Adult Escapement Monitoring

Each year adult salmon and steelhead return to the Mattole River in the fall and winter to spawn, or reproduce. The MSG conducts surveys throughout the watershed during this time to observe and record the amount of fish and redds, or nests, in which they lay their eggs. Information collected about the salmon during a survey includes the species, sex, size, and location. When possible, scale samples from salmon carcasses are taken for genetic information. A salmon’s scale provides information similar to growth rings on trees. Biologists can discover the age of the fish, how long it lived in the river or the ocean, and what the water conditions were like during that time. This information is used to create a population estimate, and to guide habitat restoration planning.

Did You Know?

One pair of spawning salmon can produce 3000-5000 eggs inside a single redd, and only a few of those will return to spawn as adults.

Spawner Survey Reports

2003-04 Report
2004-05 Report
2005-06 Report
2006-07 Report
2007-08 Report
2008-09 Report
2009-10 Report