Pine Gulch Snorkel Surveys Reveal First Juvenile Coho Salmon in Over a Decade

Juvenile coho salmon at Pine Gulch Creek in Point Reyes National Seashore, July 2021. So far, the crew has counted approximately 80 juvenile coho in Pine Gulch during snorkel surveys for the 2021 juvenile monitoring season. Coho had previously been absent from Pine Gulch Creek since 2010. NPS

July 22, 2021 - Exciting news—The San Francisco Bay Area Inventory and Monitoring Network salmon monitoring crew has spotted juvenile coho salmon in Pine Gulch Creek for the first time since 2010! Pine Gulch is a stream in Point Reyes National Seashore that empties into Bolinas Lagoon. It has been known to support steelhead trout populations, but over the past decade endangered coho salmon have been absent.

Last winter during the spawning season, the monitoring crew found a redd (i.e. nest) that displayed characteristics of those created by coho, but they were skeptical. It appears that redd was in fact created by coho adults spawning. So far, the crew has counted approximately 80 juvenile coho in Pine Gulch Creek during snorkel surveys for the 2021 juvenile monitoring season and sampling is still underway.

As part of the juvenile salmon monitoring, the crew is conducting an inventory of habitat throughout Pine Gulch Creek and conducting snorkel surveys to measure juvenile salmon abundance and distribution. Habitat inventories consist of evaluating the stream and breaking it up into different categories. For example, crews distinguish between creek sections made up of pools versus shallow riffles. They also take measurements of things like depth, temperature, and water quality. This helps to get a broader picture of the composition of the creek and understand how fish use it. After classifying habitat, the crew performs snorkel surveys to record fish counts and estimate salmon populations. The crew will continue to inventory habitat and snorkel throughout the summer in Pine Gulch, as well as Olema and Redwood Creeks.

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 Fisheries Biologist Michael Reichmuth

See more from the Bay Area Nature & Science Blog

Where this belongs

• Point Reyes National Seashore

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