Calif. Hunter
Active member
Room to spawn needed
A series of pools proposed for Trabuco Creek could remove impassable
barrier and allow endangered fish to reproduce.
By PAT BRENNAN, The Orange County Register, December 13, 2004
Endangered steelhead try their best to spawn in Orange County's Trabuco
Creek, but they're stopped by a nearly impassable barrier: a long,
concrete
slope that blocks their access to breeding habitat upstream.
That could change dramatically if state wildlife officials gain
approval
for a $1.2 million makeover for the troubled slice of creek.
The fishing group, Trout Unlimited, has proposed building a series of
pools
along the 600-foot length of the concrete slope. Not only would they
provide the fish with a kind of stairway - allowing them to rest in
sheltered pools between leaps upstream - but they would change what is
now
a sterile-looking bit of flood-control engineering into naturalistic,
eye-catching scenery.
"There's so much available habitat upstream, all the way into the
headwaters in the Cleveland National Forest - over 10 miles of
habitat,"
said John O'Brien, a biologist with the state Department of Fish and
Game.
The transformation proposed for Trabuco Creek is one of many such
projects
up and down the California coast aimed at restoring steelhead, a fish
that
spends part of its life in freshwater creeks and part in the open
ocean.
Wildly unpredictable nature has a poster child inthe southern
steelhead, a
salmonlike fish that must travel upstream to spawn. While steelhead
can,
like salmon, return again and again to the streams of their birth, they
are
also opportunists, sometimes cruising the coast and heading into any
stream
that seems inviting.
That can get them into trouble. In urban areas, many creeks once
inhabited
by steelhead have been turned into concrete channels or otherwise
altered
in ways that prevent migrating fish from making any headway.
Steelhead, a favorite target species for area fishermen before they
were
declared endangered, are known as rainbow trout while they are growing
up
in rocky pools along freshwater streams.
But, at some signal - still poorly understood by biologists - they head
for
the open sea. Along the way they undergo a strange metamorphosis,
turning
silvery and bulletlike.
These adults eventually return from the open ocean at another signal -
possibly traces of fresh water they detect flowing into the ocean from
streams after rains.
In recent years, steelhead have been found in San Mateo Creek, just
south
of Orange County. Stories of steelhead appearing recently in San Juan
Creek
- some that O'Brien, a fisheries biologist and steelhead expert,
believes
sound quite credible - have been circulating among fishermen.
Trabuco Creek is a tributary of San Juan Creek, linking up with it
downstream of the concrete slope. Stray fish found in creek sent for
testing
Two years ago, several fish believed to be steelhead were discovered in
Trabuco Creek, and one was sent to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration fisheries laboratory in Santa Cruz.
That stray fish, as well as fish samples from San Mateo Creek, await
genetic testing in the lab to confirm their identity as steelhead. But
the
lab is so overwhelmed with requests and samples that it could be
several
months more before the Orange County fish get their turn.
O'Brien saw what looked like steelhead himself last year in the pool
beneath the concrete slope on Trabuco Creek, under Interstate 5. He
visited the pool recently, peering into the depths to look for the
telltale
shadow of the large fish.
Like many urban streams, this stretch of Trabuco mixes the polluted
with
the picturesque. Bits of plastic, paper and other flotsam lined the
stream
banks; the frame of a long defunct stereo receiver had fetched up on a
rock.
O'Brien saw hopeful signs. Examining some submerged rocks, he noted
evidence of a bit too much sediment piling up in the creek. But he said
the
pool and nearby "riffles," long, shallow channels with lots of choppy
water
flow, would be suitable for steelhead.
"This is perfect steelhead spawning gravel," he said.
The proposed redesign of the concrete slope is being reviewed by a
citizens' advisory committee. After that it will be forwarded to the
Fish
and Game's director for final approval. It is one of hundreds of
proposals
being considered under the state's Fishery Restoration Grant program,
largely funded by a $15 million grant from NOAA.
If the Trabuco Creek project gets the nod, construction could begin as
soon
as next summer.
"This is my No.1 priority for Orange County for steelhead restoration,"
O'Brien said.
any spawning ground becomes significant
Because so many of California's creeks and rivers have been locked in
concrete over the years, any place where steelhead show interest in
spawning becomes a high priority for restoration, say state and federal
wildlife officials.
Both state Fish and Game and NOAA have urged the owners of Rancho
Mission
Viejo, who have proposed building 14,000 homes on some of its 23,000
acres,
to include steelhead in their plans for habitat conservation on the
ranch.
San Juan Creek, a historic steelhead spawning site, runs through ranch
property.
Ranch officials, however, say their surveys have turned up no steelhead
on
the ranch, and they do not believe it is necessary to amendtheir plans
to
include the fish.
O'Brien says that even if steelhead aren't there now, they could be in
the
future. The fishes' wandering ways mean that any creek with suitable
habitat could be fair game in their never-ending probes of the
coastline.
"San Juan Creek has free access all the way up to the headwaters," he
said.
A series of pools proposed for Trabuco Creek could remove impassable
barrier and allow endangered fish to reproduce.
By PAT BRENNAN, The Orange County Register, December 13, 2004
Endangered steelhead try their best to spawn in Orange County's Trabuco
Creek, but they're stopped by a nearly impassable barrier: a long,
concrete
slope that blocks their access to breeding habitat upstream.
That could change dramatically if state wildlife officials gain
approval
for a $1.2 million makeover for the troubled slice of creek.
The fishing group, Trout Unlimited, has proposed building a series of
pools
along the 600-foot length of the concrete slope. Not only would they
provide the fish with a kind of stairway - allowing them to rest in
sheltered pools between leaps upstream - but they would change what is
now
a sterile-looking bit of flood-control engineering into naturalistic,
eye-catching scenery.
"There's so much available habitat upstream, all the way into the
headwaters in the Cleveland National Forest - over 10 miles of
habitat,"
said John O'Brien, a biologist with the state Department of Fish and
Game.
The transformation proposed for Trabuco Creek is one of many such
projects
up and down the California coast aimed at restoring steelhead, a fish
that
spends part of its life in freshwater creeks and part in the open
ocean.
Wildly unpredictable nature has a poster child inthe southern
steelhead, a
salmonlike fish that must travel upstream to spawn. While steelhead
can,
like salmon, return again and again to the streams of their birth, they
are
also opportunists, sometimes cruising the coast and heading into any
stream
that seems inviting.
That can get them into trouble. In urban areas, many creeks once
inhabited
by steelhead have been turned into concrete channels or otherwise
altered
in ways that prevent migrating fish from making any headway.
Steelhead, a favorite target species for area fishermen before they
were
declared endangered, are known as rainbow trout while they are growing
up
in rocky pools along freshwater streams.
But, at some signal - still poorly understood by biologists - they head
for
the open sea. Along the way they undergo a strange metamorphosis,
turning
silvery and bulletlike.
These adults eventually return from the open ocean at another signal -
possibly traces of fresh water they detect flowing into the ocean from
streams after rains.
In recent years, steelhead have been found in San Mateo Creek, just
south
of Orange County. Stories of steelhead appearing recently in San Juan
Creek
- some that O'Brien, a fisheries biologist and steelhead expert,
believes
sound quite credible - have been circulating among fishermen.
Trabuco Creek is a tributary of San Juan Creek, linking up with it
downstream of the concrete slope. Stray fish found in creek sent for
testing
Two years ago, several fish believed to be steelhead were discovered in
Trabuco Creek, and one was sent to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration fisheries laboratory in Santa Cruz.
That stray fish, as well as fish samples from San Mateo Creek, await
genetic testing in the lab to confirm their identity as steelhead. But
the
lab is so overwhelmed with requests and samples that it could be
several
months more before the Orange County fish get their turn.
O'Brien saw what looked like steelhead himself last year in the pool
beneath the concrete slope on Trabuco Creek, under Interstate 5. He
visited the pool recently, peering into the depths to look for the
telltale
shadow of the large fish.
Like many urban streams, this stretch of Trabuco mixes the polluted
with
the picturesque. Bits of plastic, paper and other flotsam lined the
stream
banks; the frame of a long defunct stereo receiver had fetched up on a
rock.
O'Brien saw hopeful signs. Examining some submerged rocks, he noted
evidence of a bit too much sediment piling up in the creek. But he said
the
pool and nearby "riffles," long, shallow channels with lots of choppy
water
flow, would be suitable for steelhead.
"This is perfect steelhead spawning gravel," he said.
The proposed redesign of the concrete slope is being reviewed by a
citizens' advisory committee. After that it will be forwarded to the
Fish
and Game's director for final approval. It is one of hundreds of
proposals
being considered under the state's Fishery Restoration Grant program,
largely funded by a $15 million grant from NOAA.
If the Trabuco Creek project gets the nod, construction could begin as
soon
as next summer.
"This is my No.1 priority for Orange County for steelhead restoration,"
O'Brien said.
any spawning ground becomes significant
Because so many of California's creeks and rivers have been locked in
concrete over the years, any place where steelhead show interest in
spawning becomes a high priority for restoration, say state and federal
wildlife officials.
Both state Fish and Game and NOAA have urged the owners of Rancho
Mission
Viejo, who have proposed building 14,000 homes on some of its 23,000
acres,
to include steelhead in their plans for habitat conservation on the
ranch.
San Juan Creek, a historic steelhead spawning site, runs through ranch
property.
Ranch officials, however, say their surveys have turned up no steelhead
on
the ranch, and they do not believe it is necessary to amendtheir plans
to
include the fish.
O'Brien says that even if steelhead aren't there now, they could be in
the
future. The fishes' wandering ways mean that any creek with suitable
habitat could be fair game in their never-ending probes of the
coastline.
"San Juan Creek has free access all the way up to the headwaters," he
said.
