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Smolt/Adult Monitoring:
Hood Canal
[Big Beef Creek] [Little
Anderson Creek] [Stavis
& Seabeck Creeks]
[Devil’s Hole Creek]
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Hood
Canal Studies
In 1977, the
(then) Washington Department of Fisheries initiated a comprehensive,
long-range research effort to address the specific needs of managing
Washington’s naturally-produced salmon runs, specifically coho (Onchorhynchus
kisutch), throughout Puget Sound and the Washington coast.
Several streams were selected: among them was Big Beef Creek.
In 1992, this
coho smolt production evaluation was expanded to include the adjacent
Little Anderson Creek. In 1993, two more nearby streams, Stavis
and Seabeck Creeks, were added. Together, these four study sites
enable the evaluation of salmon survival and production trends against
habitat condition/change and fishing pressures affecting the wild
Hood Canal coho stock.
Currently, all
four streams are being monitored as part of the Intensively
Monitored Watersheds (IMS) project.
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Canal Studies: Big Beef Creek
Location:
At the head
of the estuary on Big Beef Creek, at the University of Washington
field research station, located on the eastern shore of Hood Canal,
4-miles north from Seabeck, Washington.
History:
In 1978, WDFW
(then Department of Fisheries) modified and improved an existing
weir located at the University of Washington Research Station at
Big Beef Creek. Since 1978, WDFW has operated that trapping facility
to enumerate 100% of the upstream and downstream-migrants. The
facility underwent additional repairs and modifications in early-1986,
which included extending the weir on the north side of the trap
house to enable trapping at most flow levels.
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Methods:
During upstream-migrant
trapping, the weir screens the entire stream flow through vertical
picket sections. During the downstream-migrant trapping season,
we replace the pickets with stop-logs and screen panels. Downstream
migrants are captured by three fan traps installed into the first bays on the
east side of the weir house. Fish are removed, at least once daily
(more frequently during peak migration and heavy debris loads),
by dipnet from the live box attached to the tail of the traps. All
fish captured are identified and enumerated by species and age.
Coho smolts are coded-wire tagged before release. The trapping
season is dependent on fish movement: smolt trapping generally begins
in March, and continues through mid-June, while adult trapping begins
around August (when the fall rains raise stream flows), and continues
through January.
Available Publications & Data:
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Hood
Canal Studies: Little Anderson Creek
Location:
Small, east
shore tributary of Hood Canal, one-mile northeast of Big Beef Creek
in Kitsap County, Washington.
History:
To expand our
information on wild coho production in Hood Canal streams, we installed
a smolt trap above the tidewater at the mouth of Little Anderson
Creek in 1992. Logging activities and development in this watershed
has impacted the habitat, creating serious erosion problems. In
Fall 1996, increased sediment loads damaged spawning beds. Subsequent
sediment transport buried our smolt trap in mud and debris during
the Spring 1997 season. Because of continued siltation problems,
the trap was not operated in 1998. Trapping operations resumed
in 1999.
Methods:
We install a
fence weir in early-April
through June.
Available
Publications & Data:
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Hood
Canal Studies: Stavis & Seabeck Creeks
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Location:
Independent
tributaries to the east shore of Hood Canal, on the Kitsap Peninsula,
southwest of Big Beef Creek.
History:
Hood Canal trapping
was again expanded in 1993, with the construction of smolt traps
in the lower Seabeck and Stavis Creeks. The Seabeck Creek watershed
is bisected by the Seabeck-Holly Road and has a mix of forestry
and rural-residential development. Stavis Creek is primarily forested
and is less impacted by human activity, compared to the other monitored
Hood Canal streams.
Methods:
Fence
weir, with similar season to Little Anderson Creek: early-April
through June.
Available
Publications & Data:
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Canal Studies: Devil's Hole Creek
Location:
In the fishway
at the outlet to the Bangor Lake reservoir, on the Bangor Naval
Submarine Base complex, North Kitsap Peninsula.
History:
The reservoir
at the mouth of the stream was created in 1940s during road construction,
and a fish ladder added in 1979 to provide anadromous salmonids
access to the watershed. WDFW was contracted by the Navy in 1998-2000
to provide a species and habitat assessment and corrective design
project for the Devil’s Hole watershed on the Bangor Naval Submarine
Base.
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Methods:
The objective
for this project was to collect information on the condition
of anadromous salmonid habitat and recommend measures to correct
or improve the abundance and freshwater survival of salmonids
in the basin. These assessments required:
- Installing
a juvenile trap in the lake outlet to capture out-migrating
salmonids (April through June 1999 and 2000;
- A lake
survey, conducted in September 1999, to assess summer use
by resident and anadromous fish;
- Habitat
surveys to assess stream condition for salmonids use; and
- Measuring
summer flows and monitoring stream temperatures.
Available
Publications:
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