Studies on the Life History of the Puget Sound Steelhead Trout (Salmo Gairdnerii)
- 1 January 1941
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 70 (1) , 209-220
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1940)70[209:sotlho]2.0.co;2
Abstract
Steelhead trout are taken in great numbers as immature fish by stream anglers during the regular trout season. They also are caught during the winter months as they ascend the rivers to spawn. Posters were put up along the rivers describing the tagging experiments and requesting the anglersˈ cooperation in returning the tags of marked fish captured. No attempt was made to obtain a complete check on the trout fishermen, and 121 tags were returned voluntarily during the 1938 trout season. Cooperation of the trout fishermen was poor and many tagged fish were not reported. During the 1940 winter fishing season, a daily check was made of the fishermen. Scale samples, temperatures, weights and lengths and other data were gathered. Through the anglersˈ cooperation, accurate information was received concerning nearly all catches not actually checked. Scale samples taken from anglersˈ catches of immature fish indicated that the major portion of their catches consisted of fish 2 years of age. Comparative measurements between scale samples of immature fish (gathered in April) and scale sample of mature fish, indicated that the probable peak of the downstream migration occurred during May. The bulk of the spring steelhead trout catch, to all appearances, consisted of fish either in the process of migration, or nearly ready to migrate. A study of the scale samples of mature fish indicated that 73 per cent of the fish had migrated to salt water as 2 year old fish. It was found further, that 61 per cent of the fish matured after 2 years in salt water, and 28 per cent matured after 3 years in salt water. In all, 52 per cent of the fish were found to have spent a combination of 2 years in fresh water and 2 years in salt water before maturing. A comparison of the 1940 sport catch with the 1940 trap collections showed that 885 fish comprised the sport catch and 1,160 fish constituted the trap catch. Much natured spawning takes place in the main river. The sport fishery for mature steelhead trout appears to take only a small percentage of the total run. A management plan for the Green River is suggested which would reduce the take of immature fish. The plan also provides for a 15‐day extension of the winter fishing season. This extension of fishing season is to utilize a portion of the migration run which comes into the river after the regular season. It is felt that the Green River steelhead trout is a composite of several races, each having its specific time of migration and a portion of each run should be taken without injuring materially any particular run.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: