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The following quote comes from The White Salmon River Anadromous Fish Productivity Potential report prepared by the
Washington Department of Fisheries, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Washington Department of Wildlife. (Hunter, M. 1989)"Juvenile steelhead and resident rainbow trout
have nearly identical habitat requirements. Therefore, the introduction of steelhead is expected to have a substantial impact on resident trout. The magnitude of this intra-specific competition depends on the densities
of steelhead and resident trout. WDW has noted that in the Western Washington streams and rivers where steelhead are established, resident trout populations are insignificant, which suggests that steelhead are more
competitive. Thus, resident trout production is expected to decline 70 to 90%, if steelhead out put is established at production levels estimated in section IV(A)." Section IV(A) shows a production goal of 10,409
steelhead smolts for river mile 3.3 to 16.2 of the White Salmon River. |
