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Resident Fish Populations
 
 
Text on this page is from Battle Creek Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Plan (Kier Associates, 1998)

At least ten species of fish reside in Battle Creek (Coots and Healey 1966; TRPA 1998e; CDFG 1978, 1987). These fish either spend the duration of their lives within Battle Creek or move from Battle Creek into tributaries or the Sacramento River. Of the ten "resident" fish, six are native to the Sacramento Basin including: rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Sacramento squawfish (Ptychocheilus grandis), Sacramento sucker (Catostomus occidentalis), California roach (Hesperoleucus symmetricus), riffle sculpin (Cottus gulosus), speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus), and tule perch (Hysterocarpus traski). Four other species that have been observed within Battle Creek, including brown trout (Salmo trutta), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) and golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas), are species that were not historically present within the Sacramento Basin.

The general distribution of resident fish within Battle Creek conforms to patterns of distribution typical of Central Valley fish assemblages (Moyle and Cech 1988). For example, rainbow and brown trout have been documented in both forks of Battle Creek upstream of the barriers which stops anadromous fish migration (CDFG 1968; Tehama County 1983) and both species have been stocked in these reaches upstream of anadromous fish habitat since at least 1940 (CDFG fish stocking records for Battle Creek). The native riffle sculpin and speckled dace also inhabit the upper portion of the Battle Creek watershed (Susan Chapelle, Forest Fisheries Biologist, Lassen National Forest, Susanville, Ca., pers. comm.). Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were also stocked in the upper South Fork but these stockings did not create viable populations (Tehama County 1983). Populations of other fish species introduced to the non-anadromous portion of the Battle Creek watershed, including Sacramento squawfish, California roach and golden shiner, have also been established within the hydropower reservoirs on the North Fork (CDFG 1978).

Rainbow trout, brown trout, and riffle sculpin were the only fish species found within the uppermost reaches of both forks of Battle Creek in a 1989 study of fish distribution within the portions of the watershed accessible to anadromous fish. However, this study did not distinguish between steelhead and rainbow trout (two different forms of the same species), and so it is not clear how many rainbow trout observed by TRPA (1998e) were resident and how many were anadromous.

As predicted by Moyle and Cech (1988), lower elevation reaches of Battle Creek contained chinook salmon, Sacramento squawfish, Sacramento sucker, California roach, riffle sculpin, speckled dace, tule perch, and the non-native smallmouth bass in 1989 (TRPA 1998e). These lower elevation species were confined to reaches downstream from Inskip and Eagle Canyon dams, in an area where rainbow trout densities were substantially lower than in the upstream reaches.

Details of the life history of the resident fish species inhabiting Battle Creek can be found in Moyle (1976a). Although relatively little attention has been given to fish species resident to Battle Creek, with the possible exception of the prized game fish, rainbow and brown trout, it is likely that resident fish species have suffered as the result of disrupted ecosystem processes within Battle Creek (Bay Institute 1998) including reductions of instream flow (USBR 1998a), changes in gravel transport, changes in temperature regimes, entrainment of fish and macroinvertebrate prey items into the hydroelectric canal system, introduced species (Moyle 1976b), and disruptions to fish passage caused by dams. Though this plan is dedicated to the restoration of salmon and steelhead, it is intended that actions taken to restore the ecosystems on which salmon and steelhead depend will address ecosystem processes that, when restored, will function to the benefit of all native fish species in Battle Creek.

Ward, M. B. and W.M. Kier, 1999. Battle Creek salmon and steelhead restoration plan. Prepared for the Battle Creek Working Group by Kier Associates. Sausalito, CA . 157 pp. [1.4 Mb]