Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project

This past September we began the repair, replacement, & reconstruction project of the hatchery raceway shade cloth, predation netting, and support structure. The 1998 storm damage and age had taken its toll on the facility. At the same time we began construction of the new National Marine Fisheries Service funded Coho Captive Brood stock facility. The last nine months have been challenging trying to balance fish culture operations and all the disturbance caused by the construction activities, and the end appears to be forthcoming. Also, at the end of January, Al Smith and myself had to fly back to Salt Lake City to take delivery of our new four wheel drive diesel fish planting truck with tow five hundred gallon fish hauling tanks. We thank the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for funding this much needed tool for the safe and expedient delivery of the Coho and Steelhead to their rivers and streams of origin. The last two weeks of March 2004, sixteen trips were made with the new truck and ours and Fish & Games old trailers of 400 gallon capacity. This year we planted 53,752 San Lorenzo River Steelhead from Henry Cowell Park up to waterman’s gap and all of the main tributaries. We also planted 3,770 Scotts Creek Steelhead into the watershed.
This past winter’s rains were again found to be all or nothing. Early rains were non-existent, and the first major storm produced 5 inches of rain overnight on December 29th & 30th which finally breached the sand bar at the mouth of Scotts Creek. However, the resultant high water flows also buried the new fish trap and weir being operated by NOAA Fisheries. The NMFS scientists for stream fish population monitoring studies use the new weir to provide us with spawning adults. Rocks and debris had collapsed the wier panels which count not be uncovered until January 4th and the creek remained muddy till January 7th when NMFS and Project divers and volunteers were able to get into the creek and look for returning adult Coho. We were anticipating a run of early young precocious Coho males and a few females from the accelerated growth program to replace missing year classes. Over the next week while searching the creek almost 100 coho were observed, five were females in the act of spawning and an additional 3 carcasses and 2 spent females were found, so at least 10 female fish spawned in the creek. Nine wild males were collected. The one and only three year old male and eight precocious two year olds were taken. The sperm was saved for future years since no adult females were taken to the hatchery and no Coho were hatched at the hatchery this year. Although the sperm has been cryopreserved for future use, two late developing precocial females were found in the Seawater Captive Brood Stock Facility at NMFS Long Marine Lab. With our new ultra-sound equipment, we have identified and brought them to the hatchery and hopefully they will fully mature soon.

The new fish trap & weir caught just over 300 steelhead this year the NMFS estimate of captures and escapes over the weir for a total population run of over 500 adult steelhead this year. Males and females were about equal. This year we spawned only 2 steelhead females from Scotts Creek to support NMFS growth rate and early development studies.

San Lorenzo River Steelhead trapping was not permitted until the first week of February, when the City of Santa Cruz inflated the Felton Dam. A total of a dozen females were collected and spawned at the hatchery of the permitted 15 females. We were unable to collect the three remaining females due to several vandalism incidents to the Felton dam bladder. Anticipated steelhead production this year is 8,000 Scotts Creek Fish and 52,000 San Lorenzo River fish.

I would like to thank all of the numerous volunteers who have donated their time and energy to our fish cultural and construction activities over the past year and to all of the individuals who have donated their hard earned dollars. Without you this project could not survive. Again, thank you!!

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