Coho Salmon Reintroduced into Salmon Creek

In an effort to reestablish coho salmon within the Russian River basin, the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program was initiated through a collaborative partnership with the Sonoma County Water Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NMFS, CDFG, and others. In 2001, the first wild coho salmon juveniles were collected and reared at Warm Springs Hatchery (NMFS 2010). To improve genetic diversity and the distribution and abundance of coho salmon, captive-reared fish were released into streams within their historic range starting in 2004 (Conrad et al. 2005). Since that time, coho salmon have been released into Russian River tributaries in the fall and spring at select locations.

In 2008, Salmon Creek was selected as an additional release site for captive-reared coho salmon. In December 2008, adults and advanced fingerlings were released into the watershed, and adults were released into the watershed again in December 2009 and each year thereafter. Releases included captive-reared fish from the Russian River Watershed and Olema Creek, a tributary to Lagunitas Creek in Marin County. The fish were selected from these two strains in an attempt to recreate the likely genetic composition of the historic Salmon Creek fishery.

Salmon Creek coho releases, 2008 - 2015

To record this historic event, the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center's WATER Institute partnered with Ben Zolno, Jim Coleman and Corby Hines to produce the following video:

"Your Salmon Creek"

The following is a list of related articles:

• Salmon Creek Coho Monitoring Report, 2008 - 2013
  by Michael H. Fawcett et al, November 2013
  
  
• Coho Salmon Are Bred for Diversity, Strength
  by Peter Fimrite (January 3, 2009), San Francisco Chronicle
  
  
• Volunteers, DFG return Coho to Salmon Creek
  by George Snyder (December 18, 2008), Sonoma West
  
  
• North Bay Report on the Coho Release into Salmon Creek
  (December 12, 2008), KRCB Radio
  
  
• See also: Salmon Creek Watershed Publications