TRAC's March 6 email "Coho Salmon Along the Bay Trail in Richmond!" (Coho Salmon Along the Bay Trail in Richmond, March 7, 2007) stimulated an amazing flurry of emails expressing both excitement and skepticism that salmon could have been hanging out in Meeker Slough, aka Meeker Tidal Creek along the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Kate Clark's original report in February stated " My husband and I recently saw Coho Salmon about 2 to 3 feet long in Meeker Slough, possibly seeking a late place to spawn. They showed up the day after the last storm. There were 8 or more of them. Four were very visible in very shallow water. They were quite large and we were quite close to them." (See http://www.pointrichmond.com/baytrail/map.htm for location of Meeker Tidal Creek at east end of Marina Bay en route to Point Isabel Regional Shoreline.)

City of Richmond Parks Supervisor Carrol Holthaus responded "Those “Coho Salmon” if they are the same ones that I have seen swirling around in the creek head are actually carp; large scales and a lower lip that protrudes from bottom of the head. I would be willing to venture a bet that what you are seeing are not Coho Salmon but carp. The presence of carp is exciting non-the-less because they are one species of clean-up crew in the bay and are survivors. I am from the Chesapeake Bay area where I lived most of my young life and we had carp in the tidal waters. Those carp sometimes reached a length of 48”.

Carp are nominally fresh water fish; however scientists from California Dept. of Fish and Game, UC Berkeley, East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) and the consulting field weighed in with observations and theories about salmon versus carp and how carp could have moved from the Delta to Meeker Slough and survived in the more saline water of the estuary.

Consulting Fisheries Biologist Mike McGowan of Berkeley reports that his enthusiasm for sighting what he thought were salmon in Tiburon's Blackie's Pasture Creek was dashed when he captured one of the fish and identified it as a common carp. His theory is that carp may be swept into the Bay during heavy rain runoff and are diverted into local creeks when trying to swim back into the Delta's fresh water.

Carl Wilcox of Calif. Dept of Fish and Game observed "It is highly unlikely that what is being seen are coho, they aren't known from the bay and it is late in the year even in appropriate habitat, carp are certainly a potential candidate for what people are seeing, they are an aboundant component of the bay delta system, particularly in fresh or brackish areas like Meeker Ditch. They are also drawn to the shallows this time of year to spawn. "

Karl Hans, UC Berkeley Senior Environmental Scientist, reported "The carp were first observed in Meeker Creek and Slough in May 2006. Around that time Andy Cohen, exotic species expert with SFEI, identified them as common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Common carp are present in other locations in the San Francisco Bay (about 100 appeared in Corta Madera de Presidio creek in Marin around 2006). Due to their tolerance of brackish conditions, it is not inconceivable that the fish could travel between creek outfalls during rainy periods. With Meeker Slough there was a report that the fish entered the creek when a fresh water pond at Marina Bay was drained."

Kate Clark, who originally reported the sighting, said "We had a good view of the fish because the water level was very low. These fish were very red-orange all over their lower quarters. They had very distinct spots on the dorsal side, which was out of the water. We identified the fish by searching online for salmon species pictures and descriptions.  As for our background in field identification of animals, I've worked as a field mammologist (many years ago), and my work is cited in the field guide to Pt Reyes. My husband and I still spend a lot of time identifying animals and plants for fun, so we're very used to finding the key characteristics of a species. I've also worked for a short time in a lab that specialized in salmon at UC Davis, so I'm somewhat familiar with the different species."

Pete Alexander, who is a fisheries biologist at East Bay Regional Park District, observed "The “distinct spots on the dorsal side” sounds more like a salmonid.  Both steelhead and Chinook salmon have dorsal spotting.  The most heavily dorsal spotted salmonid is the Chinook salmon; however, the primary run for these is in the fall,"

After reviewing the thoughts of those cited above, Kate Clark replied "I don't think they are Carp, except the last sighting might have been. Carp usually have a squarish pattern of color on the back, which looks like an outline of the scales. The spots on Carp are all joined together often. The third (most recent) sighting might have been Carp, but they didn't seem as pudgy as Carp. And the spots didn't look totally right for Carp. Also, the amount of orange-red color on the sides of the fish seems to resemble the Coho, rather than the Steelhead (which has less color on the sides). Again: It is possible that the three sightings we've made involved more than one fish species. It was difficult to see the fish the first and third sighting."

BOTTOM LINE: You almost certainly may view large carp year round in Meeker Tidal Creek, and in the winter you might view Coho Salmon or other salmonids frustrated in their search for appropriate spawning habitat. In any event, you may add fish watching to the Bay Trail ecotourism experience in Richmond!

For Richmond Bay Trail information, contact:

--------------------------------------

Bruce Beyaert, TRAC Chair

tracbaytrail@earthlink.net

phone/fax 510-235-2835

http://www.pointrichmond.com/baytrail/

http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/TRAC

http://www.explorerichmondca.com/baytrail.htm