What if the key to saving wild steelhead isn’t just about spawning adults, but tiny fry that barely move an inch their first summer? In this episode of The Adipose, we explore research by Nick Chambers, funded in part by the Wild Steelhead Coalition, that reveals how density and dispersal during the fry stage may determine whether a population thrives or collapses. Focused on the Upper Skagit River, this work shows how clustered redds can lead to overcrowding and death rather than dispersal, limiting recruitment and potentially causing managers to underestimate habitat capacity and escapement needs. It’s a story with massive implications not just for the Skagit, but for steelhead rivers everywhere.

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