Cannibal Island, Eel River Estuary Restoration Project

For decades, the tidal marsh estuary surrounding Cannibal Island, near the mouth of the Eel River on California's North Coast, has been cut off from the natural rise and fall of the tides, largely by levees built for farming and flood control. This 950-acre stretch once supported some of the most productive wetland habitat on the North Coast, but without regular tidal exchange, it has lost much of what made it thrive: juvenile coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead have lost the sheltered, food-rich nursery habitat they need to grow strong enough to survive their journey to the ocean, species like Green Sturgeon, Longfin Smelt, Tidewater Goby, Dungeness crab, and lamprey have lost critical habitat, water quality has declined, and the natural buffer that once absorbed storm surges and flooding has all but disappeared.

Funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board, building on earlier investments from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife through Propositions 1 and 68 and ongoing support from the State Coastal Conservancy, is advancing designs for restoring the Cannibal Island Unit toward construction. CalTrout is leading the effort alongside state and federal agencies and researchers from Cal Poly Humboldt and UC Berkeley, who are studying the estuary's food web before and after restoration to track how the ecosystem recovers.

The plan is to remove the dikes blocking tidal flow and restore the estuary's natural channels, allowing the Eel River and ocean tides to move freely across the land once again. As saltwater and freshwater mix the way they historically did, native marsh plants will take root, nutrient-rich conditions will return, and the estuary will regain the nursery habitat that coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead depend on. Over time, this restoration reconnects the marsh to the broader Eel River watershed, mending one of the missing links in the river's health from headwaters to sea.

The benefits extend far beyond fish and wildlife. A restored estuary acts as a natural sponge and buffer, absorbing floodwaters and reducing storm damage to nearby roads, farms, and homes. It filters and cleans water flowing toward the coast, supports the fishing economy that depends on healthy salmon runs, and gives people a thriving natural space to enjoy for generations to come.