the ospreyospreysteelhead.org/archives/theospreyissue75.pdf · 2017. 3. 2. · the osprey letters...

Kate Myers, PhD is retired from theUniversity of Washington’s School ofAquatic and Fishery Sciences. NateMantua, PhD, is a scientist on the staffof NOAA National Marine FisheriesService Southwest Fisheries ScienceCenter. The Southwest FisheriesScience Center web site is at:www.swfsc.noaa.gov.

Climate plays a key role insteelhead habitat. This istrue for steelhead in fresh-water, estuaries, and evenin the North Pacific Ocean.

Most steelhead research has focusedon freshwater ecology, for in streamsand rivers steelhead are much moreaccessible than they are at sea. It isprobably not a surprise then, that cli-mate impacts on steelhead in theirfreshwater habitats have received afair bit of attention from scientists.One of us (NM) co-authored an articlein the January 2005 issue of TheOsprey focused on global warming,steelhead freshwater ecology, and

steelhead fishing (Available at:http://www.ospreysteelhead.org/archives/TheOspreyIssue50.pdf). In theeight years since, we and others havefocused new attention on the oceanecology of steelhead, and how globalwarming might impact steelhead atsea.

Knowledge of the entire life historyof steelhead is fundamental to under-standing the potential effects of cli-mate change on this species. Steelheadexhibit a wide range of variation infreshwater and ocean life-history pat-terns. For example, degree of

anadromy (some mature in freshwaterwithout migrating to the ocean), adflu-vial (within-river) migration, freshwa-ter residency of pre-smolts (1-7 years;smoltification is the physiological tran-sition stage between freshwater andocean habits, when juveniles becomesilvery and streamlined), ocean entrytiming of smolts (early spring to midsummer), pre-spawning ocean agestructure (typically, 1-3 years), maturi-ty type (ocean-maturing or stream-maturing), seasonal races and run-tim-ing of adults (winter, spring, summer,fall), fecundity (number of eggs, 2,500-10,000), and iteroparity (repeat spawn-ing, 0-6 times, sometimes skipping ayear between spawning events). Thistremendous variation reflects the widerange of genetic adaptation and plasticresponse (ability of an individual fishto modify its physical characteristics)to environmental conditions. These multiple life-history strategiesenable steelhead to adjust rapidly tonew environmental conditions, provid-

THE OSPREYA Journal Published by the Steelhead Committee

International Federation of Fly Fishers

Dedicated to the Preservation of Wild Steelhead • Issue No. 75 MAY 2013

CLIMATECHANGE &STEELHEAD— PAGE 1 —

STEELHEADCOUNTRY IS

FINITE— PAGE 3 —

WILL STEELHEADSURVIVE CLIMATE

CHANGE— PAGE 8

DESCHUTESSALMON & STEELHEAD— PAGE 9 —

MT ST HELENS GOLD MINE

THREAT— PAGE 13 —

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIASTEELHEAD— PAGE 15 —

Continued on Page 4

Climate Change and Ocean Ecology of Northwest Steelhead

by Kate Myers and Nate Mantua— University of Washington, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service —

IN THISISSUE:

That steelhead havebeen successful for 6million years gives us

hope they will be able to adapt.

www.ospreysteelhead.org/archives/TheOspreyIssue50.pdf

www.ospreysteelhead.org/archives/TheOspreyIssue50.pdf

www.swfsc.noaa.gov

Ilike to think of this issue of TheOsprey as one that offers reasonfor hope amidst the usual relent-less flow of bad news when itcomes to the state of the envi-

ronment, and for wild salmon andsteelhead in particular. With recent news reports showing

that 97 percent of climate scientistsnot only believe that climate change isreal and that it is largely fueled byhuman activity, its long-term impactson coldwater fish has kept many a wildsalmon and steelhead advocate up atnight.But consider Kate Myers and Nate

Mantua’s cover story on climatechange and steelhead, and how the fishcould respond to changing climaticconditions. Their intriguing hypothesissuggests that steelhead range mightultimately expand into far northernand Arctic rivers that are now too coldand unproductive to support them as awarming climate makes their watersmore hospitable. If that is the case,then it is feasible that as steelheadrange shifts north, they may well findenough new habitat to colonize tomake up for habitat lost to the south. In

his supporting article, SteelheadCommittee member Pete Soverel givesadditional insight, based on his exten-sive personal experience on Russia’sKamchatka Peninsula, into the possi-bility of steelhead colonization of farnorthern rivers.On the other end of the spectrum is

the story on efforts to restore southernCalifornia steelhead by KurtZimmerman, Tim Frahm and SamDavidson — populations, though bat-tered, are still hanging on. Alreadyhard-pressed, these will be the steel-head populations that take the brunt ofthe effects of climate change. But theauthors of this piece mention, as doMyers and Mantua, the steelhead’sresiliency. Already adapted to the rig-ors of a warmer climate, perhaps witha little help from people — restoringhabitat, providing coldwater refugia —there is enough adaptability left inthose southern fish to survive awarmer earth. It may all be wishful thinking on my

part or, just perhaps, the future of wildsalmon and steelhead may be lessgloomy than is often predicted.

Contributing EditorsPete Soverel • Bill Redman Stan Young • Norm Ploss

William Atlas • Schuyler DunphyScott Hagen Contributors

Kate Myers • Nate MantuaWill Atlas • Pete Soverel

Megan Hill • Jessica Walz Schafer Kurt Zimmerman • Tim Frahm

Sam Davidson

LayoutJim Yuskavitch

THE OSPREY

Letters To The EditorThe Osprey welcomes submissions

and letters to the editor. Submissions may be

made electronically or by mail.

The OspreyP.O. Box 1228

Sisters, OR [email protected](541) 549-8914

The Osprey is a publication of TheInternational Federation of Fly Fishersand is published three times a year. Allmaterials are copy protected and requirepermission prior to reprinting or otheruse.

THE OSPREY IS PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPERUSING SOY INK

The International Federation of FlyFishers is a unique non-profit organiza-tion concerned with sport fishing and

fisheriesThe Federation of Fly Fishers

(FFF) supports conservation of allfish in all waters. FFF has a longstanding commitment to solving fish-eries problems at the grass roots. Bycharter and inclination, FFF is orga-nized from the bottom up; each ofits 360+ clubs, all over NorthAmerica and the world, is a uniqueand self-directed group. The grass roots focus reflectsthe reality that most fisheries solutions must come at

ChairWill Atlas

EditorJim Yuskavitch

FROM THE PERCH — EDITOR’S MESSAGE

2 MAY 2013 THE OSPREY • ISSUE NO. 75

Surviving Climate Changeby Jim Yuskavitch

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From 100,000 feet, steelheadcountry has always seemedso vast, an endless expanseof rivers ranging from thenorthern coast of California

to the Aleutian Peninsula in Alaska.While we collectively mourn the riverslost to dam building, development andthe rest of the insults brought on by acentury long onslaught of developmentand resource extraction, we alwaysfind solace in the fact that somewhereout there, there are hundreds of wild,unexplored rivers where all is right inthe world. For decades, Americans andEuropeans have counted on BritishColumbia as their reliably wild, abun-dant angling playground. Yes, we haveall heard of the Dean, and the manylegendary tributaries of the Skeena,but the assumption is always that theremust be so much more. Just looking atthe map, this is an understandable con-clusion. British Columbia and Alaskaare indeed blessed with vast, wildcoastlines. In 2009, I moved to British Columbia

with all the enthusiasm one wouldexpect from a mid-20s American steel-head bum who has suddenly beenawarded the right to fish in BC as alegal resident. In my mind BC had longrepresented a sort of mythicalShangri-la of steelhead and salmonangling. An immensely wild country,laced with hundreds of unspoiled steel-head rivers just waiting to be explored.Flash forward four years and 100,000kilometers on the odometer and mynaively enthusiastic perspective hasbeen changed irreparably. In late March, I sat soaking in the

glory of an early spring day anglingwith friends, chatting over burgersand beers at a favorite local wateringhole in Squamish. Poul Bech, a retiredbiologist and master steelhead angler,joined us, and in the midst of a reflec-tion of the days gone by when theSquamish produced world class fishingless than an hour away from

Vancouver, he put words to the feelingthat had been growing in my gut, “Iused to assume there were dozensmore Squamish Rivers on up the coast,but over the years I’ve discoveredthere really is only one. And once youlose it, there’s no going back.” Poul’swords perfectly captured a realizationthat had, in the past years of discoveryand disappointment, been growing inmy mind as well. That realizationreflects the reality that the world’sgreat steelhead and salmon rivers areprecious and irreplaceable, and whenwe have destroyed what is before us,we truly have nowhere left to go.

Today, the perils of our cultural shortsightedness are increasingly unavoid-able and well understood. One needonly witness the clearcut wastelandsof Vancouver Island or the OregonCoast, visit a now fishless river mur-dered by toxic mining waste, or con-sider for a moment theutterly insane propos-al to pipe Alberta’stoxic heavy crudethrough the heart ofthe Skeena — our plan-et’s greatest remain-ing salmon sanctuary— to understand thatrivers lost cannot sim-ply be replaced. Welive in a time when wemust increasinglygrapple with the reali-ty, that resources oncetaken for granted,

once viewed as inexhaustible, are infact finite. In this rude recognition wecan also draw hope, from the growingand diverse chorus of citizens whohave rallied around the greatestremaining salmon watersheds onearth, and from the remarkableresilience of salmon and steelhead. Throughout their evolutionary histo-

ry salmon and steelhead have recov-ered from catastrophic landslides, vol-canic eruptions, floods and glaciations.Free from human meddling, salmonand steelhead have persisted for sixmillion years in the most dynamic andat times inhospitable habitats imagin-able. This resilience continues tobuffer their populations from even themost devastating human activities, andin watersheds like the Eel, Wind,Wenatchee, Elwha, and upperDeschutes, salmon and steelhead havedemonstrated their remarkable capac-ity for recovery, and self preservation.Despite all the destruction of the pastcentury, the fish continue to do theirpart, undertaking an annual migrationthat remains among the most signifi-cant ecological and cultural forces inthe Pacific Northwest. Now it’s up to usto do our part to stop the bleeding anddo everything we can to ensure notanother watershed is sacrificed at thealtar of greed and shortsightedness.

THE OSPREY • ISSUE NO. 75 MAY 2013 3

Steelhead Country is Finiteby Will Atlas

— Chair, Steelhead Committee —

The world’s greatsteelhead and salmonrivers are precious and irreplacable.

CHAIR’S CORNER

ing a survival advantage over otherless adaptable species. The successfuladaptation to artificial habitats (hatch-eries, rearing pens, holding ponds,reservoirs), as well as its ability toestablish anadromous runs in non-native oceans (southwestern Atlanticocean off Patagonia) and in the GreatLakes, bears testimony to the ability ofthis ancient (~6 million years old)species to adapt to diverse and oftenunfavorable environmental conditions.In fact, unfavorable environmentalconditions in freshwater and oceanhabitats drive anadromy in thisspecies.

While fly fishers are usually wellversed in the freshwater life history oftheir favorite fish, the all-importantocean phase that produces the largeadult fish of a steelheader's dreams ismore of a mystery. There is still muchto discover and learn, but nearly 60years of marine research focused pri-marily on abundant species importantto commercial fisheries (sockeye, pink,chum, coho, and Chinook salmon) haveprovided a basic scientific understand-

ing of steelhead ocean ecology, that is,the relationship between steelhead andtheir ocean environment. In their natural habitat in the North

Pacific Ocean, steelhead migrate andfeed in the near-surface (epipelagic)and surface (neustonic) ocean layers.Limited data from electronic tags thatrecord ambient temperature andswimming depths indicate maximumdives to depths of about 50 meters (164ft) and most time spent in the top fewmeters. Upper ocean temperature isthe primary physical factor influenc-ing the distribution of steelhead in theopen ocean. Thus, lines on a map con-necting points with the same sea sur-face temperature, called isotherms,can be used to roughly approximatedistribution. In general, steelhead dis-tribution in the open ocean is locatedbetween the 15°C (59°F) isotherm(southern boundary) and 5°C (41°F)isotherm (northern boundary) (Figure1). These boundaries shift betweenmonths, seasons, years, and decades.During all seasons, the main body offeeding-migrating steelhead is located

north of the Subarctic OceanBoundary, defined by the vertical 34.0(salinity) isohaline, and south of theAleutian Island chain (Figure 2).However, steelhead do venture outsideof these bounds seeking productivefeeding grounds— southwards into thetransition zone between subarctic andsubtropical waters in spring and north-wards into the Bering Sea in summer.The known northwestward extent ofNorth American steelhead distribu-tion, which extends into the RussianExclusive economic (200-mile) zone inthe western North Pacific, is in latesummer-early fall. In winter, the dis-tribution of both North American andRussian steelhead shifts eastward, andby the following spring the main bodyof feeding-migrating steelhead is atthe southernmost extent of its open-ocean range in productive waters ofthe eastward flowing SubarcticCurrent and the transition domain(located just north of the SubarcticBoundary) in the central and easternsubarctic North Pacific. As first noted


Climate Change and SreelheadContinued from page 1

Continued on next page

Figure 1. Average sea surface temperature in April-May-June for 1971-2000, with solid contours indicating steelhead high seas habitatbetween the 5 and 15°C isotherms. Actual temperatures vary between months, seasons, years and decades. Dashed contours for the3 and 13°C isotherms indicate one scenario for steelhead high seas habitat in spring after a 2°C warming of the North Pacific Ocean,which is expected to happen sometime in the 2nd half of this century.

by a Canadian scientist, Dr. DavidWelch, the open-ocean latitudinalranges of upper and lower sea surfacetemperature limits in spring and fresh-water spawning distribution of NorthAmerican steelhead are roughlymatched, suggesting that thermalrequirements of steelhead at oceanentry might drive freshwater distribu-tion.Within the broad range of thermal

habitats, currents, and oceanicdomains occupied by steelhead, themost important factor regulating steel-head distribution is the location oftheir preferred prey. At oceanentrance, juvenile steelhead feed pri-marily on small fish and zooplankton ininland and coastal marine habitats. InNorth America, juveniles migraterapidly to open-ocean habitats beyondthe continental shelf in the Gulf ofAlaska, where they feed on larval andjuvenile fish and small squid. Older age

groups of steelhead are capable of con-suming a large variety of prey speciesin marine habitats. But food habitsdata indicate that steelhead prefer tofeed on relatively few species of high-ly visible and abundant fish and squid.The single most important prey ofsteelhead in the open ocean is the min-imal armhook squid Berryteuthisanonychus (Figure 3). While in pelagichabitats near or over the continentalshelf, steelhead diets are often domi-nated by fish. Analyses of two long time series of

open-ocean steelhead food habits databy our graduate student Margaret"Megan" Atcheson showed significantyear-to-year variation in primary prey,as well as stomach fullness, averageprey energy density, and percentage ofsteelhead with empty stomachs, andhigher year-to-year variation in faroffshore regions. Variability in steel-head diets probably reflects changes inthe availability of preferred prey. As

opportunistic predators, steelhead canreadily switch their prey. When preyabundance is low, steelhead may feednon-selectively on prey of varioussizes and species, while at high preydensities selection of a single speciesof large prey and high diet overlapwith other species may occur. Research led by a Japanese scientist,

Dr. Masahide Kaeriyama, and expand-ed by Megan Atcheson's recent work,demonstrates that climate-drivenchanges in ocean conditions can affectdiets, growth, and ecological interac-tions of steelhead migrating in theNorth Pacific Ocean. For example,strong climate changes related to ElNiño and La Niña during 1997-1999coincided with a large decrease insquid in the summer diets of steelheadin the Gulf of Alaska. The decrease indietary squid was even larger in thecentral Subarctic North Pacific, wheresteelhead compete for food with pink

THE OSPREY • ISSUE NO. 75 MAYY 2013 5


Figure 2. Map of the North Pacific Ocean showing the relative positions of oceanographic features that define steelhead habitat. Theactual spatial locations of these features shift on decadal, annual, seasonal, and monthly scales. The main body of feeding-migratingsteelhead is located north of the Subarctic Ocean Boundary (indicated by upward facing black arrows) and south of the AleutianIslands chain. Source: Modified from base map in Quinn (2005); shading indicates the coastal range of all species of Pacific salmonand steelhead (Oncorhynchus spp.).

Continued from previous page

salmon, particularly during odd-num-bered years when the abundance ofAsian pink salmon is extremely high.In 1997 steelhead diets in the centralSubarctic North Pacific contained thehighest proportion of marine debris,including potentially toxic plastic,observed over the 19-year time seriesof data. Recent decades have broughtrecord high levels of pink salmonabundance throughout most of theNorth Pacific region, supporting theidea that late 20th century warming ofthe North Pacific Ocean and salmonrivers of the Pacific Rim was good forpink salmon.

Global warming and changes in thehigh seas distribution of steelhead

Pioneering research by Dr. DavidWelch predicted a substantial reduc-tion in open ocean thermal habitats ofsteelhead by middle of the 21st centu-ry under a climate change scenariowith doubled atmospheric CO2 concen-trations. New analyses by our Post-Doctoral student, Dr. Omar Abdul-Aziz, modeled reductions in potential

open-ocean thermal habit of steelheadin summer under 3 different scenariosrepresenting relatively low, medium,and higher rates of climate warming.Each warming scenario results in anorthward shift and east–west contrac-tion in the southern (warmest) thermalboundary, particularly in the SubarcticNorth Pacific, Okhotsk Sea, and Gulf ofAlaska by the 2040s and substantialreductions in these regions by the2080s. In the 1980s, estimated poten-tial thermal habitat of steelhead dur-ing winter covered an east–west band,including most of the Gulf of Alaskaand Subarctic North Pacific; however,the Okhotsk Sea, Bering Sea, andArctic Ocean did not provide anypotential thermal habitat suitable forsteelhead during winter. Modeledchanges in potential winter thermalhabitat by the 2040s and 2080s showeda northward shift of the northern(coldest) boundary in most of theBering Sea and Okhotsk Sea; however,these habitat gains were almost com-pletely offset by almost equal lossesdue to the northward shift of the south-ern (warmest) boundary. Thus, thetotal area of potential winter habitat infuture periods was similar to the past

or reduced only slightly (1%–2%),which was less than typical year toyear variations in 1980s potential habi-tat caused by short term climatechanges. In Figure 1 we show the 3°and 13°C isotherms to illustrate how a2°C warming in the North Pacific,which is expected to happen in the midto late 21st century, could shift spring-time open ocean thermal habitat forsteelhead to the north. In summary, awarming climate may result in a north-ward shift in steelhead distribution. Astemperatures warm in the Bering Sea,conditions may be more favorable forsteelhead in eastern Kamchatka andwestern Alaska streams, regions thatcurrently host only resident rainbowtrout.

Due to bioenergetic constraints,warming ocean temperatures mayhave a greater impact on older agegroups of steelhead. For example,bioenergetic model simulations byMegan Atcheson used to estimatetradeoffs between metabolic demandsand growth potential indicate that opti-mal temperatures for growth in theopen ocean are 14°C (57.2°F) for juve-nile (ocean age-0) steelhead and 12°C



As the worldwide climate warms, so do the world’s oceans. For now, we can only speculate on what the long-term impacts mightbe for steelhead, salmon and other ocean life. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch.


(53.6°F) for older (ocean age-1) steel-head. However, observed distributionof juvenile steelhead in the Gulf ofAlaska at less than optimal tempera-tures for growth suggests that whentemperatures are within the range ofthermal tolerance, other factors mayplay an important role in open-oceandistribution of steelhead.

In the 1990s and 2000s, summer seasurface temperatures (SSTs) did notreach optimal temperatures for open-ocean steelhead growth except duringthe El Niño summer of 1997. Modeledgrowth potential of steelhead underfuture SST scenarios showed reducedgrowth as temperatures warm beyondthe optimum growth temperature for agiven feeding rate and body mass ofsteelhead. The combined reduction inphysiological maximum feeding rateand increasing metabolic costs pre-vent any potential increases in steel-head feeding rate or energetic preyquality from sustaining historicalgrowth rates. The resulting growthdecline might become a strong selec-tive force in shifting the geographicdistribution of steelhead in the ocean

and perhaps in freshwater. Ocean acidification, sometimes calledglobal warming’s evil twin, is a relatedthreat that may cause dramaticchanges in steelhead habitat at sea.Ocean acidification is likely to have alarge impact on open ocean food webs,particularly in regions where epipelag-ic squid are the preferred prey ofsteelhead. Squid are very sensitive to

acidic (low pH) conditions, whichinterfere with oxygen binding at thegills, reducing oxygen consumptionand scope for activity. This is anextremely important area for futureopen-ocean research on steelhead,squid, and ocean food webs more gen-erally.On one hand, the fact that steelhead

have been a successful species for 6million years should give us hope thatthey will be able to adapt to the manyenvironmental changes related to glob-al warming predicted for the near anddistant future. On the other hand,recent CO2 measurements have docu-mented atmospheric concentrationsexceeding 400 parts per million, some-thing that is estimated to have not hap-pened for at least 3 million years. Even

more disturbing is the fact that theongoing rise in atmospheric and ocean-ic CO2 has been compressed into ablink of geologic time, with no signs ofslowing down. The bottom line is thatthe North Pacific Ocean is crucial habi-tat for steelhead, and climate changeand acidification threats to habitat inthe ocean may become as great asthose in our most imperiled streams.

Source material and additionalreading:

u Abdul-Aziz, O. I., N. J. Mantua, andK. W. Myers. 2011. Potential climatechange impacts on thermal habitats ofPacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) inthe North Pacific Ocean and adjacentseas. Canadian Journal of Fisheriesand Aquatic Sciences 68:1660-1680.u Atcheson, M. E., K. W. Myers, D. A.Beauchamp, and N. J. Mantua. 2012a.Bioenergetic response by steelhead tovariation in diet, thermal habitat, andclimate in the North Pacific Ocean.Transactions of the AmericanFisheries Society 141:1081-1096.u Atcheson, M. E., K. W. Myers, N. D.Davis, and N. J. Mantua. 2012b.Potential trophodynamic and environ-mental drivers of steelhead(Oncorhynchus mykiss) productivityin the North Pacific Ocean. FisheriesOceanography 21:321-335.u Fabry, V. J., Seibel, B. A., Feely, R.A., and Orr, J. C. 2008. Impacts ofocean acidification on marine faunaand ecosystem processes. ICESJournal of Marine Science 65:414–432.u Kaeriyama, M., M. Nakamura, R.Edpalina, J. R. Bower, H. Yamaguchi,R. V. Walker, and K. W. Myers. 2004.Change in feeding ecology and trophicdynamics of Pacific salmon(Oncorhynchus spp.) in the centralGulf of Alaska in relation to climateevents. Fisheries Oceanography13:197-2004.u Quinn, T. P. 2005. The Behavior andEcology of Pacific Salmon and Trout.University of Washington Press,Seattle, WA.u Welch, D. W., Y. Ishida, K. Nagasawa,and J. P. Eveson. 1998. Thermal limitson the ocean distribution of steelheadtrout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). NorthPacific Anadromous Fish CommissionBulletin 1:396-404. Available:www.npafc.org/new/pub_bulletin.html/(July 2012).



The stomach of this high seas hatchery-origin steelheaded included a minimalarmhook squid and juvenile rockfish. Photo by R.V. Walker


Will Climate Change Adversely Impact Steelhead?

By Pete Soverel— The Osprey Editorial Committee —

Author Pete Soverel is a member ofThe Osprey editorial committee,founder of The Wild Salmon Center andPresident of The Conservation Angler.He is a long-time steelhead angler andwild fish advocate.

Conventional wisdom saysthat global warming/cli-mate change is, or will,impact adversely on crea-tures we care about includ-

ing steelhead. Is this necessarily so?Based upon various models, asdescribed by Kate Myers and NateMantua elsewhere in this issue of TheOsprey, the total area of the oceanicrange of steelhead will change little inforecasted warming climate, at leastover the remainder of this century. Itseems to me that Onchorynchusmykiss may well respond positively tothe predicted conditions.

Throughout much of the presentrange of steelhead, their overall abun-dance is far below historic levels most-ly. In the lower 48, steelhead are prob-ably less than 1% of their historicabundance. Gone forever, or at leastirretrievably damaged, are hugeswaths of their range – San Joaquin(1,000,000); Sacramento (1,000,000);Klamath (750,000); Columbia/Snake (atleast 2-3,000,000); Puget Sound(800,000) and so on. I think it is reason-able to posit that these freshwater sys-tems are not likely to be restored totheir former levels of productivity inthe near or even far distant future.This means that the freshwater habitatwithin current range of O. mykiss willnever again produce sufficient smoltsto fully utilize the oceanic prey base.Global warming will not only shift

the oceanic habitat northward (withoutsignificantly diminishing it), it will alsocreate freshwater habitat favorable tothe species. Currently O. mykiss aredistributed around the Pacific Rim toabout 59 degrees North latitude. As theclimate warms, thousands of streams

and rivers in eastern Kamchatka,Chukotka, NW Alaska, as well as US,Canadian and Russian Arctic systemswill open to colonization by O. mykiss.These systems provide pristine andlargely uninhabited habitat that, in the-ory, should be capable of dramaticincreases in total smolt productionwhich will be able to benefit from theunder exploited marine prey base.

O. mykiss are highly plastic andextremely adaptable with existing pop-ulations from LA to Shantar Island offthe mouth of the Amur. The range ofenvironmental conditions that supportO. mykiss populations across their dis-tribution is unmatched by othersalmonids. We know that this ancientspecies has lived through and thrivedin spite of numerous ice ages andthaws, Lake Missoula floods, volcaniceruptions and so on. In each instance,the species quickly reclaimed favor-able habitat. Even in alien locationssuch as the southeast coast ofArgentina, Sweden’s Baltic coast, eventhe north coast of Kola, O. mykiss haveor are colonizing their new environ-ments. All of this suggests that south-ern populations will adjust their lifehistories to their new circumstanceswhile in northern areas O. mykiss willdo what they have done repeated overthe last 5,000 millennia – colonize habi-tat that suits any of the life historiesinherent within the species. In north-ern Pacific and Arctic, pink and chumsalmon and Dolly Varden trout arerapidly colonizing the Asian andAmerican Arctic, followed by Chinookand coho. It seems to me that steelheadare likely to be close behind.Currently, O. mykiss are abundant in

eastern Kamchatkan streams from thesouthern tip of the Peninsula up to theOzernaya River (just north of theKamchatka River). Based upon mypersonal experience and discussionswith local commercial fishermen,these rivers currently produce smallnumbers of steelhead – i.e. individual

fish rather than “runs” which, never-theless imply that anadromy is inher-ent in the species. With favorableoceanic conditions, it is reasonable tosuppose that O. mykiss will respondwith increased levels of anadromy.Simultaneously, it seems that coloniza-tion of more northern rivers is highlylikely, especially since most of thoserivers, especially those in easternKamchatka, Chukotka and the easternArctic are uninhabited and theirupland resources, at least presently,unexploited.In other words, steelhead are very

likely to be moving to more friendlyenvirons — ones much more able toproduce many more smolts than thedegraded systems in the currentrange. I see steelhead trading up:

• the Ventura River (population per-haps 50-100) for say Kamchatka’sSnotalvayam (population 7,000-9,000);

• Carmel River (population perhaps afew hundred) for the Utkholok River(population 15,000-18,000)

• The hundreds of rivers and streamsin North America where steelhead arepermanently extinct for the thousandsof Western Pacific, Bering Sea andArctic systems with their cold water,pristine habitat and abundant oceanforage.

This doesn’t sound too bad to me. Sowhat can we do to help this process? Isuggest we stay out of the way and letsteelhead do what they have beendoing for the past 5-7 million years –that is respond rapidly to climatechange, taking advantage of theirinherent life history diversity expandtheir fresh and marine range to encom-pass all habitat suitable to one or moreof the many life histories. In short,don’t try to help things along withhatcheries, which suppress the verycharacteristics necessary for thespecies’ success.

Author Megan Hill is Native FishStudies Team Leader for PortlandGeneral Electric. Her team conductsresearch to evaluate the reintroductionand fish passage program in the upperDeschutes basin, which is a require-ment of the FERC license to operatethe dams. The studies aim to providePGE and the fish managers with usefulinformation to improve the fish reintro-duction and passage programs.For more information about the pro-

ject visit www.deschutespassage.com.

On September 14, 2012 thefirst adult steelhead waspassed above Round ButteDam on the DeschutesRiver in over 40 years.

The steelhead was one of the thou-sands of hatchery fry that were out-planted into the Deschutes andCrooked rivers and tributaries since2007. The story of this steelheadbegan in 2005 when Portland GeneralElectric (PGE) and the ConfederatedTribes of the Warm SpringsReservation of Oregon (CTWS)received a new FERC operatinglicense for their three-dam project onthe Deschutes. Among many otherrequirements, the new licenserequired PGE and CTWS to build fishpassage facilities and begin reintro-ducing Chinook, steelhead and sockeyeupstream of the Project. Ultimately,the project seeks to restore self-sus-taining and harvestable populations ofnative summer steelhead, springChinook salmon and sockeye salmon inthe Deschutes River and its tributariesupstream from the Pelton Round ButteProject, and to reconnect native resi-dent fish populations including bulltrout that are currently fragmented bythe Pelton Round Butte Project.

Project Overview

The Deschutes River is the lifeblood

of Central Oregon. Originating in LavaLake in the Cascade Mountains andjoined by the Metolius and CrookedRivers, it drops 4,589 feet on its 252-

mile journey to the Columbia River.The Deschutes is important habitat forChinook salmon, steelhead, redbandtrout (rainbow trout), Pacific lamprey,and bull trout, providing a fish harvestfor CTWS and a significant resourcefor recreation and tourism.

A three-dam project, The PeltonRound Butte project is located sixmiles west of Madras, Oregon. Builtbetween 1957 and 1964, Pelton RoundButte is the largest hydroelectric pro-ject located entirely in Oregon. It gen-erates 1.5 billion kWh per year, enoughto power a city the size of Salem. The lowermost dam is the re-regulat-ing dam. It is used to steady down-stream river flows even when theupstream dams discharge variableflows to meet peak power demands.Pelton, the middle dam, forms LakeSimtustus, a popular recreation loca-tion. The uppermost dam in the systemis Round Butte, which forms LakeBilly Chinook, a 4,000-acre reservoir.Lake Billy Chinook is unique because itis created by the confluence of threerivers. As a consequence it has threearms: the Deschutes (9 miles long), theCrooked (7 miles long) and theMetolius (13 miles long).



Lake Billy Chinook is formed by Round Butte Dam constructed at the confluence ofthe Deschutes, Crooked and Metolius rivers. The Selective Water Withrawal facilityis visible on the left. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

Restoring Salmon and Steelhead toOregon’s Upper Deschutes Basin

By Megan Hill— Portland General Electric —

Ultimately, the projectseeks to restore self-sustaining populationsof summer steelhead,spring Chinook and sockeye salmon.

http://www.deschutespassage.com

The three rivers upstream of RoundButte dam provide diverse habitat forreintroduced steelhead, Chinook andsockeye. Big Falls, on the Deschutes atriver mile 132 near Redmond, is theupstream barrier to anadromous fish.Historically, the Deschutes was hometo steelhead and Chinook. WhychusCreek, a tributary to the Deschutesjust upstream from the reservoir, con-tains an additional 39 miles of historicsteelhead habitat. The lower streamreaches may also support Chinook.The Crooked River, downstream ofBowman dam, offers 43 stream milesto anadromous fish. In addition,McKay and Ochoco creeks provide 35miles of habitat for steelhead andChinook. The Metolius River origi-nates from a spring at the base ofBlack Butte, flowing north 27 miles toLake Billy Chinook. Because theMetolius River is a spring-fed system,it is a relatively cool and stable. SuttleLake, which feeds into the MetoliusRiver via Lake Creek, was the histori-cal origin of Lake Billy Chinook’s koka-nee population. In a sum, the fish pas-sage program at Pelton Round Buttere-opens over 250 miles of stream toanadromous fish.

The History

The dams were originally constructedwith both upstream and downstreamfish passage facilities. However, oncethe dams were built, unforeseenchanges in the river currents andwater temperature led to confusingsurface currents in Lake BillyChinook, and salmon and steelheadsmolts did not find the fish collector atRound Butte dam. Water from the Metolius, being cold-

er than the other two rivers, sank tothe bottom of Lake Billy Chinook. Theturbine intake was located at 270 feetbelow the water surface, and, as a con-sequence, the cold Metolius water waspassed downstream during generation.To fill in the gap, much of the warmerwater of the Crooked River and theupper Deschutes flowed over the top ofthe colder water and back up theMetolius. The water that did flow downtoward the dam, where the down-stream fish passage was located, endedup swirling in eddies with no distinct

current. Smolts following the rivercurrents did not find the downstreamfish passage entrance. Due to the failure of the downstream

fish collector to attract fish, the fishpassage program was abandoned in

1968. Round Butte Fish Hatchery wasbuilt below the dams to maintain thefish population in the lower Deschutes.Annually, 160,000 steelhead and240,000 Chinook smolts are released




Since 2007, more than 600,000 steelhead fry and 500,000 spring Chinook salmon havebeen released into mainstem and tributary streams above the Pelton-Round ButteHydroelectic Project. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

A Chinook salmon smolt captured at the collection facility at Round Butte Dam willbe trucked downstream and released below the dams to continue its journey to thesea. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

into the lower river as mitigation forthe loss of upper basin production.The majority of sockeye converted to akokanee life history, rearing in LakeBilly Chinook and spawning in theMetolius River.

The Solution

After several years of planning, PGEand CTWS settled on a solution torestore downstream fish passage: arebuilt dam intake with an underwatertower and fish collection facility justupstream from Round Butte dam. TheSelective Water Withdrawal (SSW)tower and associated fish passagefacilities allow PGE to withdraw waterfrom both the surface and bottom ofLake Billy Chinook. During the springwhen salmon and steelhead smoltsmigrate downstream, the warmer sur-face water is withdrawn to modify thereservoir currents and water tempera-tures and attract fish into the collectionfacility. In the summer months a blendof warm surface water and cooler bot-tom water is withdrawn to manage thetemperature of the Deschutes Riverdownstream to about what it would beif the dams were not present. Both thesurface and bottom withdrawals are100% screened to protect fish.Because Chinook and steelhead had

been extirpated from the upper basinsince 1968, Oregon Department of Fishand Wildlife (ODFW) and CTWS begana reintroduction effort in 2007. ODFWand CTWS began outplanting hatcheryChinook and steelhead fry from RoundButte hatchery into the upper basintributaries. This annual effort, involv-ing many volunteers, seeks to putbetween 325,000 and 430,000 Chinookfry and 574,000 and 994,000 steelheadfry into the upper basin tributaries.These fish then rear for 1-2 yearsbefore migrating downstream to thecollector. The plan for steelhead andChinook is to reduce and eventuallyeliminate fry releases as adults returnto spawn naturally. The strategy forthe establishment of a sockeye run isvery different. Rather than stockhatchery fish, the plan is to convert aportion of the existing wild kokaneepopulation back to anadromy, so thatboth the anadramous (sockeye) andadfluvial (kokanee) life histories aremaintained in the Deschutes basin.

Beginning in December 2009, down-stream migrating fish began enteringthe facility through two 40-foot tall by45 feet wide entrances to V-screens,each capable of drawing 3,000 CFS ofwater. Primary, secondary, and ter-tiary screens reduce up to 6,000 cfs offlow down to 12 cfs. This 12 cfs deliv-ers the fish to holding raceways.During transit, smolts pass through aPIT tag array before arrival in a smallor medium fish raceway. At this pointPGE staff can collect biological infor-mation on the fish such as length,weight, and tag IDs. Each fish is thengiven a right maxillary clip. This clipidentifies that the fish reared in theupper Deschutes basin. Initially, onlyadult returns with maxillary-onlymarks, identifying them as upperDeschutes basin fish, are to be passedabove Round Butte dam as adults.Within 24 hours, the fish are loadedonto a truck. Smolts captured andmarked are then transported 15 milesdownstream around Pelton and theRegulating dams and released into thelower Deschutes to continue theirmigration to the ocean. Since itbecame operable in December of 2009,the SWW has allowed PGE to transport274,194 sockeye, 98,068 Chinook and25,867 steelhead into the lower river.Survival through the facility exceeded96% during all three years of opera-tion.

The Research

The federal license to operate thePelton Round Butte Project requiresPGE and CTWS to conduct many testand verification studies to study theefficacy of the reintroduction and fishpassage program. In one study, we aremeasuring the percentage of steelheadand Chinook to successfully migratedownstream to the collector; we arealso studying their migratory routesand travel time through Lake BillyChinook. To do this we implant PITand radio/acoustic tags in a sample ofChinook and steelhead captured attributary screwtraps. The PIT tagsallow us to tag a statistically signifi-cant sample of fish to measure sur-vival. The radio/acoustic tags allow usto track their movement. During thepast 3 years, we have found thatbetween 20.6% and 64.5% of PIT-tagged Chinook and 11.2 and 31.1% ofPIT-tagged steelhead are collected atRound Butte Fish Capture Facility.The proportion of fish collectedappears to vary with river arm andstream flow. In all three years, theChinook from the Metolius River havelower survival than the Chinook origi-nating in the Crooked River system.We have also observed that a higherpercentage of Chinook and steelhead




Upstream migrating Chinook salmon and steelhead are captured at a fish trap belowthe dams, and hatchery fish are separated from upper basin origin fish which will betrucked and released above the dams. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch


reach the collector during springs withrelatively high river flows. Our radiodata indicates that many Chinook andsteelhead are “wanderers.” For exam-ple, many steelhead move quicklydown the Crooked River; however,when they reach Lake Billy Chinookthey slow down significantly and makeexcursions up the Deschutes orMetolius reservoir arms beforeentering the forebay and/or col-lector. Because of this wander-ing behavior and relatively longforebay residence times, in2012, we began an acousticstudy to better understandthese fishes’ behavior in theimmediate vicinity of the collec-tor. We are also investigating the

potential issues that smolts faceduring their trip through LakeBilly Chinook including: preda-tion, disease and harvest. Bulltrout, northern pikeminnow andsmallmouth bass are all identi-fied as potential predators.Currently, we are conductingthree years of a bull trout study,which will be followed up by asecond year of smallmouth bassstudy. Bull trout are collectedduring the spring and fall, andtheir stomach contents are non-lethally sampled by gastriclavage. The stomach contentsthen are identified in the labora-tory by the use of diagnosticbones. During the past twoyears of study, the bull troutdiet has consisted primarily ofkokanee/sockeye and inverte-brates. No identifiable steelhead havebeen found in the stomachs, and a veryfew juvenile Chinook have been identi-fied. Northern pikeminnow are notvery numerous in Lake Billy Chinookand do not appear to be a major threatto smolts. With the passage of adult Chinook,

sockeye and steelhead starting in sum-mer 2012 our adult migration studybegan. Of the returning Chinook andsteelhead, half were passed upstreamto spawn naturally and half were takento ODFW’s Round Butte Hatchery toprovide brood for next year’s upperbasin fry releases. Of the adultspassed upstream, we tagged approxi-

mately half with radio tags. Thesetags allowed us to track the adults tothe spawning grounds. Total returningadults to date are 50 Chinook, 86 sock-eye and 130 steelhead. The 2012Chinook and sockeye runs are com-plete, while the steelhead run is ongo-ing. Of these, 25 Chinook, 86 sockeyeand 70 steelhead were passed

upstream. Last summer we radio-tagged 14 Chinook and 34 sockeye.Thirteen of the Chinook headed up theMetolius River arm of Lake BillyChinook, one was detected in theDeschutes River near the confluencewith Whychus Creek. An additional,three Chinook (without radio tags)were reported in the Crooked River.One radio-tagged Chinook was detect-ed upstream of Prineville in theCrooked River. All of the radio-taggedsockeye headed up the Metolius arm ofLake Billy Chinook. Six fish weredetected in the Metolius River, theuppermost sockeye was located nearthe Camp Sherman store (river mile39). In addition to radio-tag tracking

data, 7 sockeye were spotted duringredd surveys. Steelhead begin return-ing to the Pelton trap in August andcontinued to return into April. To-datewe have radio-tagged 34 steelhead.The majority of the steelhead werelocated in the Crooked River. Fourhave been detected in the upperCrooked River near Prineville, one has

been detected in McKay Creek.Two of the steelhead entered theDeschutes River, and possiblyWhychus Creek. We continue totrack steelhead in the upperbasin. This year has been busy and

exciting in the Deschutes basin.This spring, we are continuing towork on our juvenile studies.One change for 2013 is that weare looking more closely at fishbehavior in the vicinity of thecollector. We positioned a 3-dimensional acoustic array in theforebay to monitor Chinook andsteelhead response to the collec-tor and hopefully identifyoptions to increase collectionefficiency. In addition, we willtag bull trout with acoustic tagsin the forebay. This will help usdetermine if bull trout are resid-ing in the vicinity of the collectorand preying on smolts or inhibit-ing their entrance. In addition,bull trout diet samples continueto be collected throughout LakeBilly Chinook to monitor theirpotential impact on the Chinook,steelhead and sockeye popula-tions. And we look forward tothe second year of returningChinook and sockeye this sum-mer. In 2013, all returning

adults will be passed upstream, and wewill radio-tag a higher percentage offish. The first Chinook returned thisApril. Because it had a PIT-tag weknow that it was a 3-salt Chinook; ithad been PIT-tagged as a smolt at ourMetolius screwtrap in 2010. Anothernoteworthy milestone this year will bethe second round of Pelton HabitatFund grants. Approximately $6 mil-lion will be available for agencies andnon-profits to complete habitatimprovement projects to benefit rein-troduced salmon and steelhead in theDeschutes basin.


A volunteer plants native vegetation along WhychusCreek, an important historical spawning stream forsalmon and steelhead. Habitat improvement is an inte-gral part of the restoration project. Photo by JimYuskavitch

Jessica Walz Schafer is ConservationDirector for the Portland, Oregon-based Gifford Pinchot Task Force. Visittheir webbsite at: www.gptaskforce.org

Prospecting and mining in theWest has seen a resurgencewith gold prices sky rocket-ing and investors scram-bling to be in on the next big

find. There is no place immune to thisthreat, including the iconic Mount St.Helens. After several failed attemptsin the past few years to secure a min-ing lease to an area 12 miles from thecrater of Mount St. Helens, a Canadiancompany, Ascot Resources Inc., tookthe gamble and is seeking the right toconduct exploratory drilling less thana mile from the clean waters of theGreen River, historic Ryan Lake, theGreen River Horse Camp, and 12 milesfrom the Mount St. Helens volcaniccrater itself. This is not the first time this area hasbeen threatened by a mine. In Marchof 2005 Idaho General Mines, Inc. (nowknown as General Moly, Inc.) submit-ted a Hardrock Mineral LeaseApplication for minerals (gold, copperand molybdenum) located within thesame deposit. IGMI acquired a 50%interest in the deposit in 2004, and wasseeking a lease to begin mining in thearea based on that interest. At thattime, spokespeople for IGMI statedthat the only economically feasiblemine in this location would need to beclose to 3,000 acres. In April of 2008, after 3 years of orga-nizing by the Gifford Pinchot TaskForce (GPTF) and over 33,000 publiccomments, a majority of which were inopposition to this mine lease, the BLMreleased a "no decision" on the IGMIapplication based on the public inter-est criteria, effectively ending IGMI’sbid to begin mining. Unfortunately,the BLM’s decision for this lease appli-cation did not stop mining interests

from continuing to seek opportunitiesin the future.At that time General Moly opted to

not pursue the mineral lease furtherand GPTF celebrated this success.However, that celebratory mood wasshort lived, because in 2010 a Canadiancompany, Ascot Resources Inc, in themidst of the sky rocketing gold prices,sought an option for General Moly’sinterest in this land and began themost recent project to dig.

In 2010, the United States ForestService (USFS) permitted Ascot’sexploratory drilling project withoutundergoing an EnvironmentalAssessment (EA) process, whichblocked the access of the public tocomment on this project. Ascot, a for-eign owned company, was allowed todrill a dozen holes in this area, reopenroads closed in by regrowth, blockpublic access to our public nationalforest land, and pump water withoutundergoing a public environmentalreview of the project. When AscotResource sought to conduct moredrilling in 2011, the GPTF filed suit infederal district court to oppose drillingin this landscape without undergoingan environmental review. Upon our fil-ing the USFS rescinded the originalpermit and the project went under anEA review.In 2011, the Gifford Pinchot Task

Force was successful in forcing theBureau of Land Management (BLM)

and the USFS into taking a deeper lookat this project and conducting anEnvironmental Assessment. Duringthis time, GPTF gathered a coalition of15 conservation groups and submitteddetailed comments on the project. Ourmembers and supporters rallied andsent the BLM and FS approximately5,500 comments expressing deep oppo-sition. On December 20, 2012, despiteour work, the BLM and FS issued per-mits to allow limited exploratorydrilling to continue. Although this is asetback, we continue to fight for thislandscape and the clean waters thatflow through this valley. Just recentlyGPTF filed a complaint against theBLM and USFS opposing this projectfor the environmental effects it willhave on the public’s land and water. The exploratory drilling proposed by

Ascot is an exploratory drill projectintended to pull rock cores for analysisof minerals. The project proposes toinclude a total of 63 rock core holesfrom 23 drill pads. The drills will oper-ate 24 hours a day 7 days a week, cre-ating both noise and light interferencefor birds and wildlife in the area.Previously decommissioned roads willbe reopened to allow the drill rigs topass, and up to 5,000 gallons of water aday (potentially more) will be usedalong with chemicals to lubricate thedrill rigs. The total overall area affect-ed is not large, but the potential effectsto the environment are great. Exploratory drilling, even in a limit-

ed capacity, poses a major threat to theclean waters of the Green River. Thearea proposed for drilling is a highlyreactive environment with approxi-mately 22 seismic episodes a monthdue to the volcanic nature of theregion. The EnvironmentalAssessment that looked at this projectfailed to address many relevant fac-tors associated with the Green Riverand the clean water that it provides fordownstream users as well as valuable



One Crater, Not TwoProposed exploratory drilling threatens Mt. St. Helens area

By Jessica Walz Schafer— Gifford Pinchot Task Force —

Exploratory drillingposes a major threat tothe clean waters of the Green River and its wild

salmon and steelhead.

http://www.gptaskforce.org

fish stock.The Green River starts its journey inthe valley and flows downstream to theToutle River, bringing with it cold,clean water that is home to a vastarray of fish and aquatic insects andproviding drinking water for down-stream communities. The Green Riverhas a healthy population of cutthroatand non-native brook trout, as well asseveral species of aquatic insects,including mayflies, caddis, stoneflies,and midges, and contains importantcurrent and potential habitat to candi-date and listed winter steelhead, fallChinook and coho. It has also been des-ignated by the WashingtonDepartment of Fish and Wildlife as a“Wild Stock Gene Bank” for salmonoidspecies. Sediment and chemicals fromthe exploratory drilling have the abili-ty to affect approximately 2.4 miles ofcutthroat and steelhead habitat.Exploratory drilling, even in a limitedcapacity, would cause tremendousdamage to this system.

Two major concerns from thisexploratory drilling project for aquat-ic species in this area are: (1) theimpacts that road building and drillingwill have on sediment loading inrivers, streams, and other water bod-ies close to the proximity of thedrilling site and groundwater usagefor drilling needs that could affect thewater table in this area; and (2) the

drilling will use a large amount ofwater, approximately 5,000 gallons perday, from an aquifer less than ½ milefrom the Green River. The reduction inflow due to this water withdrawal maycause an increase in water tempera-tures, which could greatly affect thecurrent fish habitat. The drillingcould also cause increased run-off intothe river from road use and potentiallylead to contamination with chemicalsnot properly contained in the sumps. Increased sediment and chemicals inwatersheds can have severe effects onthe aquatic habitat and spawning areasneeded for fish survival. Chemicals tobe used during the drilling process andpotentially produced during theprocess including acid mine drainagecan, in large quantities, be lethal to fishpopulations. If not properly containedin the sumps or due to extreme weath-er, chemicals can run off into thestreams, contaminating the river’shabitat and the water that flows down-stream to Washington communities.The Gifford Pinchot Task Force has along history of working to protect andconserve our special places in thePacific Northwest. Over the last fewyears, the GPTF has continued tooppose this project to protect the pub-lic’s valuable resources. We have filedlawsuits to force the EA process,worked to inform the public about theissue, gathered over 5,500 commentsin opposition to drilling in this location,and organized a coalition of environ-

mental non-profits helping to protectthis landscape and oppose drilling andmining near Mount St. Helens. GPTFjust recently filed a complaint in feder-al court to stop the current processbecause of the inadequate EA thatfailed to take a hard look at all issues,including gathering baseline data onthe true effects of drilling on thewatershed. We remain committed tofight this drilling threat through allmeans necessary and to monitor theproject should it move forward toensure our clean waters are untaintedby drilling and mining waste, ourrecreational opportunities are not cur-tailed by foreign investors, and ourpublic lands remain open to us all.Please join us in protecting our wildplaces.


The Green River’s clean water, along with its populations of salmon and steelhead,are at risk from proposed exploratory drilling near Mount St. Helens. Photo courtesyGifford Pinchot Task Force

Morrison MineRejected

In a landmark decision last fall,British Columbia's Liberal govern-ment denied an environmental cer-tificate to Pacific Booker Mineralsfor a proposed mine in the MorrisonLake in the headwaters of theBabine watershed. The Babine is thelargest single producer of sockeyein British Columbia and sustains themajority of the commercial andindigenous fisheries in the region. Anew open pit mining project wouldhave spelled disaster for the BabineLake ecosystem and the Skeenamore generally, prompting even thepro-mining liberal government toconclude the risks far outweighedthe benefits. Now in what is amongthe most outrageous, and obnoxiousdevelopments yet, the company hasopted to sue the province over theirdecision on the project. This repre-sents a troubling theme in Canadianresource development, with decisionmaking power increasingly beingtaken away from local governments,and consolidated in the hands of thecompanies which profit from envi-ronmentally destructive resourceextraction.Will Atlas and Ken Rabnett cov-

ered the Morrison Mine controversyin the September 2012 issue of TheOsprey.



Recovering California Steelhead South of Santa Cruz

By Kurt Zimmerman, Tim Frahm and Sam Davidson— California Trout, Trout Unlimited —

Kurt Zimmerman is SouthernCalifornia Regional Manager forCalifornia Trout. Tim Frahm and SamDavidson are California Central CoastSteelhead Coordinator and CaliforniaCommunications Manager for TroutUnlimited. Visit their web sites at:www.caltrout.orgwww.tucalifornia.org

Many anglers considerthe steelhead trout (O.mykiss) the “perfectfish.” Steelhead arewidely revered for

their power and grace in the water, andfor the high challenge of actuallycatching one. Sport fishing for steel-head is a major contributor to manylocal economies along the Californiacoast. Steelhead are rainbow trout exhibit-

ing an anadromous (i.e., migrating toand from the ocean) life history.Unlike salmon, however, steelhead donot perish after the first spawning sea-son, and may complete the cycle ofanadromy multiple times.Steelhead populations have declined

precipitously across much of theirrange along the west coast of NorthAmerica. Yet, steelhead are a remark-ably resilient salmonid, and even in themost degraded habitats, remnant pop-ulations still persist. This fact, and thelegal status of steelhead, have led to amulti-party effort to recover thespecies south of San Francisco Bay byrestoring habitat, improving stream-flows and fish passage opportunities,and even rescuing juveniles, as riversegments dry up or become discon-nected during summer. For more thantwo decades, steelhead advocacygroups such as California Trout(CalTrout) and Trout Unlimited havedriven this effort, working in partner-ship with local steelhead conservationorganizations, resource agencies,municipalities, agricultural interests,and water providers.

Steelhead genetics evince uniquecharacteristics region-by-region (andeven watershed-by-watershed), as thefish adapted to the particular condi-tions and climate factors of coastalstreams from the Baja Peninsula toAlaska. Today, steelhead south of SanMateo County in California are catego-rized by the National Marine FisheriesService (NMFS) into two “DistinctPopulation Segments” (DPS): the“South Central California Coastal”

(SCCC) DPS and the “SouthernCalifornia Coastal” (SCC) DPS’s.Genetic studies suggest that steelheadfrom these DPS’ are the progenitors ofall steelhead on the west coast of theUnited States. These DPS’s toleratewarmer water and more episodicstream flows — traits that could con-tribute to their long-term survival inthe face of global climate change.In 1997, the SCCC DPS was “listed” asThreatened (still persisting acrosssome of its historic range but with sub-optimal population numbers and man-agement intervention probably neces-sary) and the SCC DPS as Endangered(at serious risk of extirpation) underthe federal Endangered Species Act(ESA). The ESA requires the agencywith jurisdiction over the listedspecies to prepare a Recovery Plan forrestoring that species within its nativerange. Recovery Plans are “guidance”

documents, intended to help achieverecovery goals by describing strate-gies and recommended actions likelyrequired to restore viable wild popula-tions.In early 2012, after years of public

and agency input, NMFS released theFinal Southern California RecoveryPlan for the SCC steelhead. Later thatyear, the agency released for publiccomment a Review Draft of theRecovery Plan for the South CentralCoastal steelhead. These two RecoveryPlans identify area-wide threats aswell as threats specific to particularwatersheds. Common threats are thethree “Ds”: Dams, Diversions andDiminished Aquatic and RiparianHabitats. According to NMFS, success-ful implementation of actions leadingto recovery “depends on the voluntarycooperation of multiple stakehold-ers…at the local, regional, state, andnational levels.”

The South-Central CaliforniaCoastal DPS

Steelhead that populate centralCalifornia streams from the PajaroRiver in Monterey County south toArroyo Grande Creek in San LuisObispo County are included in theSouth-Central California Coastal DPS.Rivers here are of two types: shortstreams which drain coastal mountainranges; and rivers which flow throughgaps in the coastal mountains alongbroad inland valleys. Some of therivers in this DPS feature productivelagoons, where juveniles rear andgrow; others have no functional lagoonat all. Each watershed has its own“personality” in terms of steelheadhabitat.

Carmel River

The Carmel River originates in theVentana Wilderness of the Los Padres

Steelhead havedeclined across muchof their range alongthe West Coast, butthey are a remarkably

resilient fish.


http://www.tucalifornia.org

http://caltrout.org/

National Forest and drains thewine/golf mecca of Carmel Valleybefore flowing into Monterey Bay nearCarmel. The main channel of theCarmel is 28 miles long, but the main-stem is fed by seven significant peren-nial stream tributaries.A severely diminished run of native

steelhead persists in the Carmel River.As many as 5,000-10,000 steelhead mayhave returned each year to this riverprior to construction of San ClementeDam in 1921 and Los Padres Dam(1949) upstream of San Clemente.Today, steelhead returns vary from anestimated 300-900 adults. Due to loss ofaccess to spawning habitat in theupper watershed and low streamflowsat times during the winter and spring,it is estimated that 50% of CarmelRiver steelhead spawn below SanClemente Dam in sub-optimal habitat.Carmel River steelhead have been

the focus of an intensive, multi-decaderestoration effort by the Carmel RiverSteelhead Association (CRSA) andresource agencies. CRSA and theMonterey Peninsula WaterManagement District rescue juvenilesteelhead from disconnected pools inthe tributaries and mainstem eachyear and relocate them to a rearingfacility or to segments of the mainstemwhich remain watered. This effortmay have prevented extirpation ofwild steelhead from this river duringrecent multi-year periods of drought.The biggest impediments to steel-

head recovery in the Carmel River arethe four dams within this watershedand water diversions. The four damsimpede or prevent access to approxi-mately 50% of the watershed, whilesurface and groundwater extractionscause the lower portion of the main-stem to dry up during the summer.Trout Unlimited and CRSA are work-

ing to remove and reduce these imped-iments to recovery, most importantlyto support the long political and plan-ning process which recently producedan agreement to remove San ClementeDam. This historic project (it will bethe largest dam yet removed inCalifornia) commences in 2013, andwill restore access for steelhead to 25miles of good spawning habitat. Inaddition, local water purveyors aredeveloping alternative sources for

municipal water which will reducedemand on the river, and CRSA and thewater management district will contin-ue to rescue stranded steelhead as thelower river dries up each summer.

Salinas River

The Salinas River watershed is thefourth largest watershed in California.This river has an axis of 170 miles andflows north from its headwaters in SanLuis Obispo County through one of themost productive row crop regions inthe world. The watershed encompass-es nearly 4,600 square miles andincludes the San Antonio River, theNacimiento River and Arroyo SecoRiver as tributaries. The Salinas isthe biggest watershed south of SanFrancisco supporting a persistentsteelhead population. Trout Unlimited is working with localangling groups such as the SalinasValley Fly Fishers to advance steel-head recovery in the Salinas River.Due to significant manipulation of theriver, the Salinas now requiresmechanical breaching to ensure timelyopening of its mouth. Unfortunately,steelhead requirements have not beenthe trigger for such action; rather,agricultural field inundation has beenthe impetus. The result has been irreg-

ular river/ocean connectivity for useby migrating steelhead. In addition,for the last century the riparian corri-dor has been ‘managed’ by adjacentlandowners to reduce flooding on farm-lands. The result has been substantialdepletion of vegetative and stream bedstructure needed to create adequatesteelhead habitat and cooler watertemperatures. To address these issues,NMFS has instituted a working groupof stakeholders to begin integratingthe needs of steelhead into river mouthmanagement, and recently a DraftRiver Channel Maintenance ProgramEnvironmental Impact Report (EIR)was released. The EIR proposeschanges in river management that willbenefit steelhead, and food safety auditrequirements are being modified toreflect “co-management” of food safe-ty and natural resource concerns.

Pajaro River

The Pajaro River is the most norther-ly river in the SCCC DPS. In 2006,American Rivers designated thePajaro as America's most endangeredriver, due to flood control levies alongits lower 22 miles and severe runoffinto the river from agricultural fields.Despite its degraded condition, steel-



Although beleaguered from a host of threats, southern California steelhead are aresilient fish. With enough help they will make a comeback. Photo by TimFrahm/Trout Unlimited


head consistently enter this watershedand migrate to spawning habitat in theupper tributaries. A 1966 memo fromthe California Department of Fish andGame estimated the run from 500 to2000 spawning pairs (although mostcurrent authorities believe presentsteelhead numbers in the Pajaro arewell below these numbers).

Trout Unlimited is working withCHEER (Coastal Habitat Educationand Environmental Restoration) andsportsmen’s groups to bolster steel-head recovery in this watershed.Specifically, the two groups are work-ing with farmers and homeowners inthe Little Arthur Creek drainage. LittleArthur Creek is one of the last remain-ing "inland" central coast steelheadstreams with viable runs of fish and itis one of only a few tributaries to thePajaro with effective summer rearinghabitat. NMFS introduced TU toCHEER and local landowners toaddress low streamflow, which theagency considers “the most significantlimiting factor to the Little Arthursteelhead fishery.” TU and CHEER arecurrently in discussions with landown-ers about installing farm ponds and asmany as 10 sets of residential watertanks as a way to take pressure offsummer diversions.

Big Sur River

This beautiful river pours out of theSanta Lucia mountains in a watershedthat is predominately public land, exit-ing to the ocean at Andrew MoleraState Park. Steelhead habitat in the BigSur River is characterized as ‘good’ byNMFS and the small steelhead streamsalong the Big Sur coast are consideredthe best preserved within the entireDPS. However, high volume groundwa-ter extraction in the lower portion ofthe Big Sur impacts streamflows andessential habitat for juvenile steel-head. Trout Unlimited and other stake-holders are actively negotiating withwater rights holders and the StateWater Board to modify the pattern andmagnitude of extractions to minimizeimpacts on steelhead.Each of the rivers within this DPS

has the potential for improved condi-tions for steelhead, and there is agrowing group of conservation-minded

sportsmen, land-owners, NGOs andgovernmental agencies committingtime and effort to the recovery ofsteelhead here.

The Southern California CoastalDPS

The range of the SCC DPS extendsfrom the Santa Maria River in thenorth to the Tijuana River (the U.S-Mexico border) in the south. NMFSestimates that historic steelhead num-bers in this DPS were over 45,000 fish,and anglers were still catchingstringers-full of steelhead in the 1940s.Human development, in particular theconstruction and operation of damsand other water diversions, has causedthis steelhead population to declinenearly 99% percent. Today, only about500 adult fish survive in the DPS. There are reasons, however, to be

optimistic about this endangered fish’schances. NMFS, the CaliforniaDepartment of Fish & Wildlife, andorganizations like CalTrout and TroutUnlimited are collaborating to save theSouthern California steelhead fromextinction.

The San Diego/Orange CountiesWatersheds Steelhead RecoveryCoalition

San Diego and Orange Counties(SanDOC) encompass the largeststretch of undeveloped coastline insouthern California. A complicatedownership picture, coupled with thesurrounding urban and suburbansprawl, present complex jurisdictionalissues and impose huge demands onresources, particularly water. Manystreams here, including the SantaMargarita and San Luis Rey Rivers,and San Mateo, San Juan, and TrabucoCreeks, historically supported steel-head runs.

In 2012, with funding from theCalifornia Department of Fish &Wildlife’s Fisheries Restoration GrantProgram (FRGP), CalTrout and TroutUnlimited laid the groundwork for suc-cessful implementation of restorationprojects in this region, and the first-ever San Diego and Orange CountiesSteelhead Restoration Coalition tookshape. (In addition to CalTrout andTrout Unlimited, SanDOC Coalitionmembers include the Golden State

Flycasters, the San Diego Chapter ofthe Audubon Society, San DiegoCoastkeeper, and the Chaparral LandsConservancy.) SanDOC Coalition mem-bers are finalizing a strategic plan andhave identified multiple steelheadrestoration projects. Coalition mem-bers are actively working to fund theseprojects. CalTrout recently received a$50,000 grant from Wells Fargo’sEnvironmental Solutions forCommunities Grant Program. Thegrant, administered through theNational Fish & Wildlife Foundation,will fund a water quality monitoringand public outreach program in theSan Luis Rey River. CalTrout has also submitted grant

proposals to the FRGP to fund otherSouthern California steelhead pro-jects, including removal of an ‘ArizonaCrossing’ to restore fish passage on theLos Alamos Creek; removal of smalldams to restore fish passage to tribu-taries of Trabuco Creek and San JuanCreek; removal of invasive species torestore steelhead habitat in the SantaMargarita River; and a study to identi-fy sources of the invasive species andlong-term solutions to the threats thesespecies pose to steelhead. TroutUnlimited has also submitted an FRGPproposal to evaluate habitat, fish pas-sage barriers, water quality and quan-tity in Trabuco Creek.

The Santa Clara River WatershedSteelhead Coalition

The Santa Clara River watershedstraddles Los Angeles and VenturaCounties and encompasses more than1625 square miles. The main stem ofthe Santa Clara and its principal tribu-taries, Sespe Creek, Santa Paula Creekand Piru Creek, contain exceptionalsteelhead habitat. Unfortunately, damsand diversions block access to historicspawning habitat as well as out-migra-tion of juveniles and adults. CalTrouthas been working with the UnitedWater Conservation District andresource agencies to implement fishpassage solutions at Vern Freeman andSanta Felicia – two of the largest damsin the watershed. Funding from the FRGP also laid the

groundwork for successful implemen-tation of restoration projects in thiswatershed. Under CalTrout’s leader-




ship, the Santa Clara River WatershedSteelhead Coalition took shape —which also includes the NatureConservancy, Friends of the SantaClara River, Keep the Sespe Wild,Ventura Coastkeeper/WishToyoFoundation, the Santa Clara RiverConservancy, and Stoecker Ecological— and has identified multiple steelheadrestoration projects. CalTrout has sub-mitted grant proposals to the FRGP tounderwrite some of these projects,including elevation of the creek bed atthe Harvey Diversion by insertion of‘H’ beams to provide interim fish pas-sage until the diversion can benotched; and a monitoring programaddressing upstream migration, fryand juvenile rearing, smolt outmigra-tion, overall steelhead abundance andsteelhead habitat suitability. In addi-tion, the Coalition is finalizing a strate-gic plan to identify and implementeven more steelhead restoration pro-jects in the coming years.

Santa Ynez River Restoration

The Santa Ynez River in the SantaBarbara area once supported thelargest steelhead run south of SanFrancisco. In the 1950s, steelhead lostaccess to roughly half of the water-shed, and more than two-thirds of his-toric spawning habitat was blocked byconstruction of Bradbury Dam. When the SCC DPS was listed in 1997,CalTrout filed a water rights challengeat the State Water Board to obtain ade-quate flows and fish passage at

Bradbury. This process was stalled forseveral years. In 2012, however, StateBoard hearings resumed, with theEnvironmental Defense Center (EDC)now representing CalTrout. Becausesteelhead continue to utilize habitatbelow the dam, EDC and CalTrout aremonitoring the environmental reviewprocess for the proposed installation ofmunicipal wells that could negativelyimpact this lower watershed. In addi-tion, the Bureau of Reclamation will beissuing a Biological Assessment ana-lyzing effects on steelhead as part ofthe proposed relicensing of the Dam,and NMFS will issue a more detailedBiological Opinion. CalTrout and otheradvocates will closely monitor andcomment on these evaluations as well.

Ventura River Restoration

Matilija Creek is a major tributary ofthe Ventura River. Historically, bothwaters provided miles of high-qualitysteelhead habitat. Matilija Dam is a190-ft. structure with a reservoir thatis now filled with 6 million cubic yardsof sediment. In its current state, thedam poses seismic risks and complete-ly blocks fish passage. CalTrout helped launch an initiative

to remove Matilija Dam through for-mation of the Matilija Coalition and theMatilija Dam Technical AdvisoryCommittee (TAC). Over the past year,the TAC has completed a draft workplan addressing preliminary tasks forthe removal of the dam. In March 2013,a Request for Qualifications was sentto consultants seeking their qualifica-tions to perform critical functions

associated with damremoval, including selectingfeasible removal methods,generating cost estimates,sediment transport model-ing, and creating a mitigationplan to address sediment thatwould be deposited tem-porarily into Matilija Creekand the Ventura River duringthe dam removal process. Another major passage bar-rier for steelhead in theVentura River watershed isthe Robles Diversion on theCasitas Water DiversionCanal. CalTrout helpedsecure construction of theRobles Fish Ladder on the

Canal, and subsequently, NMFS man-dated minimum flows to ensure fishpassage. Casitas sued the UnitedStates claiming that the governmentwas illegally ‘taking’ its water.CalTrout was an Amicus party in thiscase. In a significant victory for steel-head, the trial court ruled in favor ofthe United States, and its decision wasaffirmed on appeal. This is a signifi-cant, precedent-setting decision thatwill benefit steelhead in this and poten-tially other watersheds.

Santa Monica MountainsRestoration

Steelhead historically populatedcreeks that drain the Santa MonicaMountains (between Santa Monica andOxnard), but as in other waters in thisDPS, these populations are now a tinyfraction of their historic average. In2006, CalTrout released the SantaMonica Mountains Steelhead HabitatStudy, which laid the scientific founda-tion for a steelhead recovery campaignin this area. Since then, stakeholdershave been working to implement criti-cal restoration actions includingrestoration of Malibu Creek lagoon,restoration of the Topanga Creek rodeogrounds, the proposed removal ofRindge Dam, and California Trout’sproposed removal of an ‘Arizona roadcrossing’ on Zuma Creek to restore fishpassage.

Conclusion

Although sport fishing for steelheadis not allowed in the southern steel-head DPS (due to its Endangered sta-tus), fishing for steelhead is allowed insome streams of the South-CentralCoastal DPS. This is a catch-and-release, barbless hook, limited seasonfishery with low flow closures as fur-ther protection in some streams. Despite these limitations, there are

dedicated local anglers that continuetheir quest for the SCCC steelhead,which can reach 36 inches and 20pounds. Hearing old-timers’ stories ofsteelhead fishing on the Arroyo Seco,or of the push of fish into the FosterHole on the Pajaro and the active grabat the turn of the tide, now keeps us atthe vise, crafting the perfect patternfor this perfect fish.


Many streams in Orange and San Diego counties,such as the Santa Margarita River, once supportedsteelhead runs. Photo courtesy California Trout


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