Scotts Creek Update

The Scotts Creek sandbar has yet to open this season! The Lagoon is full of water and full of coho and steelhead pre-smolts. Currently there is no evidence that coho are lingering at the mouth of the creek waiting to get in, but a number of coho have been sighted in the San Lorenzo River lagoon that opened last Friday night into Saturday (1/24-25/2014). MBSTP will attempt to collect some coho brood-fish from the San Lorenzo lagoon. A plan and permitting process have been under-way to secure permitting to manually breach the Scotts Creek sand bar when it doesn’t open in time to let the coho run into the creek. The plan development includes a high level of caution to prevent negative impacts to salmonid pre-smolts and other creatures of the lagoon and estuary area. Typically the bar would be opened long enough to let the coho present at the mouth enter the lagoon and then re-close the bar. MBSTP and NOAA volunteers and personnel would then trap the coho to spawn them at the hatchery. If the creek volume is sufficient some would be left to migrate up to the spawning grounds to spawn naturally. The plan and permits will be an important component to recovery of the “Southern” coho. Many thanks to Jon Ambrose of NOAA Fisheries for coordinating the plan and permitting, the County of Santa Cruz, local landowners Big Creek Lumber, and CalPoly Swanton Pacific Ranch, the Coastal Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers, the CDFW, and all other permitting agencies involved!