Monitoring

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Our Local Salmon Populations: NSEA's Salmon Spawning Grounds Surveys

For over a decade, NSEA has been conducting surveys of salmon spawning grounds with the guidance of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). These surveys are conducted in order to better understand the current status of our local salmon populations based on the numbers of returning adult spawners and the number of redds observed for each species.

Survey reaches (the stretches of creeks surveyed) are often located where NSEA habitat restoration enhancement projects have occurred so that we can better understand how effective each project is after completion. NSEA's surveys usually span from late September through early January each year to coincide with runs of late-run (fall) Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), and chum salmon (O. keta), although other salmon species are counted when observed.

Funding for these surveys has been provided by a WDFW Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account (ALEA) grant. These surveys would not be possible without the help of dedicated volunteers and student interns. All salmon spawning grounds survey reports can be found in the NSEA Library or click on the links to the right.