Contribution of cutthroat trout salmo clarki clarki in head water streams to the sea run population
Michael, J.H.Jr
California Fish and Game 69(2): 68-76
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0008-1078 Accession: 005045224
This study was designed to assess the contribution of populations of cutthroat trout in headwater areas of 3 creeks to anadromous cutthroat populations. Cutthroat living upstream of permanent barriers to anadromous fish migration in Snow and Andrews creeks are resident fish which do not migrate to saltwater. In Salmon Creek, anadromous cutthroat penetrate farther into a watershed than either steelhead trout or coho salmon, and rear sympatrically with resident cutthroat populations. Some fish present in these headwater areas will migrate to saltwater. Cutthroat present in streams with indefinite or intermittent migration barriers (e.g., Salmon Creek) may be anadromous. Outmigrant cutthroat marked in the Salmon Creek study area are probably the progeny of anadromous cutthroat, not migrants from a resident population. A method to identify resident and anadromous cutthroat juveniles must be developed in order to more clearly define the distribution of anadromous cutthroat trout populations.