Southern California steelhead are survivors. Unlike their Northern California cousins, they have adapted to seasonally dry streams in the arid climate at the extreme southern end of the steelhead range. Tens of thousands of these prized sport fish used to return to Southern California streams every year, but now they’re stopped by dams and water diversions, urban development, and livestock grazing. These impacts have decimated southern steelhead runs, and today, only a few hundred of the iridescent fish make their yearly spawning pilgrimage.
The recovery of these endangered fish is the focus of many of our projects operated out of California Trout’s Southern California offices. We are leading collaborations of non-profit organizations, government resource agencies, and interested stakeholders through our Santa Clara River Steelhead Coalition and the South Coast Steelhead Coalition which covers Orange and San Diego counties. These coalitions execute a multitude of projects dedicated to Southern California steelhead recovery, such as drafting recovery plans, watershed restoration, infrastructure improvement projects to remove barriers hindering fish passage, water quality testing, and public education and engagement.
Balancing the needs of fish and people in California is a challenge. It is imperative that we “figure out how to support essential human activity while also protecting critical water flows and providing fish passage. Today, nowhere is this tension more acute than along our South Coast”, as stated by our Southern California Conservation Programs Manager, Candice Meneghin, in an article to the Ventura County Star.
We highly encourage you to read Candice’s article where she discusses more about the plight of the southern steelhead and what CalTrout and other partners are doing about it.
⇒ Forging the Future of Steelhead, Ventura County Star
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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.
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I have developed a method to capture and store peak stream water flows on local stream and creeks in Santa Barbara county, to utilize this water for fish habitat rehabilitation. Am available for slide and video show/presentations and Q&A ..