Salmon Return to Restored Baduwa't Habitat in Promising Sign for Conservation

Baduwa't Restoration Project Yields First Salmon Sightings, Boosts Conservation Efforts Humboldt County, CA – A significant fisheries habitat restoration project at Baduwa't, an off-channel site on the Mad River, has reported its first successful sightings of coho and Chinook salmon for the season. The initiative, named after the Wiyot term for the Mad River, is a collaborative effort designed and funded by the non-profit organization California Trout, with active participation from Cal Poly Humboldt University's fisheries department. The project's primary goal is to establish and monitor critical winter habitats for juvenile salmon, offering them protection from high river flows before their eventual migration to the ocean in the spring. Researchers, including lead biologist Colton Dixon and his team, utilize specialized techniques such as seining and minnow traps to collect fish and gather essential water quality data. During recent sampling events, the team successfully captured eight juvenile coho salmon and several Chinook salmon. These fish are being fitted with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags, a method that allows researchers to track individual fish movement, growth rates, and residency duration within the restored habitat. "It took three sampling events to get our first coho salmon of the season," said Dixon. "We ended up capturing eight of them, and we're putting PIT tags inside of them with the hope that we can recapture a few and see how much they grow and how long they stay here." The monitoring of these restoration sites is crucial for determining the efficacy of such projects. The ongoing data collection will provide valuable insights into how fish respond to the new habitat features and ensure the long-term success of salmon conservation efforts in the region. The team plans further sampling next month, hoping to observe continued positive impacts on salmon populations.

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The Baduwa't (Mad River) Estuary Restoration Project was an enormous success, providing critical habitat for threatened California fish.