Clatskanie River Population

Clatskanie River

The Clatskanie River flows through the town of Clatskanie, OR, before entering Beaver Slough and Westport Slough and then the Columbia River (Figure 1). Historically, the Clatskanie River may have supported spawning by up to 3,000 Chum Salmon based on expanded estimates of abundance (Parkhurst et al. 1950, Fulton 1970) and potential habitat availability. However, no Chum Salmon adults have been observed in this system for 20 years. Currently, Coho Salmon, Steelhead, Coastal Cutthroat Trout, and to a lesser extent Chinook Salmon are now observed with no hatchery releases occurring in the basin. Land use in the Clatskanie River is urban (in Clatskanie}, rural residential, agriculture, and industrial timber. High quality spawning habitat currently exists in some areas of the watershed, and numerous additional restoration opportunities to improve lower quality spawning habitat in the watershed are also possible (Alfonse et al. 2017a). A rotary screw trap was used to monitor juvenile production at several different sites in Clatskanie River between February and June from 2012 to 2019 (Figure 2).