Fish and Game biologists recently improved their ability to track wild steelhead in the Potlatch River by installing new PIT Tag array systems in Big Bear Creek and the East Fork Potlatch River. PIT tags are an important tool for salmon and steelhead monitoring. These tiny tags are inserted into a fish and contain a small microchip that is read when passed by an antenna anchored to the stream bottom. PIT Tag arrays can operate year round under most flow conditions. They allow biologists track PIT tagged fish during times when other methods are not practical or safe.
The goal of the Potlatch River monitoring program is to determine the benefits of habitat restoration to the wild steelhead population. PIT Tag arrays are one of the most important tools biologists use. They provide information on how many adult steelhead return each year to spawn in Potlatch River tributaries. They also allow biologists to track the survival of juvenile steelhead in the Potlatch River and throughout their journey to the Pacific Ocean.
Habitat restoration efforts in the Potlatch are focused on improving the growth and survival of juvenile steelhead. Ultimately, these improvements will result in more and healthier juvenile steelhead leaving the Potlatch heading for the ocean .
For more information on PIT Tag arrays in Idaho click on these articles below.
https://idfg.idaho.gov/blog/2019/10/new-fish-detection-system-installed-marsh-creek
https://idfg.idaho.gov/blog/2019/11/monitoring-entire-journey-wild-chinook-salmon