The coastal cutthroat trout has the largest geographic range of any native western trout, extending from the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, to the Eel River, California, and inland about 150 km. Like other native trout of western North America, the coastal cutthroat trout has undergone substantial population declines resulting from habitat alterations associated with land-use practices.
In order for populations of coastal cutthroat trout to recover and persist, diverse habitat for all developmental stages must be preserved or restored. It has been suggested that habitat simplification has caused widespread alteration of life-history diversity among Pacific salmonid populations, and remaining healthy and intact habitat should be protected. Furthermore, restoration of degraded habitat should rely more on ecosystem-based approaches that focus on land-water interactions and less on engineered short-term solutions.
The relationship between stream fish and habitat is scale-dependent; however, the most effective scale to study fish populations has not been determined. Collecting life-history data and evaluating the influence of environmental factors across a broad spatial scale will assist in answering questions such as 1) to what extent age structure and growth vary within and among basins in isolated headwater streams, and 2) which drainage characteristics influence growth of coastal cutthroat trout. These important population parameters can be used to evaluate recovery efforts, monitor environmental conditions, and formulate effective management strategies.
For additional information about this research study see
the CFER
Annual Report. (3.6 MB)
