It was dubbed the "River of the Giants" by Field and Stream magazine in the 1930s and adulated by frenzied fisherman who flocked from San Francisco and all over the United States to do battle with its enormous and hard fighting steelhead and salmon. Memories of those legendary days from the early to mid-20th century have faded and been eclipsed by the current reality of a river struggling to regain a semblance of that famous past. Despite a long and precipitous decline that has resulted in native salmon and steelhead runs dwindling to a small fraction of historic numbers, the Eel River somewhat remarkably represents the best opportunity in California for recovery of a major salmon and steelhead fishery. CalTrout has a comprehensive recovery plan for the Eel and is hard at work bringing back this exceptional river ecosystem to its former abundance.
In spite of the damaging human impacts, the Eel has a unique set of factors working in its favor that make it a strong candidate for recovery. The first advantage is the Eel's location in a remote and sparsely populated area, with no major urban centers in its watershed.
Thanks to its designation as a National Wild and Scenic River in 1981, no new dams will ever be built on the Eel. There is no fish hatchery, and thus the river can be repopulated with its native wild fish. CalTrout and its partners within the Eel River Forum recognize this golden opportunity and are actively implementing a broad set of actions to help the Eel and its wild fish make a comeback. There is the potential on the Eel not only to repair the damage humans have done, but to bring back sustainable levels of salmon and steelhead abundance.
In fact, there are already some encouraging signs of the potential for a major recovery, most notably from several years of Chinook salmon returning in much larger numbers to the river before the drought struck. Darren Mierau, the North Coast Director for CalTrout, sees ample evidence of the turnaround. "Conditions have improved remarkably since the 1970s and 1980s, when population abundance probably hit its nadir," he says. "I think we already have a fairly healthy Chinook salmon run. And some of the fishing guides think there are tens of thousands of steelhead coming into the river based on their fishing success in recent years. It's anecdotal evidence, but it aligns with observations of large numbers of fish from volunteers in the area who are counting fish."
To learn more about the Eel River Return to Abundance plan, watch the video above, read the Winter 2016 Current article or visit the Eel River Recovery webpage.
Strongholds: Protect the Best
Photo by Mike Wier
PROJECT: Eel River Recovery
REGION: NORTH COAST
Excerpt from the Winter 2016 issue