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Coastal Cutthroat Trout in California: Population Monitoring, Status, and Management

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Coastal Cutthroat Trout in California: Population Monitoring, Status, and Management Coastal Cutthroat Trout in California: Population Monitoring, Status, and Management JUSTIN GARWOOD ANADROMOUS FISHERIES RESOURCE AND MONITORING PROGRAM CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE ARCATA, CALIFORNIA Photo: Thomas Dunklin Coastal Cutthroat Trout Distribution: Streams Rogue River PSMFC (Current) Gerstung 1997 Winchuck River 1675 Km 1100 Km Lagoon Tributaries Small Coastal Streams Smith River Klamath River Redwood Creek Little River Mad River Humboldt Bay Eel River 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Coastal Cutthroat Distribution in Stream Kilometers Stream Habitats Coastal Lagoon and Wetland Distribution Area (Sq. Waterbody Hectares) Big Lagoon 603 Stone Lagoon 234 g 1997 Espa Lagoon 2 Lagoon Creek Pond 2 Big Lagoon Gerstun Lake Earl/ Tolowa 1034 Marshall Pond 6 Lake Earl/ Lake Tolowa 2018 Crescent City Marsh 6 Total 1887 Crescent City Marsh Stone Lagoon Marshall Pond Lagoon Creek Pond Espa Lagoon Photo: Darell Warnock Wetland Habitats Status • SONCC ESU- Listing Not warranted; NOAA 1999 • California Species of Special Concern Photo: Darell Warnock Documents: 1995, 2015 • US Forest Service • Sensitive Species • Management Indicator Species • Threats: Degraded habitat/ water quality, climate (sea-level rise, loss of summer fog, temperature, wildfire), invasive species Fishery Management Fishing Regulations Cutthroat Trout recognized in regulations in 2000 • Last Saturday in May to August 31 • >10 inches minimum • >14 inches minimum size (Stone Lagoon) • 2 Fish daily bag limit Fishery Assessments • Smith River Fishing Creel Surveys: 1980, 1984, 1997-2007 • Angler Survey Boxes Smith River Catch Rate and Release Statistics Smith River Coastal Cutthroat Trout Average Hourly Capture Rate by Month: 1980, 1984, 1997-2007 0.100 0.090 Chinook 0.080 Steelhead ur 0.070 Cutthroat 0.060 0.050 0.040 0.030 Catch Per Ho Per Catch 0.020 0.010 0.000 May-Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Creel Census Month Data Source: CDFW; Zuspan (2018) Photo: Colin Anderson Wild and Heritage Trout Program Waters designated by the California Fish and Game Commission Support indigenous strains of native trout Open to public angling Protect and restore native trout and their habitats Conduct monitoring to inform management and angling regulations Photo: Darell Warnock Smith River Designations • First Coastal Cutthroat focused designation • Three phases 2016, 2017, 2018 • 100 miles designated (2016, 2017) + 41 proposed (2018) Land Acquisition of Vital Coastal Cutthroat Trout Waters Smith River National Recreation Area, Redwood National and State Parks, and the Yurok Tribal Lands • 2002: Mill Creek (25,000 Acres) Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park • 2008: Goose Creek (9,400 Acres) NRA • 2016: Hurdygurdy Creek (5,400 Acres) NRA • 2013-2017: Prairie Creek (133 Acres) RNSP • 2018: Blue Creek (9140 Acres) Yurok Tribe California Coastal Salmonid Monitoring Program Viable Salmonid Conceptual Framework: • Abundance • Productivity • Spatial Structure • Diversity **Trend monitoring for these VSP parameters is the measure by which extinction risk and recovery status of listed salmonids are determined** Abundance: Spawner Surveys Metrics: Redds, Live Fish, Carcasses Population Redds Reaches Years Smith River 226 30 7 Lower Klamath 41 13 3 Redwood Creek 263 21 9 Humboldt Bay 158 28 9 688 92 Lifecycle Monitoring Stations Metrics: Productivity and Diversity of Life Histories Subbasin Years Outmigrant Spawner RFID Trap Survey Antennas Mill Creek 1994 -2018 Yes Yes Yes McGarvey Creek 1997-Present Yes No Yes Prairie Creek 2011- Present Yes Yes Yes Redwood Creek 2006-2016 Yes Yes No Little River 1999-Present Yes No No Freshwater Creek 2006-Present Yes Yes Yes Ryan Creek 2004-2014 Yes Yes Yes Mill Creek-Metric: Abundance (presmolt and smolt) 2500 East Fork Mill Creek Mean Abundance 2000 =1194 1500 1000 500 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 3000 West Branch Mill Creek 2500 Mean Abundance =1173 2000 1500 1000 500 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Lower Mainstem Mill Creek 7000 Mean Abundance 6000 =4008 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 2015 2016 2017 Data Source: J. Garwood (CDFW) Klamath Basin: McGarvey Creek Metric: Age 1+ CCT Outmigrant Population Estimate Mean Abundance Mean Abundance 16000 =2613 =5769 14000 12000 10000 8000 mber of Fish 6000 Nu 4000 2000 0 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Year rkm 1.52 rkm 0.78 Data Source: Andrew Antonetti, Yurok Tribe, Klamath CA Redwood Creek Basin Metrics: 1+ Juvenile Cutthroat Trout Abundance, Adult(>250 mm FL) Counts Prairie Creek 2011-2016 Redwood Creek 2006-2008, 2010-2016 Mean Abundance Mean Abundance =5177 =241 Data Sources: (CDFW) Sparkman et al. 2017; (HSU) Wilzbach et al. 2016 Little River Metrics: Coastal Cutthroat Smolt Estimates, 1+ Counts, Adult Counts (>200mm FL) Lower Mainstem Carson Creek Mean Smolt Abundance Mean Smolt Abundance =43 =23 2017 1+= 313 Adult 20 Lower Southfork Little River Upper Southfork Little River Mean Smolt Abundance Mean Smolt Abundance =16 =11 Data Source: Pat Righter, Green Diamond Resource Company Freshwater Creek Basin Metrics: Coastal Cutthroat Counts (1+ and greater), Smolt Counts 400 Mean Abundance= 205 350 Mean Smolt Abundance= 4 300 250 200 Count 150 100 50 0 Tribs LMS HFAC Tribs LMS HFAC LMS HFAC HFAC HFAC HFAC HFAC HFAC HFAC HFAC HFAC HFAC HFAC 2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Other Smolt Data Source: Colin Anderson; Humboldt State University Parr-Smolt-Adult Gradient Population Spatial Structure Surveys • Patch use • Patch size • Patch connectivity • Patch colonization and extinction processes Source • Density Sink Source Source Sink Sink Adult Coastal Cutthroat Population Spatial Structure Level of Inference: Multi-scaled occupancy models Ψ θ 5, 7 3 0 4 1 0, 0 15 8 9 0, 2 0 8, 8 p 1 p = Pool-level Adult Cutthroat detection rate θ = Reach-level pool occupancy rate Ψ = Survey-level occupancy rate (Ψ x θ) = Population occupancy rate/ Proportion of area accupied Nichols. J. , L. Bailey, A. O’Connell, Jr., N. Talancey, E. Campbell Grant, A. Gilbert, E. Annand, T. Husband, and J. Hines. 2008. Multi-scale occupancy estimation and modeling using multiple detection methods. Journal of applied ecology 45: 1321-1329. Photo: Darell Warnock Spatial Structure Effort Population Years Frame Survey Size Reaches Smith River 2012-2018 298 km 166 Redwood Creek 2013-2014 149 km 69 Eel/ Van Duzen 2013-2016 397 km 204 Totals 844 km 439 0.99 0.91 0.90 0.91 0.92 1 0.84 0.86 Adult Coastal Cutthroat Trout 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 Spatial Structure 0.5 0.4 0.3 Reach-level Occupancy 0.15 0.2 0.02 0.1 0 0 0 1 0.9 Detection Probability 0.8 0.7 Eel 2013 Eel 2014 Eel 2015 Eel 2016 0.6 2013 Smith 2014 Smith 2015 Smith 2016 Smith 2017 Smith 0.5 2013 Redwood 2014 Redwood 0.8 0.4 0.65 0.7 0.3 Pool-level Occupancy 0.6 0.2 0.46 0.5 0.1 0.34 0.4 0 0.26 0.25 0.27 0.3 0.22 0.20 0.2 0.1 0 0 Eel 2015 0 Smith 2013 Smith 2014 Smith 2015 Smith 2016 Smith 2017 Smith Redwood 2013 Redwood 2014 Redwood Eel 2013 Eel 2014 Eel 2015 Eel 2016 Smith 2013 Smith 2014 Smith 2015 Smith 2016 Smith 2017 Smith Redwood 2013 Redwood 2014 Redwood 0.80 0.70 Occupancy Rate 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 Eel 2013 Eel 2014 Eel 2015 Eel 2016 Smith 2013 Smith 2014 Smith 2015 Smith 2016 Smith 2017 Smith Redwood 2013 Redwood 2014 Redwood Spatial Structure Refined Spatial Distributions Redwood Creek Redwood National Park Snorkel Surveys Metric: Adult Coastal Cutthroat Trout Counts (Length >10”) 12 Mean Survey Distance: 23.6 Miles Mean Count: 4.8/MI 10 8 6 Cutthroat Trout/Mile Cutthroat 4 Adult Adult 2 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Year Data Source: David Anderson-National Park Service Summer Volunteer Adult Coastal Cutthroat Survey- 28 years and counting 2018 Effort • 75 snorkelers • 42 stream miles • 2418 Adult Cutthroat Counted Photo: Thomas Dunklin Photo: Marisa Parish Smith River Metric: Adult Coastal Cutthroat Trout Counts 80 Mean Survey Distance= 33 Miles 70 60 50 at Trout/ Mile Trout/ at 40 30 20 Coastal Cutthro Coastal 10 Count canceled due to wildfires to due canceled Count 0 1982 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 South Fork Middle Fork North Fork Mean Count: 33.4/ MI Mean Count: 22.8/ MI Mean Count: 19.4/ MI Data Source: Smith River Alliance.
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