Coaster Brook Trout

In the summer of 2009, the Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP) celebrated a decade of implementing on-the-ground habitat restoration projects in the Salmon Trout River watershed and released state monitoring data has documented a dramatic increase in the threatened Coaster Brook Trout population.

The Salmon Trout River is located in the Huron Mountains of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and has become well known in recent years due to a proposed nickel mine near its headwaters. But the Salmon Trout is also known for being the last river on the south shore of Lake Superior with a naturally-reproducing population of Coaster Brook Trout.

The SWP has completed over twenty large-scale, watershed improvement projects in the Salmon Trout. These projects prevent hundreds of tons of sediment from entering the river annually and smothering important fish habitat. All totaled over the last ten years the SWP, with local, state, federal and tribal support, has implemented nearly $1 million in protection and restoration projects just in the Salmon Trout watershed alone. The SWP works in Upper Peninsula watersheds draining to Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior.

After a long period of decline, monitoring by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and Michigan Technological University (MTU) has documented a steady increase in the number of large Coaster Brook Trout in the Salmon Trout River. While Coaster Brook Trout populations in the Salmon Trout River remain relatively small, monitoring data indicates a 70% increase in the number of adult fish since 2002.

The SWP continues to implement projects that have been prioritized in the Salmon Trout Watershed Management Plan. The plan was developed by the SWP and approved by the EPA and Michigan DEQ. SWP Watershed Planner, Geraldine Larson, credits the plan for providing an effective, science-based approach to Great Lakes habitat restoration; “The plan provides a snapshot of existing and potential impacts to the watershed and helps us prioritize projects and get the best ecological benefit with the funding we receive.”

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The SWP and coaster brook trout success was featured in the 2010 State Of the Lakes Ecosystem Report (page 34). 

Watershed restoration projects that have been installed by the SWP include;

• erosion control
• clear-span bridges
• bottomless arch culverts
• sediment traps
• storm water controls
• native plant restoration
• stream bank stabilization.

For more information contact Geri Grant, the SWP Senior Watershed Planner at 228-6095.