Steelhead Sighting
[ Excerpt from SBN-P article on 5/27/2006 by Joshua Molina ]
... A robust steelhead trout has been spotted in Mission Creek, rekindling hope among environmentalists and nature lovers that the federally endangered fish might one day prosper in Santa Barbara's streams and riverbeds.
The steelhead is approximately 18 inches long and is living under a bridge in Mission Creek in downtown Santa Barbara. On Friday, the fish was surrounded by several younger steelhead, each about 6 to 8 inches long.
"It would be kind of like seeing a deer walk across the road. You go, 'Hey, kind of neat,' " said City Councilman Brian Barnwell, who saw the fish earlier this week...
Steelhead live their adult lives in the ocean, but return to the freshwater streams they were born in to spawn. At one time, steelhead were so plentiful in Mission Creek that they could be fished with a pitchfork. But their numbers have sunk rapidly in the last several decades.
Two concrete flood control projects built in 1934 and 1961 make it extremely difficult for steelhead to migrate from the ocean and vice versa. The paved, flat-bottom concrete channels create shallow pools of rapidly flowing water -- too fast for the fish to survive during passage.
Steelhead have been spotted in five of the last seven years in downtown Mission Creek, and the frequency of the sightings of the endangered species means some of the fish are passing through despite the barriers. Still, how far and how often they are making it upstream is not known.
Rainbow trout, as landlocked steelhead are known, and even returning steelhead live in the pools much higher on a Mission Creek tributary in Rattlesnake Canyon. If steelhead cannot make it to the ocean, they can live in fresh water.
"It is another sign that steelhead are still trying to do their fish business but cannot swim upstream," said David Pritchett, a member of the city's Creeks Advisory Committee and an environmental consultant, "because a self-respecting fish would not settle in the mediocre habitat downtown."
Saving the steelhead is a topic of major importance among city officials, environmental activists and naturalists.
A coalition of groups is working together on the Mission Creek Steelhead Restoration Project, which would cost between $3 million and $4 million.
The proposal is to tear up half of the width of the mile-long concrete channel covering lower Mission Creek and replace it with a more natural, boulder-lined passage as seen in upper Mission Creek in the hills above Santa Barbara. The plan needs city, state and federal approval.
"Clearly, steelhead are still trying to migrate into our streams," said Jill Zachary, the city's Creeks Programs manager. "Given that they are trying to get into our streams, it means if we want to see more steelhead, we probably need to address the barriers that hurt the steelhead."
In addition to the barriers, City Councilman Das Williams said that people need to be more aware of the role that creeks play in ecosystem.
"If steelhead are in our creeks, it should be a reminder to the people of Santa Barbara that our creeks are alive and everything we put down our storm drains affects the life in the creek and people who use the ocean," Mr. Williams said.
Mark Capelli, area recovery coordinator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration fisheries, first spotted the fish. He believes it is at least 2 years old and that it could have come from the ocean because of its size and girth...
Ed Robinson, who owns a home next to Mission Creek, has been tending to the fish in recent days. Every day he looks out on the steelhead from his creekside deck to make sure it is still there. He even claims that he saw another one in the area, but it has since left.
This is the first time he has seen a steelhead that size since the heavy rains in 1995.
"I love it, man," Mr. Robinson said of his backyard pet.
The steelhead's future is unclear. It can't stay in that spot forever. The recent rains have given the fish a place to hang out and dine on tasty flies and other bugs.
"Right now the pool is nice and it has lots of insects that the fish are eating, but what will happen in two months when that pond dries up?" asked Mr. Pritchett, who has been coordinating informal tours.
This situation demonstrates why creating a fish passage is so important, he said.
"The fish are here and the experts pretty much all agree that if the fish could swim upstream to Rattlesnake Creek, they would," he said. "They are found downtown because they can't swim upstream."
Mayor Marty Blum, who saw the fish with Mr. Pritchett and then returned later with her husband, Joe Blum, said that the city needs to continue its efforts to restore its creeks.
"We need to be vigilant in cleaning our creeks because the fish out there are wanting to come up, and it is important that we keep it as natural as possible on this Earth," she said.
e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com
Santa Barbara News-Press
( Image courtesy of: http://www.tucalifornia.org/socalsteelhead.htm )
... A robust steelhead trout has been spotted in Mission Creek, rekindling hope among environmentalists and nature lovers that the federally endangered fish might one day prosper in Santa Barbara's streams and riverbeds.
The steelhead is approximately 18 inches long and is living under a bridge in Mission Creek in downtown Santa Barbara. On Friday, the fish was surrounded by several younger steelhead, each about 6 to 8 inches long.
"It would be kind of like seeing a deer walk across the road. You go, 'Hey, kind of neat,' " said City Councilman Brian Barnwell, who saw the fish earlier this week...
Steelhead live their adult lives in the ocean, but return to the freshwater streams they were born in to spawn. At one time, steelhead were so plentiful in Mission Creek that they could be fished with a pitchfork. But their numbers have sunk rapidly in the last several decades.
Two concrete flood control projects built in 1934 and 1961 make it extremely difficult for steelhead to migrate from the ocean and vice versa. The paved, flat-bottom concrete channels create shallow pools of rapidly flowing water -- too fast for the fish to survive during passage.
Steelhead have been spotted in five of the last seven years in downtown Mission Creek, and the frequency of the sightings of the endangered species means some of the fish are passing through despite the barriers. Still, how far and how often they are making it upstream is not known.
Rainbow trout, as landlocked steelhead are known, and even returning steelhead live in the pools much higher on a Mission Creek tributary in Rattlesnake Canyon. If steelhead cannot make it to the ocean, they can live in fresh water.
"It is another sign that steelhead are still trying to do their fish business but cannot swim upstream," said David Pritchett, a member of the city's Creeks Advisory Committee and an environmental consultant, "because a self-respecting fish would not settle in the mediocre habitat downtown."
Saving the steelhead is a topic of major importance among city officials, environmental activists and naturalists.
A coalition of groups is working together on the Mission Creek Steelhead Restoration Project, which would cost between $3 million and $4 million.
The proposal is to tear up half of the width of the mile-long concrete channel covering lower Mission Creek and replace it with a more natural, boulder-lined passage as seen in upper Mission Creek in the hills above Santa Barbara. The plan needs city, state and federal approval.
"Clearly, steelhead are still trying to migrate into our streams," said Jill Zachary, the city's Creeks Programs manager. "Given that they are trying to get into our streams, it means if we want to see more steelhead, we probably need to address the barriers that hurt the steelhead."
In addition to the barriers, City Councilman Das Williams said that people need to be more aware of the role that creeks play in ecosystem.
"If steelhead are in our creeks, it should be a reminder to the people of Santa Barbara that our creeks are alive and everything we put down our storm drains affects the life in the creek and people who use the ocean," Mr. Williams said.
Mark Capelli, area recovery coordinator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration fisheries, first spotted the fish. He believes it is at least 2 years old and that it could have come from the ocean because of its size and girth...
Ed Robinson, who owns a home next to Mission Creek, has been tending to the fish in recent days. Every day he looks out on the steelhead from his creekside deck to make sure it is still there. He even claims that he saw another one in the area, but it has since left.
This is the first time he has seen a steelhead that size since the heavy rains in 1995.
"I love it, man," Mr. Robinson said of his backyard pet.
The steelhead's future is unclear. It can't stay in that spot forever. The recent rains have given the fish a place to hang out and dine on tasty flies and other bugs.
"Right now the pool is nice and it has lots of insects that the fish are eating, but what will happen in two months when that pond dries up?" asked Mr. Pritchett, who has been coordinating informal tours.
This situation demonstrates why creating a fish passage is so important, he said.
"The fish are here and the experts pretty much all agree that if the fish could swim upstream to Rattlesnake Creek, they would," he said. "They are found downtown because they can't swim upstream."
Mayor Marty Blum, who saw the fish with Mr. Pritchett and then returned later with her husband, Joe Blum, said that the city needs to continue its efforts to restore its creeks.
"We need to be vigilant in cleaning our creeks because the fish out there are wanting to come up, and it is important that we keep it as natural as possible on this Earth," she said.
e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com
Santa Barbara News-Press
( Image courtesy of: http://www.tucalifornia.org/socalsteelhead.htm )
Posted by Malcolm on
5/30/2006
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