A piece about the tribe’s efforts to find out more about local salmon populations:

The Squaxin Island Tribe is taking a close look at where coho salmon live in the Sherwood Creek watershed.

Biologists from the tribe and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group are looking for juvenile coho by snorkeling stretches of the stream and its main tributary, Schumacher Creek.

They’ll compare the number of fish they see with data from temperature monitoring and habitat surveys. “We’re not just trying to find where the fish are, but we’re also trying to figure out why they’re here and how well they’re doing,” said Sarah Haque, the tribe’s Timber/Fish/Wildlife biologist. By monitoring the creek’s temperature and looking closely at what kind of habitat the fish prefer, the researchers will get a better understanding of how the watershed supports wild coho.