Juvenile Olema Creek Coho Aid Regional Coho Salmon Recovery Effort

Monitoring crew using a seine net to capture coho from pools within Olema Creek. Forty captured juveniles are now being raised in a hatchery as a part of the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program. NPS / Michael Reichmuth

October 2020 - In early October, biologists with the San Francisco Bay Area Network Coho & Steelhead Monitoring Program assisted the California Department of Fish & Wildlife in collecting 40 juvenile coho salmon from Olema Creek. Now, these fish are living in the Don Clausen Fish Hatchery located at Lake Sonoma in Sonoma County. Although this reduces the current population size within Olema Creek it will aid the regional coho recovery effort. The 40 juveniles will be raised in the hatchery as a part of the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program, a partnership aiming to restore a self-sustaining coho population in the Russian River watershed. When they reach adulthood, the fish will be spawned with other coho reared in the hatchery. Their offspring will then be released into creeks within the Russian River watershed. They’ll also serve as a safety net should something happen to the Olema/Lagunitas Creek coho population.

The captured coho alive and well at their new home in a tank located in the Don Clausen Fish Hatchery. When they reach adulthood, these fish will be spawned with other coho reared in the hatchery. David Hines / CDFW

Russian River and Marin County coho populations are part of the same Central California Coho Evolutionarily Significant Unit. This larger coho population encompasses the southernmost part of the species’ range, from Punta Gorda in southern Humboldt County to Aptos Creek in Santa Cruz County. Central California Coast coho are federally endangered; their extinction risk is high. Populations in the Russian River watershed have been supported by hatchery-reared fish from the captive broodstock program since 2001.

For More Information

Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program

San Francisco Bay Area Network Salmonid Monitoring webpage

Pacific Coast Science & Learning Center Coho & Steelhead webpage

Contact Fishery Biologist Michael Reichmuth

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