Male coho salmon in Dutch Bill Creek. Photo: David Berman
The number of returning adults is an important metric in coho salmon recovery, as these fish are the basis of future wild coho populations. NOAA Fisheries has established a recovery target of 10,100 adult coho salmon returning each winter to the Russian River basin.
Floy-tagged steelhead #knowyourcoho Just for fun: Test your adult salmonid ID skills!
Coho female and jack spawning in Mill Creek
Female coho digging a redd, Photo: Brock Dolman
2020/21 adult return update
We estimated that a total of 214 adult coho salmon returned from the ocean and entered the Russian River.
Throughout the basin, adult coho salmon presence was documented in eight of 33 coho salmon streams surveyed (24%), which represents less than half of the proportion observed during the previous five years (average 56%, range 50% - 68%). A reduction in steelhead spatial distribution was also observed, though it was not as extreme as that observed for coho salmon; adult steelhead presence was documented in 50% of steelhead streams surveyed, whereas in the previous five years, it averaged 65% and ranged from 56% to 74%.
Estimated annual adult hatchery coho salmon returns to the Russian River, return winters 2000/01 through 2020/21. Note that methods for counting/estimating the number of returning adult coho salmon were not consistent among years; prior to 2009/10, spawner surveys were the primary method, from 2009/10 – 2011/12 methods included spawner surveys, video monitoring and PIT tag detection systems, and beginning in 2012/13, with the installation of the Duncans Mills antenna array, PIT tag detection systems were the primary method used. Juvenile stocking also varied across years in location of release, number of released individuals (6,000-235,000), and lifestage.
See our Winter Monitoring Reports for more information on adult sampling methods and outcomes.
Check out these videos of salmon spawning in our local streams: