Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project

I would like to begin this article by thanking those new volunteers who have joined our ranks since our last Newsletter get together late last Fall. Your help is showing itself in our many activities, especially during the winter and spring.

As many of you know, this is our busiest time of the year. It begins with starting a new population of infant coho salmon and steelhead while at the same time releasing the juvenile coho and steelhead from last season into our local streams this new season. While this help is most appreciated, we are continuously in urgent need of new volunteers to assist us in performing our Mission of salmonid restoration. To date no person or persons have offered to take over my position as Board Chairman and/or some of the Chairman’s functions.

It is necessary that some additional persons will come forth soon to aid the present Board members in conducting the MBSTP activities. In our last Newsletter, I gave a review to our readers of the status of our Chinook Salmon Enhancement Program. We were optimistic that the 2009 season would offer a resurgence of the spawning Chinook to our rivers and streams. Unfortunately we now know that the return of spawning Chinook salmon in 2009 is approximately 90% lower than last year. Also the predictions of many fisheries’ biologists are that adult chinook salmon returns will be poor in year 2010 as well.

On the positive side, it is predicted that the spawning Chinook population will significantly increase in year 2011 and after. We hope that this resurgence of chinook will in-fact be the case. MBSTP is still in dire need of additional volunteers to staff a team for our Moss Landing Chinook Salmon Program activity. Any volunteers interested in participating in our Chinook Program please contact Larry Wolf at 831-688-4257 or Al Smith at 831-722-4753 for information on how to join this program. This year we are expecting to release one of our largest populations of steelhead in several years into local streams. Our steelhead planting in spring of 2009 will show an approximate increase of 65% over our planting quantity in 2008.

I would be pleased to hear about your thoughts for MBSTP’s future. Please send your inputs to me, Al Smith, via any of the following: E-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or FAX at 831-458-3095 or US Mail at MBSTP, 825 Big Creek Road, Davenport, CA 95017.

All of us in MBSTP give our continued thanks to these outstanding supporters and contributors of MBSTP:

• Big Creek Lumber Co.
• the David & Lucile Packard Foundation
• Fish & Game Advisory Commissions of Monterey, Santa Clara, & Santa Cruz Counties
• Commercial Salmon Stamp Committee
• Scotts Creek Watershed Council
• Santa Cruz Port District
• Moss Landing Harbor District

You are all the Very Best!