Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project

The winter of 2008-2009 was another rough season for the Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project. Many of our programs are operating at a reduced level and some not at all. Unlike many organizations, our problems do not stem from a lack of funding or participation by our volunteers. Our hatchery is dealing first hand with the collapse of the ocean’s food chain in 2005 and 2006. It hit all of California and Oregon, with the worst effects ranging from the Klamath River, south to the Monterey Bay. We saw the complete loss of our 2005 Coho Salmon brood stock of 30,000 fish released. This was one of our largest releases of Coho Salmon. We know that these fish made it to the ocean; therefore the only explanation is the collapse of the food chain in our area when they went out to sea in March 2005. A similar event occurred in the ocean in 2006. Then, again this winter, with no rain until February 2009, we saw only two Coho Salmon return to Scott Creek and a greatly reduced run of Steelhead. We are working hand in hand with Fish & Game and the National Marine Fisheries Service to operate a captive brood stock program, in an attempt to save the remaining genetics of this run of Coho Salmon. We are hoping for a miracle and a lot of rain next winter.

The Steelhead program also has problems that are very difficult to resolve with NMFS and Fish & Game. Since 2000, when our fish were listed as a threatened fish, programs have been put in place to limit hatchery production and all take of Steelhead on the San Lorenzo River. In addition, a no take provision for Steelhead has been in place for all other creeks in our area since 1999. We were told by NMFS and Fish & Game that these provisions would help restore the Steelhead runs in our area and lead to more fish in the streams. In 1999 and 2000, we were seeing about 1,500 to 3,000 adult fish a year return to the San Lorenzo River. Around 30% of these were hatchery fish, and 70% wild fish. When the new provisions were announced, Al Smith and I argued hard that these new rules could lead to a collapse of the Steelhead runs in all of our local creeks and rivers. Again we were pressured by the NMFS and Fish & Game biologists and environmental groups, that fisherman and hatcheries were the cause of the fish declines in our area. With our hatchery production reduced for the San Lorenzo River and Scott Creek, I have watched the runs slowly collapse to the point that we only saw 185 fish return to the Felton Fish Trap on the San Lorenzo River and a little over a 100 fish for Scott Creek, an approximate 90% decline since 1999.

Since the fishermen and the hatchery have been either eliminated or greatly reduced as a cause of the fish decline, Fish & Game and NMFS have now decided that the problem in our area is actually the lack of water in the streams and rivers and poor ocean conditions. At this time, without the constant contribution of hatchery fish to the stream populations, wild fish production, which has been greatly reduced by the lack of water, could collapse to the point that there would be no fishing, nor other recreational activities allowed in or around any of the rivers or creeks in Monterey Bay area. To date, little has been done do stop the water draw from the San Lorenzo River, and it could take years before any real plan is put into place. It has taken more than 10 years for NMFS and Fish & Game to formulate a recovery plan for both Coho Salmon and Steelhead, yet none has been passed, nor put into action.

In the meantime, as the fish populations decline we keep losing access to fishing and recreational activities in our local streams and the ocean. Ten years ago when poor ocean conditions or drought hit our area, the hatchery would step up its production to help the recovery efforts of our steelhead populations. Now with limited production, the recovery may take many more years than in the past and may not happen at all. There are fundamental differences in philosophy between the Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project’s recovery plan and Fish & Game and NMFS recovery plan. F&G and NMFS want to shut down as much fishing and hatchery production as they choose until they resolve how to have more wild fish return to the rivers and creeks. MBSTP wants to restore our local rivers and creeks with our hatchery fish, insuring the survival of the runs, while F&G and NMFS figure out how to put more water back into the rivers.

**Keep in mind, our hatchery fish are the same genetic stock as wild fish in the San Lorenzo River and Scott Creek. At some point there should be some form of accountability for their actions and reasonable time frames set. Fish & Game and NMFS can afford to take as much time as they need, regardless of the outcome of their decisions. Most of these people will move on in their careers, without a look back; however, we who live here will be stuck with no recourse, no fish and no fishing, with the only recovery plan being to wait another 10 years, perhaps more, and then re-evaluate their progress or lack thereof at that time. **

Our hatchery fish are spawned from only wild fish that return to Scott Creek and the San Lorenzo River. In addition, we only spawn a returning wild fish once in their lifetime at the hatchery. There are no known genetic differences in our fish and wild fish spawned in the river. The only obvious difference is that our hatchery fish are raised & fed in a hatchery for one year before their release and return to the ocean where wild fish live two years in the river before they go to the ocean. Our hatchery production of San Lorenzo Steelhead over the last 10 years has fallen to an average of about 36,000 fish. Scott Creek production is down to 4,000 fish. At the request of Fish & Game, we have reduced the amount of food we can feed our hatchery fish. By raising smaller fish, this helps increase their mortality and keeps their returns to a minimum so as not to over compete with returning wild fish.