“To repeat the obvious, that means in 2006 an estimated 42 percent of the spawners in this “wild” population were hatchery fish. Statistical modeling indicated the number of steelhead smolts barged in the Snake River in the previous several years was a strong predictor of PHOS (Percent Hatchery Origin Spawners).”
Sawmill Creek is a tributary to the Lemhi River. The Lemhi River watershed is one of the highest elevation and farthest inland reaches for fish migration in the world, as the new signs point out. The watershed is also one of the most important spawning and rearing habitat areas for salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin.
Summer run steelhead were thought to be extirpated in Washington’s Elwha River, after two dams blocked fish passage for a century. Both dams were removed by 2014. How wild summer steelhead responded amazed scientists and steelhead advocates. Check out the new film from Trout Unlimited and North Fork Studios on the remarkable recovery of summer steelhead in the Elwha on TU’s YouTube channel APRIL 17 AT 6 PM Pacific Time.
This is a special week for steelhead anglers, and others who care about the magnificent sea-run form of rainbow trout in its native range of the Pacific Northwest. On Friday at 5 p.m. PST, Wild Steelheaders United will launch “Rising from the Ashes,” a new film on the resurgence of summer steelhead in Washington’s Elwha