This geodataabase provides an estimate to the spatial distribution of potential historical habitat for California Coastal Chinook Salmon, Central California Coast Coho Salmon, Northern California Steelhead and Central California Coast Steelhead. Intrinsic potential measures the potential for development of favorable habitat characteristics as a function of the underlying geomorphic and hydrological attributes, as determined through a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and mean annual precipitation grid. The model does not predict the actual distribution of "good'' habitat, but rather the potential for that habitat to occur, nor does the model predict abundance or productivity. Additionally, the model does not predict current conditions, but rather those patterns expected under pristine conditions as related through the input data. Thus, IP provides a tool for examining the historical distribution of habitat among and within watersheds, a proxy for population size and structure, and a useful template for examining the consequences of recent anthropogenic activity at landscape scales.

This file represents salmonid freshwater and estuarine Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) in the western United States. Congress, through the Magnuson-Stevens Act, defined EFH as "those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity." This dataset follows the federal codification of delineating EFH using 4th field Hydrologic Units. It spatially depicts designated EFH for Federally-managed Pacific salmon within freshwater and estuarine regions of California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Areas above identified certain impassible dams are not designated EFH, and these have been removed from the 4th field Hydrologic Units. Only areas defined as EFH are present in this dataset. Each Hydrologic Unit polygon has been coded to indicate for which species of salmon (Chinook salmon, coho and/or pink) it represents EFH.

1. Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and other Pacific salmon are threatened by unsustainable levels of harvest, genetic introgression from hatchery stocks and degradation or loss of freshwater habitat. Projected climate change is expected to further stress salmon through increases in stream temperatures and altered stream flows. 2. We demonstrate a spatially explicit method for assessing salmon vulnerability to projected climatic changes (scenario for the years 20302059), applied here to steelhead salmon across the entire Pacific Northwest (PNW). We considered steelhead exposure to increased temperatures and more extreme high and low flows during four of their primary freshwater life stages: adult migration, spawning, incubation and rearing. Steelhead sensitivity to climate change was estimated on the basis of their regulatory status and the condition of their habitat. We assessed combinations of exposure and sensitivity to suggest actions that may be most effective for reducing steelhead vulnerability to climate change. 3. Our relative ranking of locations suggested that steelhead exposure to increases in temperature will be most widespread in the southern Pacific Northwest, whereas exposure to substantial flow changes will be most widespread in the interior and northern Pacific Northwest. There were few locations where we projected that steelhead had both relatively low exposure and sensitivity to climate change. 4. Synthesis and applications. There are few areas where habitat protection alone is likely to be sufficient to conserve steelhead under the scenario of climate change considered here. Instead, our results suggest the need for coordinated, landscape-scale actions that both increase salmon resilience and ameliorate climate change impacts, such as restoring connectivity of floodplains and high-elevation habitats. Stream flow and temperature gridded data for PNW.

The Fisheries Ecology Division of NOAA’s SWFSC conducted annual surveys of salmon and their ocean habitat in the coastal waters of northern California and southern Oregon from 1998-2016. We used a surface trawl to collect juvenile and subadult salmonids, including several ESA-listed populations of Chinook and coho salmon and steelhead. We also quantified other coastal pelagic fish and invertebrates that co-occur with salmon, and we measured spatially matched biological and physical oceanographic variables. Juvenile salmon were frozen at sea and transported back to shore for further analysis. Scales, DNA, otoliths, stomach contents, blood plasma, and implanted tags (if present) were retained. The majority of older salmon and bycatch species were released alive at sea. Additional data recorded during our survey included seabird counts, plankton samples, echosounder readings, and CTD profiles of temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, transmissivity, and PAR.

The objective of this study is to quantify population, community, and ecosystem level changes as a result of salmon recolonization of the Cedar River, WA above Landsburg Dam. The dam was installed in 1901, blocking the upstream migration of adult salmon and steelhead from about 43 km of river habitat. A fish ladder was installed in 2003 to allow adult salmon passage. We collected baseline data on water chemistry, habitat, and fish populations including resident trout and sculpin populations in 2000-2002. These field surveys have been ongoing since 2000. A mark-recapture study in Rock Creek, the largest tributary available to salmon, was started in 2004 and ended in 2010 to quantify growth, movement, and survival of juvenile coho and resident trout. Two experimental stream studies conducted to quantify salmon carcass effects on resident organisms. Density and distribution of resident trout and Pacific salmon during summer, spring and fall in main stem and tributary habitat.

FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Lab Lengths, weight, genetics, IGF-1 (growth), and otolith microchemistry from juvenile salmonids.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey stations. The Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) started in 1998 and is led by NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey is the longest running salmon survey on the U.S. West Coast. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and Columbia River plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. JSOES collects juvenile salmon and other open-ocean animals which allows identification of shifts in abundance, distribution, and growth/condition of migrating juvenile salmon. JSOES has demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River salmon in the Northern California Current nearshore ecosystem to provide context for efforts by states, tribes, and others to restore and enhance salmon production. The samples from this survey improve salmon forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. The survey is conducted two times a year (late May and late June) for roughly ten days each. This study utilizes a surface trawl. A surface trawl collects juvenile salmon and other open-ocean animals during sampling.

The objective of this study is to quantify population, community, and ecosystem level changes as a result of salmon recolonization of the Cedar River, WA above Landsburg Dam. The dam was installed in 1901, blocking the upstream migration of adult salmon and steelhead from about 43 km of river habitat. A fish ladder was installed in 2003 to allow adult salmon passage. We collected baseline data on water chemistry, habitat, and fish populations including resident trout and sculpin populations in 2000-2002. These field surveys have been ongoing since 2000. A mark-recapture study in Rock Creek, the largest tributary available to salmon, was started in 2004 and ended in 2010 to quantify growth, movement, and survival of juvenile coho and resident trout. Two experimental stream studies conducted to quantify salmon carcass effects on resident organisms. Data on nutrients and insects to salmon carcass additions.

The following waterways, bottom and water of the waterways and adjacent riparian zones: The Sacramento River from Keswick Dam, Shasta County (River Mile 302) to Chipps Island (River Mile 0) at the westward margin of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, all waters from Chipps Island westward to Carquinez Bridge, including Honker Bay, Grizzly Bay, Suisun Bay, and Carquinez Strait, all waters of San Pablo Bay westward of the Carquinez Bridge, and all waters of San Francisco Bay (north of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge) from San Pablo Bay to the Golden Gate Bridge.Adjacent riparian zones are those areas above a streambank that provide cover and shade to the nearshore aquatic areas. This designation does not include any estuarine sloughs.

This study is a cooperative effort between Douglas Island Pink & Chum (DIPAC), the University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (UAF, SFOS), the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Auke Bay Lab (ABL), and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G) to determine the potential for interactions between DIPAC hatchery chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) fry and wild chum salmon fry in Taku Inlet, Southeast Alaska. We analyzed patterns in spatial and temporal distribution, size, and condition of juvenile chum salmon collected in the littoral and neritic waters of Taku Inlet in 2004 and 2005. Energy density and diet of wild and hatchery chum salmon fry in Taku Inlet were analyzed and compared to data obtained later in the season for chum salmon stocks caught in Icy Strait. The greatest potential for wild/hatchery interactions was in the outer inlet, directly following early hatchery releases (May 9-11). Peak outmigration for wild chum salmon fry coincided with early hatchery releases; in contrast, most wild chum salmon fry had already emigrated from the estuary by the time of late hatchery fry release (May 22 June 1). In both years, hatchery fry were rare in the inner inlet, but comprised over 95% of the catch in the outer estuary during the peak of outmigration. Hatchery chum salmon were significantly larger than wild fry in both beach and neritic samples. Wild and early hatchery chum salmon were smaller in the littoral than the neritic habitat, indicating that both groups moved from shallow to deeper water with ontogeny. In spite of large differences in abundance, no negative correlation between abundance of hatchery fish and condition of wild fish was identified. Both wild and early hatchery chum salmon fry showed apparent growth through the season, while late hatchery fry appeared to leave the estuary soon after release. Regardless of origin, most chum salmon juveniles emigrated from the study area in late May and early June, indicating a high probability for mixed-stock schools. Hatchery chum salmon juveniles were initially larger and had greater energy content than wild fish; however, energetic values converged by mid-June in Taku Inlet. In Icy Strait, energetic condition of wild and hatchery chum salmon juveniles was also similar. Multivariate analysis of 54 prey measures indicated that diets of the two groups were distinctly different throughout the season in all Taku Inlet locations and converged in Icy Strait.