Carmel River Steelhead Association

06/10/2026

Andrew Molera Park is in Big Sur California and the incomparable Coast Highway! This Saturday, June 13th a great event to celebrate State Parks Week.

🪶Join the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County for California State Parks Week at Andrew Molera State Park!
🌿Come meet Tribal community members, explore cultural displays, enjoy traditional songs and stories, and participate in hands-on activities for youth and families.
🐝💫Learn about the enduring connection between the Esselen people and their ancestral homelands while celebrating the rich cultural heritage of Big Sur.
📍 Andrew Molera State Park, Big Sur
🗓 Saturday, June 13
⏰ 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
This event is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there! More details can be found in the link in our bio.

06/01/2026

CRSA will show a slide presentation on the health of Carmel River Steelhead tomorrow. FRIDAY. In PG at 6:30 in the PG Art Center!

"Hello Everyone,

I’m excited to invite you all to a fun evening on Friday, June 5th. I’ll be presenting a slideshow on the last 100 years of the Carmel River steelhead population’s health, including their historical abundance, current status, and the challenges they face today. You'll also learn about the work that the Carmel River Steelhead Association (CRSA) is doing to help restore and protect this iconic species. We’ll be gathering at the Pacific Grove Art Center, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm, in the D**e Gallery.

Even better, the PG Art Center will have an exhibit that we, along with Big Sur Land Trust, Elkhorn Slough Foundation, and Surfrider Foundation, are part of! Each organization has artists showcasing their interpretations of environmental issues. A QR code will give admirers access to the artwork that shows them on their phone what is happening to the subject (Carmel River, for example) with plastics floating down the river. There will be complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a bar where you can purchase your favorite beverage while enjoying the artwork and visiting with fellow conservation supporters.

Come for the steelhead story, stay for the art.

Hope to see you all there,
Steve Park
CRSA President

05/01/2026

We are enjoying (for fish!) cool and showery Spring weather in Cachagua. There was significant spawning this season. However a very dry March threatened the health of all the eggs developing in the gravel nests (redds). The "March Parch" as its now being called was notable for record high temps and lack of rain. CRSA was very concerned that many of the redds could be dried up and destroyed. April brought some much cooler weather, 30 degrees cooler, and significant beneficial rain. I even spotted a "spring steelhead" on April 22nd. Right where the previous steelhead were seen as i shared here from April 2nd. This indicates a fish spawning on top of an existing nest. Not ideal. It is likely that fish are not finding enough available gravels of the right size and are forced to spawn on top of other redds.

04/18/2026

Follow up observations of the spawning site posted on last April 2 reveal progress of natural life history. Steelhead complete the nest building. Multiple males were present as well as females using this gravel zone. 9 days later the adult Steelhead have left. If they survive, unlike Pacific Salmon, the post spawn migration occurs. These spent fish, known as "kelts", make their way back downstream to the Carmel Lagoon. This transition habitat in the estuary is a salt and fresh water mix which allows them to again acclimate to the salry brine of the Pacific Ocean. Making the cycle complete again to a saltwater creature. Covering untold miles of the Pacific, gorging on wild food such as krill, squid and forage fish like anchovy.

04/06/2026

Despite record warmth and dry conditions in Carmel Valley, late spawning is occuring in the watershed. Please be cautious, or avoid altogether, crossing the stream. Whether hiking, in a vehicle or on horseback you could be crushing the eggs under the gravel nests. Steelhead prefer the shallower "riffles" made up of small and medium size gravel beds that the female selects for the "redd" (nest). They generally appear as mounds of clean cobbles in faster flowing sections of the stream below larger pools.

03/07/2026

Visited Los Padres Dam on Friday March 6th. LPD is now in the process of review for dam safety, rebuilding or completely removing it. Various alternatives will be explored over the next 10 years at least. One of the issues, amongst many, is the loss of water storage. For the last 5 years the southwest bluff has been sliding into the reservoir. The former road and trailhead for Los Padres Forest fell in the lake. One of the studies that will be needed is a geologic assessment of further slide potential. Subsurface intakes to manage water diversions have been damaged.

02/28/2026

Native Steelhead have been running! "Pushing" upstream from the Pacific Ocean to reach the waters of their own birth and lay eggs in the clean cold water. A beautiful cycle of life for a new generation. As they have in this small stream for thousands of years! It inspires the imagination to envision a long ago and cool misty morning. The little creek full of large salmon sized fish. This unique species, the mighty steelhead, dominates the entire river system and makes Cachagua creek their home.

02/26/2026

Science has discovered something remarkable, if not intuitive. Without the decaying flesh of dying, spawned out salmonids the great Forests of the Pacific Northwest would not exist. The salmon literally delivers marine nutrients like Millions of Amazon Parcels, the food that feeds the land.

12/03/2025

Please help us achieve the recovery of the Carmel River. By donating through Monterey County Gives there is a receipt for tax purposes and some matching funds when McGives concludes the gifting season. Your support helps cover equipment and supplies we use to rescue and research threatened Steelhead.

The mission of the Carmel River Steelhead Association (CRSA) is the restoration and conservation of the federally threatened steelhead on the Carmel River and its watershed. The primary goal is to return the Carmel River watershed to as natural a state as possible so that it will maintain an annual....

12/02/2025

After a good start to our winter the weather has settled into a quiet and very dry pattern. Currently a persistent high sits off our coast blocking the wet systems to the north. During this beautiful fall weather our volunteers have been busy putting in a 2nd PIT tag array site further upstream. We will have antennae arrays on lower Cachagua creek and Finch creek ready to capture tag data when the rain arrives. Hoping for the rain and big beautiful Carmel River Steelhead to come roaring back!