A migratory cold-water fish native to the West Coast of North America. Steelhead are a key part of Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) culture, as well as a popular sport fish.
Conservation status: Threatened
Steelhead trout, also called steelhead salmon, are genetically identical to rainbow trout. However, their lifecycle is anadromous, meaning they spend much of their lives in the ocean, traveling over 400 miles inland to breed in the cold headwaters of the Clearwater. Unlike salmon, most steelhead don't die after spawning, and can return to the ocean again.
Their numbers have declined dramatically since dams were built on the lower Snake River. Over 80,000 steelhead were counted at the Ice Harbor dam in the 1960s, dropping to about 15,000 by 1980 (an 80% decline).
Billions of dollars and decades of work have gone towards salmon and steelhead recovery in the region, with little effect. Breaching the lower Snake River dams (LSRDs) is necessary for recovering wild steelhead populations.
Eleven distinct populations of steelhead are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Snake River Basin steelhead population, including the Clearwater River and many tributaries, was listed as Threatened in 1997.
Physical Characteristics: Up to 45 inches long and weigh 45 lbs.; average for Clearwater Basin is 13 lbs.
Today, there are fewer larger fish because of harvesting activities in the Columbia River Basin and the loss of habitat. The fish tend to be dark-olive in color, with a speckled body, silver-white shading on the underbelly and a pinkish-red stripe running along its sides. The longer they reside in freshwater, the darker they become.
Diet: Young trout (juvenile steelhead) primarily feed on aquatic and terrestrial insects, crustaceans, fish eggs, and other small fish in their natal streams. In the ocean, they feed on zooplankton, marine invertebrates, and forage fish like herring. During their spawning migration to their natal streams, they seldom actively feed.
Habitat: Steelhead are a resilient fish that benefits from clean, fresh water and sediment-free gravel beds for spawning and survival. Low-velocity, deep pools can provide crucial summer and winter rearing habitats. The species can withstand a wide-range of water temperatures while spending their life in both fresh and salt water systems.
Range: Steelhead are found throughout the U.S. Pacific Coast, including the western Pacific and the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. Prior to all the dams (including Dworshak), approximately 45,000-wild steelhead returned on an annual basis to the freshwater tributaries of the Clearwater Basin. Today less than 10,000 return. In some years, the return has been as low as 3,000 fish. Fish Creek, a tributary of the Lochsa River, is one of the most important tributary streams in all of Idaho for wild steelhead.
Reproduction: Juveniles can stay up to seven years in freshwater streams before migrating to the ocean where they can stay an additional 1-3 years before returning to spawn. In the Clearwater Basin, there are two stocks of steelhead (A and B). The A-stock spends one year in the ocean and returns as 6-8 lb. adults. TheB-stock spends 2 to 3 years in the ocean and returns as 12 to 20+ lb. adults. Adult females prepare a redd (nest) in highly oxygenated, freshwater streams. Although rare in Idaho because of distance and dams, a steelhead can spawn more than once, meaning they return yet again to the ocean before beginning another freshwater migration.
Threats: The Clearwater Basin of north-central Idaho offers outstanding habitat although the building of Dworshak Dam on the N. Fork Clearwater River completely wiped out the wild, legendary B-stock. Dams, fish hatcheries, road building, logging (sediment) and over-fishing have greatly reduced wild steelhead populations since the 1970′s.
Miscellaneous: Inland Redband trout are a landlocked subspecies of Oncorhynchus mykiss, meaning they do not migrate to the ocean. Rainbow trout are another landlocked variety of mykiss, which are typically descendants from steelhead introduced into waters that were not their native habitat.
