer steelhead, it’s abundantly clear there are differences between the two races of fish. For one, they enter freshwater at different times of the year, although there is some overlap. In addition, there are physical differences. Summer steelhead tend to be more fusiform — sleeker and more firm bodied …
Science Friday: Do it once, do it twice. The tradeoffs of repeat spawning in steelhead
We are back after a short break, after coming through a heavy dose of conservation work. That work, in part, helped convince the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service to re-open the iconic Skagit River for a catch-and-release season for wild steelhead. It feels like a new day has dawned for steelheaders in Puget …
Stock Recruit Curves And Wild Steelhead, A Good Match?
In several recent posts we have discussed the concept of density dependence and how it is used in fisheries management. Today we dive in deeper and talk about the stock-recruitment relationship, density dependence, and how the results of such models are applied to managing steelhead. First, let’s define some terms. Stock refers to, in this context, a population of …
Science Friday: Steelhead fry party when the lights go off — but will they wake up high and dry?
In our last Science Friday post we took a look, in part, at the feeding behavior of bass. This week we are moving down in the feeding column to focus on catfish. Just kidding. It’s all steelhead all the time here. Today we review a paper by David Hines and several colleagues. The study focuses on the behavior …
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 …