(Photo: From the Greater Georgia Basin Recovery Archive)
Recent data from Oregon State University has identified that there is a surprisingly high level of smolt death in the estuary due to predation from sea birds and marine mammals. The data indicated that there was a mortality of 50-60% of the fish studied once they reached the estuary. A native female steelhead lays 2000-5000 eggs and 2-3% of them return as adults on average. This estuary data and the following research will hopefully help to identify some of the obstacles juveniles face while on their migration to the ocean. Read more from Oregon State University.
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