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Why are Columbia River Steelhead Having Such a Bad Year? by Bradley W. Parks Oregon Public Broadcasting, September 16, 2021

The bottom has dropped out of the steelhead population this year,
and the fish's mysterious ocean life is making it harder to know why.

It's an extremely tough year to be a steelhead.

Fish are returning from the Pacific Ocean back to their freshwater spawning grounds in some of the lowest numbers on record, prompting widespread fishery closures and dire warnings of a race toward extinction.

On the Columbia River, just about 54,000 steelhead have made it past Bonneville Dam as of this week. The count so far this year is less than a third of what it's been the past 10 years on average.

"It seems like the bottom has just dropped out on steelhead," said Laurie Weitkamp, a research fisheries biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Newport.

Columbia River steelhead runs have been gradually shrinking for the past decade, so a small run this year comes as little surprise in that regard. The dismal state of this year's runs have exposed a critical gap in our understanding of steelhead and how they live.

Like salmon, steelhead are anadromous. Steelhead are born in freshwater ecosystems and undertake a long migration out to sea when they're about the size of a grocery-store zucchini. They navigate waters through deserts and forests, over mountains and dams, and out to sea.

After spending a few years in the ocean growing big and strong, steelhead return to freshwater to spawn, and the cycle starts again.

"There are many places in the life cycle of steelhead and salmon where things can go wrong because they use this incredible landscape and waterscape throughout their lives," said Nate Mantua, a research scientist for NOAA in Santa Cruz, California.

Steelhead are not salmon; they're trout, but the two are so similar that they're often spoken of in the same breath. Pinpointing what's going wrong for steelhead requires close examination of how the fish are different.

At Oregon Public Broadcasting request, this story continues at the original site.

Related Pages:
Oregon Lowers Steelhead Bag Limits on Snake by Staff, Lewiston Tribune, 9/10/21
Record Low Numbers of Steelhead Returning to Columbia River by Associated Press, Herald Leader, 9/3/21
A-run Steelhead Forecast Downgraded Sharply, Spiking Concerns by Andy Walgamott, Northwest Sportsman, 8/23/21
Spring Offers Big Steelhead Fishing Opportunities in Smaller Rivers by Idaho Fish & Game, EIN Presswire, 2/18/21
Steelhead Closure Extended In Eastern Oregon by Staff, KXI, 12/26/19
Steelhead Closure Extended on Columbia River by Staff, The Astorian, 12/23/19
Limited Steelhead Season Approved by Eric Barker, Moscow-Pulmman Daily News, 12/19/19