Fisheries Crew Launches Pilot Study on Salmon Interactions in West Marin Creeks

By Watershed Stewards Program Corpsmember Natale Urquhart, San Francisco Bay Area Network Salmonid Monitoring Program

Juvenile Chinook have never been observed rearing in Olema and Redwood Creeks prior to this year. The pilot study aims to provide insight into how they interact with juvenile coho and steelhead. NPS / Michael Reichmuth

June 2022 - In May, the San Francisco Bay Area Inventory and Monitoring Network (SFAN) fisheries crew launched a pilot study to look at the interactions between Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead in Olema and Redwood Creeks. The purpose of the study is to provide insight into how these species interact during this early freshwater life stage. Similar studies have been performed in controlled hatchery environments, but SFAN Fishery Biologist Michael Reichmuth is taking the opportunity to examine the behavior of these fish within the coastal streams our program monitors.

Crew members start with preliminary snorkel passes to find out where Chinook fry are inhabiting the same pools as the native juvenile salmonid species, coho salmon and steelhead trout. Then, they’ll gather data in the form of 30-minute underwater videos in those pools. Ben Fujita, a Mosaics in Science intern currently studying fisheries at Cal Poly Humboldt, is assisting our crew with data collection and footage review.

The pilot study involves snorkeling to find out where Chinook fry are inhabiting the same pools as juvenile coho and steelhead. Here, Fisheries Crew Lead Brentley McNeill snorkels a pool in Redwood Creek that has been isolated by block nets as Fishery Biologist Michael Reichmuth looks on. NPS / Watershed Stewards Program Corpsmember Tara Blake

With this data, we will seek to determine if juvenile Chinook, which have never been observed rearing in Olema and Redwood Creeks prior to this year, interact with coho and steelhead. If so, we’ll aim to describe the interactions between the species. This could contribute to the overall understanding of how future population dynamics and climate change will impact the future of coho salmon and steelhead in our small coastal streams.

For more information

• San Francisco Bay Area Network Salmonid Monitoring webpage
• Pacific Coast Science & Learning Center Coho & Steelhead webpage

San Francisco Bay Area Coho and Steelhead Blog

• Contact Fishery Biologist Michael Reichmuth

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