Spawning season underway in Eel River
Throughout the winter months and into spring, Chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead trout will be spawning throughout Humboldt County, especially in the Eel River. California Trout, a San Francisco-based conservation group, uses a sonar system to count migrating steelhead and salmon climbing the fish ladder to spawn upriver. On Nov. 10, they estimated that 1,770 Chinook salmon traveled through Miranda to local spawning grounds, but they cannot estimate what the total spawning amount will inevitably be, said Matthew Metheny, the North Coast program manager at California Trout. In order to avoid disturbing spawning, fishermen should be careful when crossing rivers in shallow spots because they run the risk of accidentally crushing fish eggs underneath their feet.
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