Steelhead Lecture

Eric Brown

Winter steelhead runs are picking up throughout the Oregon central coast region.  How do we know this? Who keeps track of these fish populations and how?  The MidCoast Watersheds Council invites the public to attend a presentation on the subject by Eric Brown, Jan. 4, 6:30 p.m., in room 205 of the Newport Visual Arts Center (777 N.W. Beach Dr.) in Newport’s Nye Beach area.  Refreshments will be served.

Unlike most salmon species, the elusive behavior of adult winter steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) makes them extremely difficult to monitor during their primary spawning season (February through May). As a result, until about 20 years ago, managers on the Oregon Coast were often forced to make important decisions without the benefit of reliable information.   Beginning in 1998, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) began development of a new survey and sampling methodology based on redd (the beds where salmon lay their eggs) surveys. In 2003, after five years of method development and calibration, these new methods were employed across the full winter steelhead range in coastal Oregon streams.  This monitoring provides information on the trends and status of distribution, abundance, timing, and hatchery effects for wild adult spawners.

Eric Brown’s talk will cover the development of this survey methodology will discuss some of the trends and results apparent within the mid-Oregon Coast, 2003 – 2017.  Brown has been the Project Leader for ODFW’s Coastal and Lower Columbia winter steelhead monitoring effort since 2008, having also been one of the founding members helping to develop these methods in the late 1990s.  In between those years he worked for a number of agencies on various on salmon, steelhead and lamprey research and monitoring efforts in Oregon and Wyoming.  He also spent several years researching and monitoring water quality effects of intensive dairy farming in New Zealand, working with local farmers to find practical solutions that benefit the farmers as well as the fish. 

For more information, contact Evan Hayduk at evan@midcoastwatershedscouncil.org.