Monterey County Steelhead Monitoring Project (FY25/26)

The purpose of this project is the long-term monitoring of steelhead in the Big Sur Coast BPG using the Viable Salmonid Population (VSP) concept described in Fish Bulletin 180 and 182. Project staff will continue to monitor anadromous O. mykiss abundance in the Big Sur River by using a fixed counting station (DIDSON sonar camera). Along with estimating anadromous O. mykiss returns using a sonar camera on the Big Sur River, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) staff will continue summer surveys to determine O. mykiss abundance, density and spatial distribution for the larger Big Sur Coast (BPG).

Oncorhynchus mykiss populations located within the limits of anadromy along the Big Sur Coast range are part of the federally threatened South-Central California Distinct Population Segment. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service?s South-Central California Coast Steelhead Recovery Plan (Recovery Plan), steelhead populations have been negatively affected by anthropogenic activities including construction of barriers to fish migration, diversion of surface- and ground-water flows, and agricultural and urban development (NMFS 2013). In collaboration with NMFS, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is developing and implementing anadromous Salmonid population survey methodologies to better understand population status and trends.