California Department of Fish and Wildlife crews work to rescue and relocate endangered steelhead trout put at further risk after the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County. The trout are now in Arroyo Hondo Creek on the Gaviota Coast.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife crews work to rescue and relocate endangered steelhead trout put at further risk after the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County. The trout are now in Arroyo Hondo Creek on the Gaviota Coast. Credit: Courtesy photo

After more than 200 Southern California steelhead trout were rescued from getting washed out by mudslides, dozens of new trout have spawned in their new home at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve. 

In January, California Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel spent a day rescuing the trout, a nearly extinct population, just before mudslides washed large amounts of ash and sediment into Topanga Creek after the devastating Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County.

In February, the steelhead were relocated to Arroyo Hondo Creek in the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, which is managed by the Santa Barbara County Land Trust.

On April 7, Land Trust Land Programs Director Leslie Chan noticed possible spawning activity, and CDFW confirmed the presence of approximately 100 newly hatched trout, known as Young of the Year trout.  

“It gives me a lot of hope,” said Kyle Evans, CDFW environmental program manager, who led the trout relocation.

“It tells me that they’re doing pretty well if they’re able to adjust to their new home, and they’re able to spawn. Then that really tells me that this population can hopefully continue to be self-sustaining and it can keep growing.”

Evans said the hope is that the population can continue to thrive in Arroyo Hondo and in a few years, once Topanga Creek has recovered in the Santa Monica Mountains, some of the trout can return home. 

Topanga Creek will take years to recover before it can support the steelhead again. Right now, Evans said, the creek is filled with sand and gravel, with no signs of fish or their food sources.

A Southern California steelhead trout is seen in its new home in Arroyo Hondo Creek at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve.
A Southern California steelhead trout is seen in its new home in Arroyo Hondo Creek at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve. Credit: Alex Vejar / California Department of Fish and Wildlife photo

Meredith Hendricks, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Land Trust, said it’s exciting to have the fish thrive, especially after Arroyo Hondo Creek was washed out from a debris flow following the 2021 Alisal Fire, which killed the fish in the creek.

“It would be a thrill under any circumstance, but given that this was an emergency plan put in place following an emergency, our hope was just that we didn’t have something catastrophic happen,” Hendricks said.

“To go from worst-case scenario — what if they don’t live at all? what if they die immediately? — we’ve gone from that to they not only live, to they had a substantial number of offspring. It’s such a thrill.”

The steelhead have been under the Endangered Species Act since 1997. Before the relocation, Topanga Creek had the biggest population of steelhead trout that far south.

If it weren’t for the rescue operation, the loss of trout would have been devastating for the overall population. 

“What this means is that we didn’t have a collapse in the species of southern steelhead,” Hendricks said. “We were able to, at least so far, maintain them, and now work on growing their numbers. It was a chance at species survival, really.”

Anyone interested in visiting the trout can go to the Arroyo Hondo Preserve for free the first and third weekend of every month. Just don’t try to catch the fish or throw rocks into the creek.

— Noozhawk staff writer Rebecca Caraway can be reached at rcaraway@noozhawk.com.