Columnist
Our central valley runs of salmon and steelhead are cyclical in nature. We get good years like the last couple for steelhead on the Lower Yuba and we get poor years such as the recent salmon runs. Despite the up and down nature of the returns the overall trend is down. There are a lot of factors that affect the fish returns such as winter precipitation, water diversions, predation of the migrating juveniles, ocean temperatures and food chain … some of these factors we can affect and some we can’t.
Project location beyond angler Bill McCrea, 2019. Bill is fishing 100 yards below DaGuerre Dam.
100-Year-Old Dam Removed From San Geronimo Creek in Marin for Salmon Migration
The endangered coho salmon have been on a steady decline as urbanization wreaks havoc on their remaining natural habitat. But the recent demolition of an old dam and fish ladder on the former San Geronimo Valley golf course has freed up one of their important breeding passages.
One of the more unspoken side effects of unbridled construction is not only how it can level once towering tree groves, but how laying concrete and making of man-made lakes can derail spawning routes for migratory fish. In fact, 27 regional salmon runs are now either endangered or threatened by encroaching human activity. (Salmon, specifically, are one of the most relied-upon food sources for large predators like brown and black bears, wolves, and birds of prey.) These fish key players in safeguarding the biodiversity in the areas they spawn at and migrate to – which is why Friday s clearing of a 100-year-old dam along Marin Cou