AGNEW — The spring sun turns every ripple into an explosion of twinkling lights as Dick Goin stands in the middle of Siebert Creek looking for redds — nests where steelhead have spawned.
He points his walking stick at an area of rock and gravel lighter in color than the normal reddish-brown of the stream and proclaims it is a nest where a female steelhead deposited its eggs.
Goin, a fisherman, and Cathy Lear, a fisheries biologist involved with the county’s salmon recovery efforts, are looking for nests in preparation for a seminar next Friday and Saturday that will teach others how to help monitor streams.
They are also counting the redds to project the number of steelhead that will return to the stream during future spawning cycles.
The count, Goin says, assists in determining allocations for tribal and non-tribal anglers.
Goin has spent most of his life standing in or near the North Olympic Peninsula’s streams and rivers, initially as a fisherman before becoming more involved in efforts to preserve fisheries resources.
“I’ve got grandchildren and you hope what you do tips the balance,” Goin said, noting he wants future generations to have the opportunity to experience fisheries.
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