Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project

By Dave Streig

We have come a long way and seen numerous changes in all areas of our hatchery production and planting since our first fish were released into the upper Salinas River watershed in 1976. In completing our 24th year of operation, we have encountered more changes affecting the way we raise and plant fish than in prior years, and still more changes must be made to accommodate for new rules and regulations. With the "threatened" listing of steelhead under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), NMFS is planning to implement the 4(d) rules for protection of the species. This sets in motion a recovery planning process with specific protection plans for steelhead living in our area. Evolutionary Significant Units (ESUs), designate distinct populations of fish which are treated as a species under the ESA. In our case, we are now functioning in two ESUâs for Steelhead. A boundary line between the North Central ESU and the South Central ESU steelhead populations has been drawn on the ridge separating the Aptos Creek from the Pajaro River system. In the past, under the direction of the California Department of Fish & Game (CDF&G), all of our fish stocks, have been taken from either the San Lorenzo River or Scott Creek. This past season, at the request of the State and Federal agencies, we reduced our steelhead production while the agencies worked on common goals and directions for how many fish should be living in our watersheds. As a result, this yearâs totals of fish planted in our local watersheds are as follows:

 

Currently, our 25th year of fish production is well under way with the first of this yearâs baby fish now out in the hatchery rearing troughs. Some eggs are still in the eyeing jars with others in hatch trays. We have completed all the spawning activities for Steelhead for this year. We spawned 10 San Lorenzo River steelhead, 3 Scott Creek steelhead, and new this year, 5 Carmel River steelhead females. The Carmel River stock is to be used to plant rivers that are in the South Central ESU. These include the Pajaro River system, the Salinas River and the Carmel River.

Again this year, Mother Nature made spawning almost impossible for our endangered coho salmon. With no rains to increase stream flows, the first fish did not enter Scott Creek until Jan. 19th. MBS&TP teams captured 5 male and 2 female Coho Salmon on Jan. 22nd. Unfortunately, both female salmon were spent, with no eggs left. We did observe a third coho female and three males in the act of spawning, and these fish were left undisturbed. We returned to this spot a week later and were delighted to find eggs in the gravel. Unfortunately the Valentineâs storm of Feb. 13th resulted in four feet of bed load moving down the creeks through this area, scouring away all rocks and sand. So sadly all the eggs were probably destroyed. Subsequent intensive coho salmon collection efforts by MBS&TP teams through March 17th, found no other adult Coho in our watershed. The frequent and catastrophic events (droughts, floods, and El Ni–o) in recent years have severely depressed our southern coho populations.

The final draft of our Recovery Plan for coho salmon (Strategic Plan for Restoration of the Endangered Coho Salmon South of San Francisco Bay) has just been completed and is now awaiting final governmental adoption and implementation. However, some components of the Recovery Plan are being implemented now. NMFS is building a seawater coho captive brood stock facility at the new Southwest Fisheries Science Center located in Santa Cruz. This may also be duplicated at the Moss Landing Marine laboratories and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. NMFS has also hired a geneticist to design a program, using the monitoring of DNA samples, to insure that there is diverse genetic variation in wild and captured coho brood stock.

Five hundred of our cohos that were to be planted this past March, are presently in holding pens. They are going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for salt water acclimation and are then to be moved to the NMFS facility to produce adult Coho Salmon. The majority of each yearâs captive brood stock is destined for release into the wild in order to jump-start the recovery of streams that have suitable habitat and are addressed in the Recovery Plan. I feel it is time to take extraordinary measures to save our coho salmon. These are the only stocks of coho salmon adapted environmental conditions favoring late spawning and warmer water temperatures. On a special note, at the American Fisheries Society, California-Nevada Chapter Meeting on March 31st, MBS&TP Chairman Allen Smith was awarded the Conservation Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to fisheries conservation and restoration.

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