Pinole Creek

California

The trout in this creek are native California fish, and the freeway may be what stops them from getting home.

naturalfishinghistorical

Steelhead trout still swim in Pinole Creek. Biologists from the East Bay Municipal Utility District found them at several different ages, which means they are breeding here. Genetic work done in 1999 pointed to something better. These fish are native Central California stock. Nobody stocked them. They belong here. The problem is the crossing at Interstate 80. It may be a serious obstacle to trout trying to move upstream. And in 1965 the Army Corps of Engineers armored the creek channel from the freeway down to San Pablo Bay for flood control. That stripped out the streamside vegetation and tree cover the fish needed for food, shelter and shade. Even so, this creek is thought to have the best trout restoration potential in the East Bay. Much of its watershed is still open space, grazing land, ranches and orchard country. It is one of the last mostly undeveloped watersheds anywhere around San Francisco Bay.

This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
Genetic studies by EBMUD in 1999 suggest that the trout are native Central California stock and not introduced.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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