Shasta River Chinook and Coho Salmon Observations in 2015

A total of 6,745 Fall-run Chinook salmon (Chinook, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were estimated to have entered the Shasta River during the 2015 spawning season. An underwater video camera was operated in the flume of the Shasta River Fish Counting Facility (SRFCF) 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from September 1, 2015 until December 21, 2015. The first Chinook was observed on September 8, 2015 and the last Chinook on December 15, 2015. Klamath River Project staff also processed a total of 221 Chinook carcasses during spawning ground surveys, and 8 Chinook carcasses as wash backs against the SRFCF weir (a systematic 1 :1 O sample).

A net total of 77 adult and 31 sub-adult steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were observed passing through the SRFCF during the 2015 season, prior to the removal of the SRFCF on December 21, 2015. An additional net total of four downstream swimming steelhead were detecting using an ARIS sonar unit between January 1, 2016 and February 29, 2016 for a net total of 104 steelhead known to have remained in the Shasta River prior to February 29, 2016. The ARIS unit was in place until May 3, 2016, and footage is currently under review. A technical report will be produced for the entire ARIS period after review and analysis are complete.