![]() “ I am not very confident the winter-run steelhead are savable at this point.” “It’s tragic not to see any steelhead in such a large watershed,” he said. Jeramy Damborg, senior project biologist with the British Columbia Conservation Foundation, who was part of the survey said that in 2008, they observed about 200 adults in the same 8.5-kilometre stretch of water. government and the British Columbia Conservation Foundation. Seasonal winter counts of steelhead trout in the Gold River show dramatic declines in the population between 20. But it’s the first time in the history of the snorkel survey that not a single steelhead was observed. The annual survey, led by the British Columbia Conservation Foundation, takes place for one day in one spot, so it’s by no means comprehensive. That doesn’t mean no steelhead returned at all. For the first time ever, zero steelhead were observed in the annual snorkel survey that took place in the Gold River in February. Summer runs have decreased but are still in the hundreds. But, like salmon, steelhead numbers have plummeted in recent years. Unlike salmon, which die after they return home and spawn, it’s possible for steelhead to spawn more than once and live to a ripe old age of about eight years (though some exceptional fish may survive more than 10 years).īoth summer and winter runs used to fill the Gold River in the thousands and steelhead were once a reliable food fish for Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. They’re anadromous, like salmon, meaning they hatch in fresh water, live in the ocean as adults and return to where they hatched to spawn. Steelhead are trout but they behave a lot like salmon and share a similar pink meat. ![]() People once knew the Gold River on central Vancouver Island as a great place to catch steelhead and salmon. ![]()
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