Coho salmon endangered by drought

The drought is imperiling coho salmon in Sonoma County, where streams may shrink and become disconnected from the Russian River, reported Guy Kovner in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

“It's grim. It's going to be a rough year for the coho,” said Mariska Obedzinski, a fish biologist who coordinates the coho monitoring program. “They can't get where they need to go.”

Obedzinski is part of the UC Sea Grant program, based at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.

Two coho spawning streams — Porter and Pena creeks — are already cut off from the river. If no more rain falls, other tributaries, including Green Valley, Dutch Bill and Mill creeks, will likely go dry in spots, Obedzinski said.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is already planning rescue operations to save the smolts and younger fish in disconnected streams.

Last year some streams disconnections took place in late May, toward the end of the salmon run. The drying being seen in mid April may be unprecedented. Obedzinski said it was possibly the worst year for the fish since stream monitoring began in 2005.

A multiagency effort to save the Russian River coho began in 2001, when the fish were on the verge of extinction. The effort includes California Fish and Wildlife, National Marine Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and UC Sea Grant.

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