Last week MBSTP staff, volunteers, and partners spawned the final females for the 2016 Scott Creek Coho Salmon spawning season. This season approximately 91,120 eggs from 50 captive brood-stock females were fertilized and placed in the incubator. The egg count is up about 20,000 from last year when we took just over 70,000 eggs from 44 females. We crossed our 50 females with 90 different males. With the change in fish holding protocol, increased water flows with filtration, and hydrogen peroxide treatment there were no fungal outbreaks in the tanks this year. The spawning season this year covered the historical run time of wild Coho Salmon in Scott Creek January to early March. Overall, the spawning season was a success. We are now waiting for the hatch out success to determine the overall success of this spawning season.
The Steelhead Program permitting process is proceeding apace. The scientific contractor, Stillwater Sciences, is doing a great job, but it is very expensive. MBSTP needs support from the donors to get this program back in action! Please help the steelhead populations of the San Lorenzo River and Scotts Creek with your donation.
