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Coho Begin Out-Migration
Volunteers Tom Linde and Steev
Ward installed the smolt trap in the fish ladder on March 4 and within
two weeks tallied the first “adolescent” coho headed for saltwater.
The wood-framed net, positioned under a weir in the fish ladder, gently
captures everything that’s going downstream, including 4” - 6”
smolt and fry too weak to resist the current. Tom and Steev check the
trap twice daily in order to measure, record, and release the fish
within hours of capture. They’ll continue monitoring the trap until
the out-migration appears to be over, likely sometime in May. This is
the second year of volunteer smolt monitoring here to document the
number, size, and species of fish that Fauntleroy Creek is producing. An
estimated two dozen “home hatch” fry emerged on March 6 from the one
redd left by last fall’s spawners.
2003 Return
In the wake of a second year of an
near-nonexistent coho return, creek volunteers met in December with
experts from Seattle Public Utilities and
Washington Trout to debrief and
strategize ways to understand and enhance the habitat needs of these
fish.
After discussing several options,
volunteers chose to focus effort on the creek as rearing habitat. That
decision includes continued volunteer monitoring of out-migration (size,
number, and species of fish that the creek produces) and working with
agency partners and watershed residents to improve water quality. For
details, see the Watershed Council's 2003 annual report posted at www.fauntleroy.net.
1/14/04
A SERVICE OF THE FAUNTLEROY WATERSHED COUNCIL
Artwork Credit:
Here interpreted by
artist Richard Sleight, the "salmon-trout's head" ovoid
captures the central importance of salmonids (both salmon and their
trout cousins) to northern Coast Salish culture. It is often used as the
eye in a complex image, with proportions varying according to space and
the artist's intentions.
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