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Capture and tagging salmon in the spawning grounds

We have a process that helps us accurately assess how many salmon make it to the spawning grounds in their natal streams, in what condition, and if they successfully spawned. It’s called Capture Tagging!

Related program

Transcript

Capture and tagging salmon in the spawning grounds

As salmon enter the spawning grounds, some are captured as a sample of the population

The fish are measured, identified by gender, and then tagged and released

Later, the number of carcasses are counted. The difference between the number of carcasses and how many tags are recovered helps to estimate how many fish successfully reproduce

The tail of each fish counted is removed to prevent double counting

Counting fences on key streams allow us to count fish as they pass swimming upstream

These fences also provide the opportunity for closer study of vulnerable fish populations

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