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 Wild steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are an important species in western North America’s network of rivers and tributaries. For decades, steelhead have etched themselves into the hearts and minds of countless anglers and outdoor enthusiasts stretching from southern California through the Gulf of Alaska to Kamchatka in the Russian Far East.
The North Western United States have storied histories of abundant steelhead and superlative rivers, with the vast Alaskan tributaries trailing not far behind. Despite the historical plenitude, wild steelhead stocks are in decline throughout much of their North American range. The inevitable encroachment of human activity has left only British Columbia, Canada to support the full range of stocks or ecotypes the species displays in its traditional continental range.
We need only take a cursory look at the annual pilgrimages to British Columbia by the international angling community to understand who now owns the treasure. Despite the plethora of competition, ranging from Chinook and Coho Salmon, to Halibut and the evolutionary wonder of the Sturgeon, no fish can match steelhead as the subject of angling literature associated with this province. The famous angler, author, conservationist and steelhead enthusiast Roderick Haig-Brown is responsible for many publications proclaiming the virtues and mystical beauty of B.C.’s prized possession. His famous accounts traversing the Skeena River are well known in Europe and Asia, in spite of the fact that most British Columbians would fail to recognize his name. His relative anonymity is ironic considering he spent most of his life searching for something just as elusive.
Historic Range
The natural habitat of wild steelhead in British Columbia ranges from the Queen Charlotte Islands south to the Fraser River and its tributaries, including a multitude of rivers and streams along the length of the North Pacific coastline and all around Vancouver Island. They make their way deep into the heart of the chilled northern regions of the province and through the desert country that defines the southern interior. Major watersheds that support steelhead are the Skeena system, including the Bulkley, Morice, Kispiox, Babine, and Sustut rivers, the remote Dean River, the Thompson River, the Vedder-Chilliwack River, and Vancouver Island’s Cowichan, Stamp, Gold, and Campbell rivers. Vancouver Island, located along the south west coastline, plays an important part in both steelhead habitat and opportunities for anglers. The 3.2 million hectares contains 20 primary watersheds (terminating in salt water), with 200 streams known to support wild steelhead salmon. Steelhead are type of salmon.
Stocks
Steelhead are the least abundant of all of B.C.’s river dwelling anadromous salmonids. The large majority of the 525 streams that produce one or more stocks of steelhead support populations of only dozens to a few hundred fish. Liberal assumptions suggest the aggregate wild steelhead population in British Columbia has not exceeded 340,000 fish any year in the past decade. This number is thought to be far below historic abundance. Steelhead stocks in British Columbia are divided into three distinct groups or stock types – winter steelhead, coastal summer steelhead and interior summer steelhead. Each stock is determined by the time of fresh water entry and/or distance inland the fish spawn. The distinctions are not always clear however, and some interpretation has to be applied to ascribe the appropriate stock type.
Winter steelhead -- not to be confused with hatchery-bred stock -- are those which approach the coastline and enter rivers between December 1st and April 30th and are generally in an advanced stage of sexual maturity. Summer steelhead enter between June 1st and November 30th in a relatively immature stage and spend an entire winter in fresh water prior to spawning. Winter fish frequent streams of the outer mainland coast, islands or tributaries of larger drainages less than 150km inland. Coastal summer steelhead also occupy select streams within that same geographic limit. Interior summer steelhead originate from inland tributaries of the major Pacific drainages of British Columbia (the Fraser, Skeena, Nass, Stikine and Taku) that are usually more than 150km from the ocean. Coastal and interior summer stocks can be separated on the basis of peak freshwater entry timing. Typical peak timing for coastal stocks is late spring or early summer, whereas interior stocks normally enter rivers in mid to late summer in association with major salmon runs. Coastal summer steelhead are generally not co-migrants with salmon and often penetrate headwater areas beyond migration obstacles that serve as partial or complete barriers to other anadromous salmonids.
Life Cycle
Independent of stock types all steelhead exhibit a number of common life history features. All spawning occurs in either late winter or spring. All fry (a recently hatched steelhead/salmon) emerge in spring or summer and all reside in freshwater for extended periods to achieve seaward migrating smolt size (a juvenile steelhead). The general pattern is for southerly stocks to produce smolts after a two or three year freshwater rearing period, while cooler northern waters where spawning is later and growing seasons shorter are dominated by three to five year old smolts.
Juvenile steelhead are territorial in fresh water so there is an upper limit to the number of smolts that can be produced from a given amount of habitat. Factors such as water chemistry or nutrient levels, water temperature, and the nature and complexity of the available wetted stream area pre-determines the upper limit of smolt abundance. The steelhead’s complex relationship to its environment is a key indicator of a river or stream’s health and well being.
The duration of ocean residence varies within individual stocks, but is relatively consistent between stock groups. Some stocks support a higher proportion of adults that return after three or more summers at sea, while others are dominated by fish that spend only two summers at sea. All stocks contain individuals that spawn more than once with the incidence inversely related to the length of pre-spawning freshwater residence of the adults.
Steelhead have the most complicated life history of all the sea going fishes of the Pacific Coast. They are dependant on their natal streams for longer than any other salmon (rarely less than two years and commonly three to five years), they are aquatic Olympians travelling faster and further to sea than any other North American origin salmon (well into the far Western North Pacific) and they are not pre-programmed to die after a single spawning.
Conservation
The issue of conservation is particularly important for steelhead. Although there is debate as to when stocks began to decline – 1970’s or 1990’s – it is clear that as of today steelhead are in need of protection. Since the early 1990’s catch success trends have declined as both wild and hatchery steelhead returned in fewer numbers.
The past two decades have seen a number of threats towards steelhead stocks. These threats fall into three categories. The primary threat is due to human activity, such as polluted urban waterways and habitat destruction leading to reduced fresh water productivity. Destructive logging and mining practices of the past have had a demonstrative effect on the health of today’s rivers and streams. The second threat is predation and food supply in the ocean. Ocean survival rates have also contributed to stock depletion. Instead of 10-15 mature fish returning to spawn from every 100 smolts entering the ocean two to three years before, only two to four have been returning to complete the cycle of renewal. This can be attributed to poorer marine growth and increased predation caused by climate change (ocean temperatures are slowly rising). The final threat arises from super-efficient anglers. Modern anglers are much better at catching steelhead salmon. With new forms of technology and increased access to remote areas via helicopter, float plane or all-terrain vehicle, even the strongest steelhead are no match for today’s sports fisherman.
In February 1997 early winter steelhead returns to Vancouver Island’s east coast streams were near record lows, this despite the mandatory catch and release regulations for wild steelhead introduced in 1985-86. In an effort to help steelhead recover the BC Ministry of Environment and Parks closed six of the most popular sports fisheries for conservation purposes.
One year later, the BC Ministry released a draft Vancouver Island steelhead recovery plan which evolved into the Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan (otherwise known as GGBSRP) in 2002. The GGBSRP examines the status of the steelhead in 58 of the largest watersheds in the inner south coast. With assessment techniques such as direct observation (river snorkel counts), fences and traps, juvenile population estimates, angler creel census and mail-out angler questionnaires, officials have been able to closely monitor steelhead stocks.
Since then, up to $1.5 million has been spent annually on steelhead conservation projects in high priority watersheds. These have involved direct habitat restoration, including nutrient enrichment, rearing habitat improvements, spawning gravel placements, flow augmentation and erosion/sediment control.
Finally, in 2006 BC’s Living Rivers Trust Fund (LRTF) sponsored by the British Columbia government was increased to $21 million to help fund projects focusing on the Georgia and Fraser basins where there are well recognized fish conversation problems, and widespread public interest in watershed sustainability and fish habitat restoration. With this $21 million endowment, the LRTF set out with five primary objectives: Improve the science basis for watershed protection and restoration; Increase public understanding and commitment to watershed protection, restoration and sustainable use of water; Strengthen partnerships and identify priorities through watershed councils, cooperative mechanisms and planning frameworks; Enhance effectiveness of community groups and councils by developing science capacity and decision support tools; and support specific watershed management and restoration activities.
Along with these important efforts, a stronger partnership between government and all interested parties - anglers, sporting associations, conservation foundations and wilderness outfittwer - will be needed to ensure the preservation of British Columbia wild steelhead and the rebuilding of sport fisheries on Vancouver Island and throughout coastal British Columbia, for the benefit of anglers from all over the world.
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