FY23 Dungeness and Strait of Juan de Fuca Streams Stock Assessments

This essential monitoring and evaluation priority involves the ongoing collection and assessment of critical stock data in the Tribe’s priority streams along the Eastern Straits to determine salmon escapement, abundance and productivity. The information also informs the Tribe’s stream habitat, restoration, and water quality planning programs. Continuing tasks include: (a) monitoring for Coho, Steelhead and Cutthroat smolts via targeted trapping efforts in the Sequim-Dungeness Watershed; (b) tracking fin-clipped smolts out-migrating from Matriotti Creek to inform Dungeness wild salmonid production estimates (in partnership with WDFW); and (c) conducting spawning ground surveys (including redd, spawner, and carcass counts) in Dungeness River, and other streams as feasible. During stock assessments/surveys, staff will coordinate with partners on drought response strategies and field mitigation if necessary for ensuring escapement goals. As opportunities arise, additional tools such as SONAR, eDNA, or underwater videography may be used to augment fish population monitoring efforts.

Smolt trap monitoring efforts will allow us to continue assessing juvenile salmon production and migration patterns within these streams. Spawning ground surveys provides a continuous (multi-year) evaluation tool, and they, along with smolt trapping, are essential for measuring and tracking overall salmon abundance, productivity, escapement, as well as numerical trends in the Tribe’s area of interest. This information also informs the Tribe’s stream habitat, restoration, and water quality planning programs.