2024 and 2025 Snohomish River Basin Juvenile Outmigration Monitoring

The purpose of this project is to provide a direct measure of juvenile Chinook and Coho migration from the Skykomish River, Snoqualmie River to the Snohomish River. To obtain this information the Tribes will operate two rotary screw fish traps on the lower Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers. The traps will be operated from February through the middle of June. Each trap will be calibrated throughout the season using groups of marked hatchery fish. Information reported will include numbers caught, effort, timing and trap efficiency, information needed to evaluate production. Reporting will also include estimates of total outmigration numbers (production).

A key component to provide information on Snohomish salmon populations is the operation of two rotary screw traps in the Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers. These projects involved trapping and enumerating juvenile Chinook and Coho salmon (as well as several un-targeted species) as they emigrate from the Snohomish River Basin to the Puget Sound. The goals of these trapping efforts are to estimate Chinook and Coho salmon natural production, migration patterns, and freshwater survival. The goal of this project is to track Chinook and coho production and survival information and migration timing within the Snohomish river basin, which can be used in part to evaluate salmon recovery efforts in the various portions of the watershed, to refine preseason run size forecasting by harvest managers, and used in combination with other monitoring and research efforts to better understand and identify priority restoration areas.