Swimming Up Stream

Apr 7, 2016

Russian River Salmon & Steelhead Monitoring Program biologists visit more than 40 streams where they monitor salmon and steelhead populations. These biologists spend a lot of time in the water looking for fish. Here's how much territory they covered in 2015.

Adolescent coho
Juvenile coho salmon observed during summer snorkel survey.
2015 Snorkeling Season – counting juvenile coho salmon and steelhead trout in creek pools:

  • Number of streams- 42 
  • Length of stream surveyed- 96.3 miles
  • Total stream length covered by crews the entire season: 192.6 miles; the equivalent of walking from Santa Rosa to Lake Tahoe.

 2014-15 Spawner Survey Season – counting adult salmon and steelhead and their nests (redds):

  • Number of streams- 22
  • Length of stream surveyed- 76.4 miles
  • Total stream length hiked by crews the entire season: 630 miles; the equivalent of walking from Santa Rosa to Portland, OR.

2015 Wetted Habitat Surveys - documenting low summer stream flow conditions as experienced by juvenile fish rearing in streams. Each site is visited one time for these surveys:

  • Number of streams- 32
  • Length of stream surveyed- 93.8 miles; the equivalent of a round trip to Santa Rosa to San Francisco.

Total stream length hiked by crews for all surveys in 2015: 916.4 miles which is the equivalent of walking from Santa Rosa, CA to Albuquerque, NM.