October 17, 2019
By Pat Samuel, Bay Area Program Manager
I spent this week working with California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW), Trout Unlimited, NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and a consultant from Eco-Logical Research on Pescadero Creek. We relied on partnerships with dedicated private landowners to design and install a set of two wire antennas to detect tagged fish moving upstream in Pescadero Creek. The goal of this pilot project is to detect seasonal movement and document migration timing of steelhead moving upstream into Pescadero for rearing or spawning in late fall and early winter months.
Each summer and fall, CDFW conducts a mark-recapture population survey by capturing steelhead in Pescadero Marsh and implanting fish with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags, similar to the tags implanted into your cat or dog. Each tag is about the size of a grain of rice and has a unique code that transmits to a reader when it comes close enough to be activated by an electromagnetic field. Scientists record the size of the fish and collect scale samples during the survey, which can help us re-create a fishes’ life and age.
When tagged steelhead swim through the cable loop on the antenna, the signal and PIT tag code is automatically recorded on a device attached to a battery and computer located safely up on the bank. With two sets of cables installed in close proximity, we can tell if fish are moving upstream or down giving us a hint as to their purpose: (e.g. upstream fish may be on their spawning run, and downstream fish may be on their way back out to the Pacific after spawning).
This pilot effort is intended to leverage and expand upon the existing fisheries surveys in the watershed by our project partners, and we hope that in the future can be used to help inform steelhead survival rates, document juvenile migration downstream to the marsh, and offer valuable data to help triangulate population size estimates.
Out of the field, and with the help of Communications Associate Megan Nguyen, I presented our work on Pescadero at the October State of the Estuary Conference. This presentation focused on the fate of steelhead in an intermittent estuary like Pescadero. We’ll check back with you for an update to this project in the coming Field Notes.
Patrick Samuel has been with CalTrout since 2014 and was one of the lead authors of the 2017 State of the Salmonids II: Fish in Hot Water report. Prior to joining CalTrout, Patrick worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum as well as the NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento. View Patrick’s Bay Area region work here.
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.