Saving Habitat Saves Fish
Coho Salmon- In dry California, the life of creeks and streams is especially beguiling, yet there has been a collective failure to give adequate protection to watercourses. Native Coho salmon, steelhead and trout, whose abundance was once legendary, are in serious decline. These fish return to spawn at the precise spot where they hatched. POST's job is to safeguard the land and its water in preparation for this miracle.
- At Cloverdale Coastal Ranches south of Pescadero, POST has repaired more than 50 erosion gullies from which thousands of cubic yards of gill-choking sediment were emptying into Gazos Creek during storms. Professor Jerry Smith of San Jose State University, who studies local fish populations, believes steelhead are now in generally good shape at Gazos Creek. Coho salmon, which used to be plentiful, may be gone.
- Coho salmon have dwindled to 1 percent of their historic numbers, according to the U.S. Department of Fish & Game. Jennifer Nelson of the Bay Delta Region of the Department is hopeful about the chances of Coho returning to Gazos Creek, but accurate data is elusive. “NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) samples only a kilometer of the stream and samples a different kilometer every year.”
- Success has also come to steelhead in southern Santa Clara County, where POST has had a number of recent projects. Volunteers from Gilroy-based CHEER (Coastal Habitat Education & Environmental Restoration) comb the tributaries to Uvas Creek looking for newly hatched steelhead trout. Typically the tributaries dry up or become disconnected puddles by late summer. Before the water disappears, CHEER volunteers catch as many fingerlings as they can and transport them to the relative safety of Uvas Creek, below the dam, where water levels are more dependable.
- “It takes a big collaborative effort to make a difference,” says Gilroy resident Jean Myers, a POST donor who participated in the rescue of steelhead fingerlings (232 in all) at POST’s Clark Canyon Ranch in May 2008.
- Sediment, dams, levees, roads, water withdrawals, pollution, over-fishing and climate change—all these may contribute to the decline of fish in local creeks. The task for POST and others is to safeguard the habitat before the fish disappear altogether.
Fish Rescue
To learn more about Coho salmon and their habitat needs, click here for a story from KQED's QUEST.