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Scientists collect samples on the Utkholok river

Scientists collect samples on the Utkholok river

Programs

Utkholok, Kvachina & Snatolvayam RiversProtected & Priority Areas

The Utkholok and Kvachina watersheds in the western Koryak Autonomous Okrug are some of the most productive and best-protected steelhead (O. mykiss) rivers on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The river basins, totaling 736,000 acres, drain the rich lowland tundra ecosystems of the western Kamchatka Peninsula, meeting at Cape Utkholok before draining to the Sea of Okhotsk. The Utkholok and Kvachina meander in complex channels through low floodplain forests of cottonwoods and willows. Both rivers contain exceptionally large steelhead, sometimes weighing as much as 30 pounds (18 kg). The Wild Salmon Center is working with Russian scientists, government officials and local communities to establish a salmon protected area capturing these two watersheds.

Creation of a protected area encompassing the Utkholok, Kvachina and neighboring Snatolvayam watershed is part of an ongoing program involving WSC, UNDP, and Wild Fishes & Biodiversity Foundation. We hope to achieve protected area status for the area in 2009.

The Wild Salmon Center has constructed a semi-permanent scientific and monitoring station for year-round data collection and research on the Utkholok, and scientists from Flathead Lake Biological Station (Montana) and Moscow State University use these facilities to study:

  • The unique life history specialization of the anadromous steelhead of western Kamchatka Peninsula, based on genetic and osteological characteristics
  • Structure and dynamics of Kamchatka steelhead populations, especially in terms of sex and age breakdowns

In 2005, the Utkholok biostation hosted scientists and graduate students from Moscow State University and Flathead Lake, KamchatNIRO fish disease experts, and Sevvostrybvod fisheries inspectors and field technicians.