The central california coast sport fisheries assessment and habitat enhancement project is part of the californiadepartment of fish and wildlife (cdfw) central regions (region 4) coastal fisheries…

The central california coast sport fisheries assessment and habitat enhancement project is part of the californiadepartment of fish and wildlife (cdfw) central regions (region 4) coastal fisheries management program. In 2021THE projects name was updated from central coast fish passage, stream and lake habitat improvement to centralcalifornia coast sport fisheries assessment and habitat enhancement project to better reflect the work beingimplemented. This project is comprised of one environmental scientist at 28% time to manage grant, draft reports, lead field staff conducting sport fish assessments and angler surveys, one full-time scientific aid and one halftime scientific aid to assist cdfw biologists with sport fish population and habitat assessments, servicing, andmaintenance of angler survey boxes (ASB) in SAN luis obispo and monterey counties, conducting creel surveys onsteelhead sport fish streams in SAN luis obispo county, california (attachment a, project area maps). The primarysport fishing opportunities in project area are for warm water species in reservoirs, stocked trout in reservoirsand one non-anadromous stream (upper nacimiento river), and south-central california coast steelhead (steelhead, oncorhynchus mykiss) along coastal streams west of state route 1. Historically, this grant has focused much ofthe work on warm water habitat enhancement by creating and maintaining thousands of habitat structures in projectarea reservoirs that concentrate warm water fish to increase successful angling opportunities. Because therealready exists many warm water sport fishing opportunities in the project area, this grant is shifting focus toinvestigating the steelhead recreational sport fishery, including assessments of steelhead angling, steelheadhabitat and population status and trends. This will provide much needed information to better understand theexisting steelhead sport fishery and to potentially develop new opportunities in the project area that willbenefit the steelhead sport fishery anglers. This grant will also manage the project areas asbs on the salinasriver estuary, carmel river, big SUR river, arroyo DE LA cruz creek, SAN simeon creek during steelhead season. This information will be used to assess the angler success rate, catch per unit effort, and angler satisfactionto help fisheries managers better manage the sport fishery and provide better fishing opportunities to benefitanglers.historically, several streams in the project area supported healthy steelhead runs and a robust steelhead sportfishery. These once-healthy steelhead populations have significantly declined due to construction of dams on someof these historic steelhead streams, urbanization, surface, and ground water diversions, and spawning and rearinghabitat degradation loss. In 1997, national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) fisheries designatedthe south-central california coast steelhead distinct population segment as a threatened species under the U.S.endangered species act of 1973 (ESA) national marine fisheries service (nmfs, 2013). Currently, there are limitedsteelhead catch-and-release sport fishing opportunities along the project area coastal streams west of stateroute 1. This grant will provide the necessary funding to assess and manage the steelhead sport fishing resourcesin project area.