Adopt-a-Salmon

 

Thank you to everyone who joined our Adopt-a-Salmon program! Through the program, you follow along as we track salmon on their journeys from North Coast rivers to the ocean. These fish have a perilous journey to make it to sea, but your support helps us improve their chances.

Every year, salmon and steelhead make a miraculous journey from rivers many miles inland all the way out to the ocean. On the Eel River, CalTrout’s North Coast team, along with California Department of Fish and Wildlife and UC Berkeley, tracks a portion of these juvenile fish throughout their seaward migration, to better understand the threats they face, their survival odds which are currently low, and how we can better manage watersheds to raise the odds.

 

Through CalTrout’s brand new Adopt-a-Salmon program, you join us in tracking these fish on their journey to the ocean. Scientific monitoring work can be challenging to fund, and by adopting a salmon you can help us meet this critical need to fund science and future restoration efforts on the Eel River and beyond. If you missed out on adopting a salmon this year, no worries — you can still follow along on the cohort’s journey! Stay tuned for more updates coming very soon.

 
socialsfish_Sally-the-Salmon
Sally the Salmon receives a tag.
 

The Journey to the Ocean Begins!

This year, our team tagged 400 juvenile coho salmon in different streams throughout the South Fork Eel River watershed including Indian Creek, Sproul Creek, and Walker Meadow. Almost half of these fish were adopted! Above, see one of our favorite cuties, Sally the Salmon. These little fish are now on their way to the ocean! Their journeys can range from 40 to 125 miles, and it is a perilous swim with many threats to contend with most notably predation by invasive pikeminnow. The map below shows you locations each fish was tagged, and the path they will follow towards the ocean. Along the way, they will pass by our series of receivers which will give us information about how far each fish has traveled.

 
Rectangle Photo - Blog Post (8)
 

 

 

Your Tagging Crew Says Hello!

CalTrout’s North Coast team, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and UC Berkeley work together each year to tag fish on the South Fork Eel River. Check out some behind the scenes photos of the tagging crew!

20230524_091021
20240508_100728
20230513_082355
20240421_090450
20230512_102449
Gabe-Rossi-coho

What's next?

As your fish and its cohort swim towards the ocean, we will provide you with a few key updates from their journey between now and the fall including threats these fish face and the solutions CalTrout and our partners our enacting to increase survival odds. In the fall, we will let you know how your fish and its entire cohort fared. Thanks for tagging along!