Cautious optimism for fish in the Eel

January 3, 2022 — It’s a busy time of year for fish in the Eel, with steelhead running, chinook hatching, and coho bouncing back, according to Pat Higgins, director of the Eel River Recovery Project. Ocean conditions have started to improve since the warm water blob of 2015 upended the near-shore ecosystem. That’s a big help for anadromous fish that travel between freshwater and salt throughout their life cycles. Higgins says that, while the numbers are nowhere as plentiful as they were ten years ago, it is the best run in five years.