Freshwater Creek Lifecycle Monitoring Station & Mill Creek Spawning Ground Survey FY24/25

The purpose of this project is to continue the long-term monitoring of Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon and steelhead trout populations in two watersheds in coastal Northern California. The project has two components. The first estimates adult and smolt salmonid population abundances and life stage survival rates at the Freshwater Creek Lifecycle Monitoring Station, Humboldt County. The second estimates adult salmonid abundances in Mill Creek tributary to Smith River, Del Norte County. The monitoring elements in this project will continue baseline data to meet the needs of viability assessment and recovery criteria defined by CDFW and NOAA Fisheries and explore potentially efficient genomic methods of monitoring adult populations.

Goal: Serve the primary goals of adult abundance and Life Cycle Monitoring for the California Monitoring Program. Measurable Project Objectives: Provide reliable estimates of annual adult Chinook and Coho Salmon, and steelhead returns in both Freshwater and Mill Creeks and juvenile smolt abundances and estimates of freshwater and marine survival rates of Coho Salmon in Freshwater Creek LCM. Federal and state listings of these salmonids require monitoring to provide measures of recovery. Information provided by this monitoring effort is critical for maintaining continuity of long-term datasets to inform recovery efforts.