Russian River Adult Steelhead Floy Tag Project

Project overview for the 2019-2020 adult spawning season prepared by California Sea Grant

A floy tagged steelhead caught in the Russian River, April 2020

California's Russian River, which flows from southern Mendocino County through Sonoma County, has two steelhead hatcheries.  Warm Springs Hatchery , also known as Don Clausen Fish Hatchery, on Dry Creek was completed in early 1981, while  Coyote Valley Fish Facility  on the East Fork Russian River was completed later in 1992.

Locations of the Russian River hatchery steelhead programs. (1) Warm Springs Hatchery in Sonoma County (2) Coyote Valley Fish Facility in Mendocino County.

These facilities are designed to mitigate reduced fish populations due to habitat loss caused by dams and to increase recreational angling opportunities. Each spring, juvenile hatchery steelhead are released into the river and migrate out to the ocean, where they typically spend two years before returning to the Russian River facilities to spawn. Each winter, thousands of adult hatchery steelhead return to these hatcheries.

Hatchery steelhead can be distinguished from wild steelhead by looking at the adipose fin, the small fin located between the dorsal (top) fin and the caudal (tail) fin. The adipose fin is removed from juvenile hatchery fish for identification.

An image showing the intact adipose fin of a wild steelhead and a clipped fin of a hatchery steelhead. The adipose fin is located on the dorsal (top) side of the fish between the caudal (tail) fin and the dorsal (top) fin.
An image showing the intact adipose fin of a wild steelhead and a clipped fin of a hatchery steelhead. The adipose fin is located on the dorsal (top) side of the fish between the caudal (tail) fin and the dorsal (top) fin.

Hatchery steelhead (lower) have a missing adipose fin, while wild steelhead will have an intact adipose fin.

Unlike other species of Pacific salmon, steelhead have the ability to migrate back to the ocean after spawning and can return to rivers to spawn in future years. Due to this behavior, both hatcheries "live-spawn" returning fish. After they are spawned, steelhead are recycled back into the mainstem Russian River to provide additional angling opportunities. Some fish that are not yet ready to spawn when they return to the hatchery are also released back into the mainstem.

To better understand the movement of these steelhead that are released back into the river, CDFW began Floy tagging fish beginning in the winter of 2018/19 and will be repeating each year to improve information on the harvest of recycled hatchery steelhead.

A hole punch in the lobe of the caudal fin is applied to each adult steelhead that has returned to each hatchery (i.e. Warm Springs marks the upper caudal and Coyote Valley marks the lower caudal) and have been released back into the river.

an image showing a steelhead caudal (tail) fin that has an upper caudal hole punch to signify that this individual returned to the hatchery this season.

Russian River hatchery steelhead marked with an upper caudal hole punch, 2020. California Sea Grant

T-bar anchor tags, also known as Floy Tags, are a visual-based marking method commonly used in fisheries. These tags are partially embedded into the flesh behind the dorsal fin. The color, and printed information on the tag can then be observed, or "recaptured", by anglers and biologist.

An example stack of T-bar anchor floy tags in different colors

Examples of Floy tag (T-anchor tags) used to mark fish. Photo Credit: www.floytag.com

Hatchery steelhead being Floy tagged before release at Warm Springs Hatchery, 2020

Who reports floy tags?

This effort was targeted specifically to educate anglers to keep hatchery steelhead and to report their harvest, however anyone who observed a tag is encouraged to report. Local biologists were also looking for these tagged individuals on the tributary spawning grounds.

The informational flyer below breaks down what information should be reported:

A flyer showing what floy tags are, where the number is on them, and what information the agencies have requested anglers to report. Such as capture date, tag color, tag number, capture location, sex, condition, take, location of whole punch

Floy Tag Releases

2,468 Floy tagged steelhead were released into the Russian River during the winter of 2019-2020

Warm Springs hatchery released a total of 1,625 Floy tagged steelhead and Coyote Valley Fish Facility released 843 Floy tagged steelhead during the winter of 2019-2020. 

Releases occurred in three sections on the main stem Russian River, with each group being marked using different colored tags (orange, yellow, and green). Releases occurred throughout the season as hatchery-origin fish returned to facilities for spawning. 76% of released fish possessed a Floy tag during the winter of 2019/20. Release timing ranged from the last of week of December to the first week of May as shown on the graph below:

  1. Anglers targeting Russian River steelhead
  2. Russian River tributary spawner surveys from California Sea Grant and Sonoma Water
  3. Hatchery facilities documenting multiple returns

ANGLER REPORTING


TRIBUTARY SPAWNER SURVEYS

During the winter of 2019/20, California Sea Grant and Sonoma Water conducted  tributary spawner surveys  on 72 reaches in 53 streams throughout the Russian River basin. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic surveys were suspended 21 days earlier than normal, and over a month before the last release of tagged steelhead. During these surveys field crews observed 29 steelhead with Floy tags, in 6 different spawning tributaries. These observations account for 12.3% of all steelhead observed during surveys.

Remains of a steelhead carcass with an orange Floy tag, observed during a spawner survey in Austin Creek.


HATCHERY RECAPTURES

3% of tagged fish returned to the hatchery facility after being released into the river. All returning fish went to the same facility they were released from. 86% of returning fish were males.

Of the 2,468 tagged individuals released into the Russian River, 187 (7.6%) were “recaptured” as of June 1, 2020. 73 tags were reported by anglers, 29 observed during tributary surveys, and 85 were observed back at hatchery facilities.  


Forgot to report a tag this season?

Call Warm Springs Hatchery at 707-433-6325 to report your tagged steelhead.


About Us

For more than a decade,  California Sea Grant ’s Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Program at the University of California has been monitoring salmon and steelhead populations within the watershed to provide science-based information to everyone involved in the recovery of these critical native species. Our program supports the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive  Broodstock Program , the statewide  Coastal Monitoring Program , the Russian River Coho Water Resources  Partnership , and other recovery efforts throughout the watershed. This update provides an overview of the steelhead Floy tagging effort being led by our partners at California Department of Fish and Wildlife ( CDFW ) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ).

California Sea Grant's Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Team and AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Program members.


Our Partners

Special thanks to the anglers who reported their tags as well as our partners in the project:  Sonoma Water , California Fish and Wildlife ( CDFW ), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ( ACOE ), Redwood Empire Trout Unlimited ( TU ), and the Russian River Wild Steelhead Society ( RRWSS )

Please contact Warm Springs Hatchery (707-433-6325) about Floy tag related questions and recommendations.


Follow California Sea Grant!

Want to stay up to date on all things Russian River salmon? Follow our social media accounts for in-season updates, end of season summary reports, and fish videos!

Zac Reinstein

2020

California Sea Grant

Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Program

Hatchery steelhead (lower) have a missing adipose fin, while wild steelhead will have an intact adipose fin.

Russian River hatchery steelhead marked with an upper caudal hole punch, 2020. California Sea Grant

Examples of Floy tag (T-anchor tags) used to mark fish. Photo Credit: www.floytag.com

Remains of a steelhead carcass with an orange Floy tag, observed during a spawner survey in Austin Creek.

California Sea Grant's Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Team and AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Program members.