FY 2020 Squaxin Island Tribe South Sound Trapping

As part of continuous monitoring, the Tribe placed a panel weir trap in Cranberry Creek and rotary screw traps in Goldsborough, Skookum, and Mill Creeks. Traps were placed in March, fished 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and removed in June to target out-migrating coho smolts. Information obtained included the number of smolts, length, condition, and migration timing.



While coho was the species of interest, all trapped encounters were enumerated and measured. The trapping program was targeted toward systems with substantial restoration and conservation potential.

Ongoing monitoring of out-migrating coho smolts and the returning escapement measures productivity and survival as well as providing information on freshwater restoration efforts. This information is essential to managing harvest by providing population scale estimates of abundance and secondarily for planning and monitoring the effectiveness of habitat restoration efforts.