|
San Mateo Creek Steelhead: Can They Survive? We decided to check up on the status of the southern steelhead that Toby Shackelford discovered in February 1999. (For more background on, see our web page 'Steelhead in San Mateo Creek!') In August of 1999, Sierra Club staff members Bill Corcoran and Jim Blomquist recently accompanied California Department of Fish and Game biologist Alex Vejar on a survey of steelhead in San Mateo Creek on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in north San Diego County. You can join them by viewing the short video on this page. Endangered southern steelhead trout were discovered in the stream this year, and Vejar has been monitoring this previously unknown population. Estimates show only several hundred southern steelhead in Southern California. On this trip six steelhead were found in pools along the streambed. Non-native bullhead fish and bullfrogs were removed from the pools because they eat endangered native species like steelhead and arroyo toads. These non-native species, also called "exotics," are currently the worst threat to the survival of endangered aquatic and amphibian life in San Mateo Creek. Southern steelhead are genetically adapted to survive in warmer, less oxygen-rich water than other steelhead trout. The fish in San Mateo were spawned by steelhead which returned from the ocean during the winter of 1997-98. The young fish hunker down in the pools and wait for winter rains to flush them out to sea. It's a waiting game in which successful reproduction depends on a fateful roll of the dice. The strategy has worked for the fish over the millenia. Now, with so much of its streams and rivers blocked by dams or channelized and polluted, the steelhead need minimally disturbed streams like San Mateo to be protected from development. Once in the ocean, the now two year-old fish will find abundant food and grow much larger. When they mature in a year or so in the ocean, they will return to San Mateo Creek or other streams in the region to spawn in the high water flows of winter. With clean water and access to the ocean these fish are proven survivors. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which is responsible for protecting steelhead, has not yet decided whether it will designate San Mateo Creek as critical habitat for the southern steelhead. In May of 1999, twenty Sierra Club Angeles Chapter volunteers attended a hearing in Santa Barbara and urged the Fisheries Service to protect the trout's habitat. A DNA analysis completed during the Summer of 1999 has proven that the trout are in fact endangered southern steelhead and were not artificially planted in the creek. Once the Fisheries Service has the written scientific reports in hand, a decision about the fate of this creek will be made. The proposed Foothill-South toll road and the urban sprawl it would cause in South Orange County would threaten the lower part of San Mateo Creek. Sierra Club is fighting the toll road and envisions a restoration plan for San Mateo Creek. With the effort of volunteers like yourself, Sierra Club will work with the Marines and other agencies to make sure that San Mateo will long be a home for some of California's rarest wildlife. How You Can Help Write a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service. Express your concern that San Mateo Creek be designated as critical habitat for steelhead trout. Point out that tests have shown that the trout in San Mateo are steelhead, that the stream is largely undeveloped, and that it is entirely on federal land. Send your letter to: Branch Chief, Protected Resources Division Watch our video! Needs RealPlayer
(free) Related Information Local Activism Sierra Club Contacts Southern California Field Office 3435 Wilshire Blvd. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
