NORTH COAST, Calif. – Caltrans has announced the confirmed return of native coho salmon upstream from the Chadd Creek Culvert on Route 101 near Redcrest following an absence of almost 50 years.

The greatly anticipated return of young and adult fish is attributed to a joint Caltrans/Department of Fish and Game project completed in 2007 with funding from CDFG Fisheries Restoration Grant Program.

The project was designed to allow safe passage and access to high quality fish habitat along 1.5 miles of the creek known historically as a salmon rearing stream.

A recent study conducted by the Department of Fish and Game reported the first confirmed passage of coho since annual monitoring began following the habitat restoration project.

Department of Fish and Game Fisheries Biologist and study author Allan Renger said, “This is great news and [the project] does provide access for coho salmon to a significant length of habitat that was blocked for many years.”

A fish dive survey conducted in September identified 145 juvenile coho salmon distributed as far as 2,200 feet upstream from the retrofitted Route 101 culvert.

Because the number of coho observed upstream was significant, the survey concluded adult spawning did occur upstream rather than young coho simply migrating up through the culvert to the study area.

Renger said juvenile coho salmon are the least athletic swimmers of native salmon species and provide an excellent gauge of the effectiveness of the retrofitted fishway design.

The culvert is considered very long for fish passage, so the findings of the recent dive study are significant.

Caltrans District One project engineer Glenn Hurlburt, who designed and oversaw construction of the fishway project, was glad to hear the good news. “A lot of time and effort were put into this unique project; it’s great to see that both juvenile and adult Coho are making it through.”

The Chadd Creek culvert was originally constructed following the historic road destruction resulting from the winter flood of 1964.

At the time, efforts were made to allow for fish passage through the then state-of-the-art culvert.

However, over time, some of the redwood baffles used in the original project design were missing and the outlet created an impassible barrier in elevation for fish.

The Chadd Creek project location was first identified in a 2005 Humboldt State University study of fish passage culverts within Caltrans District 1.

Long-term local land owners also provided first-hand accounts of fish presence along the creek that proved helpful to the process.

A previous attempt to observe fish last winter by Fish and Game personnel witnessed adult fish upstream from the culvert, but cloudy water prevented accurate identification of species.

As the good news of the coho returning to Chadd Creek resonates throughout the community, all parties involved certainly have a reason to celebrate.