Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project

The Importance of Lagoon Habitat to Steelhead Survival on the Central Coast
By Morgan Bond, NOAA-NMFS

As many of you may know, I have been working with Sean Hayes on the NMFS Scott Creek Steelhead and Coho monitoring project for several years now. Shortly after being hired to assist Sean with field and lab work, I began to see some interesting trends in our data and also from the work of Prof. Jerry Smith and others, that pointed to the small Scott Creek lagoon as being very valuable habitat for juvenile Steelhead rearing.

In fact these trends were interesting enough to encourage me to enter the graduate program at UC Santa Cruz and explore the importance of the lagoon habitat to Steelhead survival as my Master’s thesis. As any MBSTP volunteer who has helped with the capture of Scott Creek Steelhead can attest, we take scale samples from any fish we get our hands on. Scales are particularly useful, because like the growth rings on a tree, scales record a history of fish growth. Using scales we can determine fish age (both ocean and juvenile freshwater age), spawning history, and now, using digital photography and computer aided precision measurement, we can determine how fast a fish was growing at each year of its life.

This is particularly important because we have discovered that growth of juvenile Steelhead in the lagoon is, at times, up to ten times faster than that of fish in the upper watershed (and some times even faster than fish in the hatchery). We also know that during the spring smolt run when young fish are moving from the upper watershed to the ocean, between 10 and 50 percent of these emigrants “choose” to remain in the lagoon and not go to sea. Fish that go to sea are fairly small, at about 100 mm (4.5”) in length. However, fish that remain in the lagoon throughout the summer have the opportunity to experience the high growth rates the lagoon affords, and will remain at least until the first winter storms open the lagoon.

In the intervening months, lagoon fish roughly double in size compared to their spring emigrating counterparts. I have been able to look at thousands of scales over the last several years from juveniles of both upstream and lagoon habitats. In a blind test I can assign a juvenile to its habitat of origin (either upstream or lagoon) with about 86% accuracy, based purely on the growth rate driven spacing of characteristic marks on the scales. Luckily, marks on the scales that were created when young Steelhead were growing are permanently recorded and can be read from adult scales.

In Scott Creek we operate a small weir that allows the capture and sample of about 75% of the returning adult population. I took scales from these adult Steelhead and analyzed them using identical procedures to the juvenile scales. Two analyses showed some striking results. First, I was able to back- calculate the size at ocean entry for each returning adult. This allowed me to compare the size at ocean entry of the survivors (returning adults) to the spring emigrating juveniles and

“…we have discovered that growth of juvenile Steelhead in the lagoon is, at times, up to ten times faster than that of fish in the upper watershed…"

fall lagoon residents for each year class. What I found was that few fish entering the ocean at less than 150 mm (6”) returned as adults. However, most of the spring emigrants are smaller than this survival threshold, and most lagoon residents are much larger than this minimum size before ocean entry in the fall.

Secondly, by looking only at the juvenile portion of each adult scale, I could use the same analysis of characteristic growth marks, or circuli, that we used to classify juveniles, to assign each returning adult as either upstream reared, or lagoon reared. As it turns out, the analysis indicates that 80% of the returning adults used the lagoon habitat prior to ocean entry. Remember though, that only between 10% and 50% of the juveniles from a given year even use the lagoon habitat, which further accentuates the importance of the lagoon as a critical habitat necessary for many of the juveniles to achieve a size large enough to compete and survive in the ocean.

Finally, we have been tagging both groups of fish (spring migrants and fall lagoon residents) with permanent, implantable, Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags. These tags last essentially forever, and allow us to measure ocean survival of both types of fish. To date, 17 adults have returned carrying tags. All 17 were originally tagged in the lagoon during the summer and fall of 2003 and 2004. Tag returns have helped to verify what we have observed in scale growth patterns and further illustrate the importance of the lagoon habitat. Although we are currently only studying the Scott Creek watershed, the important role the lagoon is playing in this watershed highlights the need for studying other lagoons on the central coast, many of which are impacted by alterations to the habitat. Restoration or protection of lagoons may be critical to Steelhead survival in our area.

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The Annual MBSTP Fin Clipping will be held on Saturday December 2 at the hatchery on Big Creek Road. There are a bunch of fish that need to be clipped at the hatchery this year and many volunteers are needed for this fun event! Clipping will start in the morning followed by a BBQ in the afternoon! Please contact Mary Hermansky ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 831-425-7004) or Sean Hayes ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 831-420-3937).

Additional details will be posted on the website http://www.mbstp.org/ in November!

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Our fish culturing and rearing activities for this 2005/2006 season have been quite active. For the first time in many years we have been allowed to plant our juvenile Coho Salmon in four different streams. We have recently completed planting a total of approximately 26,000 Coho juveniles into Aptos, Scotts, Pescadero, & Waddell Creeks. About 14% of these Coho were progeny of our Coho Captive Brood-stock Program. In addition we have completed planting our Steelhead smolt inventory of approximately 14,350 fish into 9 streams of the San Lorenzo River and Scotts Creek watersheds. The quantity of Steelhead would normally have been much larger, but as I mentioned in my article in the November 2005 Newsletter, a serious criminal act was committed at our rearing facility by the poisoning of some of our Steelhead adult brood-stock. This irrational act caused the loss of an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 juvenile Steelhead. So far the perpetrators have not been apprehended.

We have completed the spawning of our adult Coho Salmon for this year with an approximate yield of over 21,000 green eggs. At the time of writing this article, the spawning of our adult Steelhead is about 90% complete with an estimated yield of well over 50,000 green eggs.

Our Chinook program for 2006 is well underway with an estimated release of approximately 180,000 Chinook smolts into Monterey Bay waters.

A performance summary of our overall programs shows that for our Coho Salmon and Steelhead 29 year program history we have released well over 2,001,000 fish, and for our Chinook program we have released over 1,905,000 Chinook smolts during the 15 year history of this program. Our STEP activities are discussed elsewhere in this newsletter.

For some time now, many of us on the MBSTP Board of Directors have been pondering our “state-of-health” so to speak. Several of us on the Board have entered that blissful state of senior citizenship, and some of us are more “senior” than others. I have been a member of the MBSTP for 19 years, and I have been on the Board of Directors for over 12 years.

At a recent Board meeting, I informed my colleagues that I will be resigning as the Board Chairman by mid-year of 2007. My intent is to remain on the Board as a Director but my participation in Project activities will be quite substantially reduced. I have made this decision with some remorse, but it becomes necessary for most of us at some point in our lives to face the reality of where we are in life and change our focus accordingly.

It seems obvious to me that our Board is going to have to infuse some more “youthful blood” into our ranks this year and early next year for us to remain as a viable dynamic organization to perform our Project Mission and Goals. Although I can’t speak for all of the members of the Board, many of us believe that it is imperative for some of our supporters to step forward and offer to serve on our Board in order to keep our organization viable and going for the future. If we don’t get the necessary new members for our Board soon, some of us are convinced that we will eventually have to shut down the MBSTP.

In the immediate future I will be contacting individuals that I know who may be interested in helping us to resolve this dilemma. We believe that it is going to take many of you to get more proactive in helping us to resolve the issue as well. Please talk to your relatives, friends, colleagues, fishing groups, and other organizations that you are familiar with in order to discover some people that share our Salmonid preservation interests and concerns. Have any interested persons contact me at 831-722-4753 or 831-458-3095 or contact our Volunteer Coordinator Mary Hermansky at 831-331-5586.

As a final status item, I want to advise you that our annual funding dilemma has improved somewhat since late summer of 2005 with the provision of some grant funding that I had requested from NOAA through CDFG to help us with our operating costs through early 2007. Also I was recently informed that an additional funding request that I submitted in 2005 for operating funds assistance from NOAA has been approved for mid 2007 through mid 2009. We will continue in the future to pursue sources for grant funding for our various Project needs. History has shown us, however, that we cannot rely heavily on grant funding repeatedly, and therefore we must continue to rely on your great support. No doubt some of you, if not many of you, are employed by companies and organizations that have “donation match” programs. It would be a very effective way for those of you who are employees covered by such donation plans to increase the impact of your personal support to MBSTP through such matching donation programs.

All of us in the MBSTP want to thank all of you for your exceptional help and support. Our continued thanks to The David & Lucile Packard Foundation; Fish & Game Advisory Commissions of Monterey, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties; Commercial Salmon Stamp Committee; Scotts Creek Watershed Council; Santa Cruz Port District; and Moss Landing Harbor District. You all are the best!

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12th Annual 2006 Monterey Bay Big Fish Derby
June 30th, July 1st, & 2nd

By Larry Wolf

Once again it's Derby time in the Monterey Bay. This started out to be a very difficult year, due to the threat of Salmon Season being closed because of problems with the Klamath River Salmon run. It was not clear until March 25th if there would be any Salmon season at all. Now that the ink is dry, the Sport Salmon Season is open and all reports coming in are that there is plenty of bait and good water. The fishing has been hot and cold to date. The good news is that with the reduction of the commercial Salmon season, there should be plenty of fish in the bay all season long.

As in prior years, we will be awarding $1,000.00 for the biggest fish caught in the Derby. There will be four other cash prizes of $150.00 for the largest fish of each species caught, that did not win the grand prize. In addition, the winner of the heaviest cumulative weight over three days wins a 4-day, 3-night stay at the Hotel Buena Vista, in Baja California with meals, accommodations, and one day of fishing for two (airfare not included). A combination of any of the five species qualifies, but only one fish a day can be turned in per ticket. See the 2006 rules for complete details. The Grand Prize for the raffle will be a vacation package in
Palm Springs.

Tickets again can be purchased for $20.00 per day. A three day ticket will cost $45.00. Raffle tickets are $5.00 apiece. New this year is a chance to receive an annual subscription to Western Outdoor News for $19.99 for one year if you buy a derby ticket. It doesn’t matter if you are already a subscriber or a new subscriber. All you need to do is buy a derby ticket and you receive the discount coupon at that time. Thanks again to Western Outdoor News for supporting our hatchery.

You can buy your tickets at Bay Side Marine, at the new MTM business at the fuel dock in the Santa Cruz Harbor (formerly Shamrock), at Outdoor World, and Ernies Casting Pond in Soquel. In Salinas, check out The Tackle Box and in Hollister, the new Tackle Box. In Monterey, Chris & Randy’s Fishing Trips will be selling tickets & Outdoor World. In Moss Landing tickets will be available at Woodard’s Marine and Tom’s Sport Fishing. In Capitola, try the Pier for tickets. Tickets will also be on sale at the launch ramps in Monterey, Moss Landing, Capitola Pier and Santa Cruz Upper and Lower harbor on Derby days.

We are still looking for prizes and volunteers. The Derby is the Hatchery’s major fund raiser. Shirts, sweatshirts and hats will also be on sale. This is a very important time to support the only organization in our area that releases King Salmon into the Monterey Bay as well as Coho Salmon and Steelhead from our Hatchery on Big Creek in Davenport.
Good luck and I hope to see you there.

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