Volunteers prepare to survey wild fish in the South Fork Smith River. (Photo- Gustavo Vasquez)

Every year, volunteers gather at SRA’s Rock Creek Ranch on the Wild and Scenic South Fork Smith River for the annual Summer Fish Count. Snorkeling past steep canyon walls through clear blue waters, volunteers experience wild fish and other aquatic fauna in their native habitat. This community-powered event maintains rigorous protocols to ensure safety and data integrity regarding populations of adult salmonids in the Smith River basin. This year’s fish count drew sixty volunteers for two days on the river. An IMAX film crew was on site recording the event for an upcoming documentary (more on that in a future edition of Watershed).

On Friday, August 1, newcomers attended a classroom training to fine-tune fish identification skills, learn survey methods, and brush up on river safety techniques. They soon put these new skills to work in an immersion session guided by experienced instructors. Working as a team, volunteers learned to navigate riffles and accurately survey fish.

On Saturday, August 2, volunteers surveyed a total of eighteen reaches, covering thirty miles of stream. Their survey results included an estimated 17 summer steelhead, 18 steelhead half-pounders, 3 spring Chinook salmon, 1,020 coastal cutthroat trout, 57 rainbow trout, and 8 Klamath suckers. These figures will be added to the data record, notably the single longest-running coastal cutthroat trout monitoring data set in existence. Besides fish, volunteers encountered an abundance of other aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, including a mountain lion along the upper South Fork Smith.

The Summer Fish Count is part of a long-term effort to collect annual observations over thirty-seven years on the South Fork, as well as thirty years of data on the Middle Fork and thirteen years on the North Fork Smith River. SRA is grateful to the volunteers who participated in the 2025 fish count and would also like to acknowledge the generous River Guardians who provided funding, food, and supplies for this important community conservation event: Los Bagels, Rumiano Cheese, and Alexandre Family Farm.

Volunteers fuel up on a hearty breakfast ahead of a long day on the river. (Photo- Gustavo Vasquez)

With generous support from the City of Crescent City, Firedoll Foundation, and donors like you, planning is already underway for Coastal Cleanup Day and other volunteer-driven monitoring, invasives species, and cleanup events. We work hard, have fun, meet new friends, and leave Del Norte County better than we found it.

To learn more and receive e-alerts about upcoming events, please visit https://smithriveralliance.org/volunteer/ or email volunteer@smithriveralliance.org.