2024-2025 coastal steelhead regulations were announced on Nov. 27 and are available in the emergency fishing rule changes.
The Washington Department of Fish Wildlife (WDFW) is committed to helping to advance conservation of coastal steelhead while maximizing possible angling opportunities.
For graphs of adult steelhead and/or redd counts, run timing, and other in-season information from select locations, visit the Coastal steelhead in-season indicators page.
Learn more about steelhead conservation efforts in this 2023 blog post. For background on the Coastal Steelhead Proviso Implementation Plan proposed to the Washington State Legislature in December 2022, please see this webpage.
Supplemental resources for reference
- Key terms (PDF)
- Statewide Steelhead Management Plan
- Catch record reports
- North coast creel surveys
- Winter and summer steelhead smolt stocking
- Hatchery escapement reports
Below are materials and recordings from our public meetings, a timeline of events in our steelhead management process, and suggested research papers.
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Public Meetings
2024 virtual town halls
WDFW hosted its second virtual town hall meeting on the 2024-25 coastal steelhead season Nov. 13, 2024.
Staff shared agreed-to fishery plans with the public during the meeting. In late November, the Department will finalize those plans with tribal co-managers and then announce the 2024-2025 season and regulations.
Review the Nov. 13 PowerPoint presentation (PDF) and meeting recording below. WDFW staff will present finalized plans to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission in a special Fish Committee meeting Nov. 21.
WDFW hosted a virtual town hall meeting on the 2024-25 coastal steelhead season Oct. 23, 2024.
Fish Program staff shared information on steelhead management, abundance, 2024-25 season forecasts, and a 2023-24 season summary. They presented potential fisheries and accepted fishery proposals from the public. The town hall also included preliminary data from a one-year study in the Hoh River to determine wild steelhead impacts from fishing from a floating device.
Review the Oct. 23 PowerPoint presentation (PDF) and the meeting recording below. A second virtual town hall meeting is planned for November.
2023 virtual town halls
WDFW Coastal Region fishery managers held a second virtual town hall Nov. 27 to report on public fishery proposals, provide analysis, and discuss the co-manager plan for fisheries.
Review the Nov. 27 PowerPoint presentation (PDF) and the meeting recording below.
The first virtual town hall was held Oct. 25. WDFW staff solicited fishery proposals and present information on steelhead management, trends, environmental indicators, and forecasts.
Review the Oct. 25 PowerPoint presentation (PDF) and the meeting recording below.
Suggested Research Papers
- An integrated population model for estimating the relative effects of natural and anthropogenic factors on a threatened population of Pacific trout (PDF)
- Anadromy and residency in steelhead and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): a review of the processes and patterns (PDF)
- Clearwater River Wild Steelhead Spawning Timing (PDF)
- Climate vulnerability assessment for Pacific salmon and steelhead in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (PDF)
- Estimating the Ratio of Hatchery-Produced to Wild Adult Steelhead on the Spawning Grounds using Scale Pattern Analyses (PDF)
- Evaluation of creel survey methodology for steelhead fisheries on the Quillayute and Hoh rivers
- Increasing Coupling Between NPGO and PDO Leads to Prolonged Marine Heatwaves in the Northeast Pacific (PDF)
- Is Marine Survival for Puget Sound’s Wild Steelhead Really That Bad? A Nisqually River Case Study Evaluating Estimates of Productivity and Survival of Oncorhynchus mykiss (PDF)
- Marine and freshwater regime changes impact a community of migratory Pacific salmonids in decline (PDF)
- Newaukum Adult Salmon and Steelhead Spawner Abundance, 2019-2020
- Ocean distribution and migration of steelhead (PDF)
- Ocean ecology of steelhead (PDF)
- Ocean migration and behavior of steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss kelts from the Situk River, Alaska (PDF)
- Past and future ocean warming (PDF)
- Population genetic analysis of Chehalis River watershed winter steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
- Record-Setting Ocean Warmth Continued in 2019 (PDF)
- Upper Ocean Temperatures Hit Record High in 2020 (PDF)
- Spawner Abundance and Distribution of Salmon and Steelhead in the Upper Chehalis River, 2019 and Synthesis of 2013-2019
- Steelhead vulnerability to climate change in the Pacific Northwest (PDF)