Hood Canal

Steelhead population has doubled in Skokomish River, Hood Canal

The steelhead population in the Skokomish River has doubled since the Skokomish Tribe started a supplementation project in 2006, part of a 16 year-long project to boost the steelhead population in Hood Canal.

“The increase in the number of egg nests has given us an early indication that the project is working, but the long-term monitoring will be the true test of its success,” said Matt Kowlaski, the tribe’s steelhead biologist. “We expect numbers to continue to increase over the next four years because there will be active supplementation of steelhead into the river. After the project is over, we expect the egg nest numbers to likely flatten out or decrease, but hopefully remain at elevated levels.”  (more…)

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Skokomish Tribe, USGS map seafloor topography and habitats of Skokomish estuary

If the waters of Hood Canal were drained from the Skokomish delta today, the exposed seafloor would show a complex network of channels within the delta that leads to steep ridges on the bottom of Hood Canal.

The Skokomish Tribe is working with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to map the topography, morphology and habitats of the delta and the tribe’s 1,000-acre estuary in southern Hood Canal.

The goal is three-fold: to determine the amount and condition of existing nearshore habitats; to better understand how the river’s sediment transports to the delta; and how sediment movement effects ecosystems, including eelgrass, tidal flats and food resources for salmon. (more…)

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Port Gamble S’Klallam Studying the Health of Hood Canal Salmon

Despite blustery weather and a small craft advisory, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe spent a chilly October afternoon tow netting the waters just north of Hood Canal. The net, similar to a surface trawl, targeted juvenile salmon on their outward migration from Hood Canal and Puget Sound.

Port Gamble S'Klallam habitat biologist Hans Daubenberger checks a juvenile salmon for a coded-wire tag.

As part of the tribe’s juvenile salmon pilot study, natural resources staff collected data weekly between April and October. In addition to tow netting, the tribe used other collection methods, including beach seining and scanning the water column with SONAR. (more…)

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