Best Fish Habitats

Step Wise Guide

Aquatic/Riparian Habitats

· Where are the best fish habitats located for different species (anadromous/resident)?

Fish habitat distribution and quality are highly variable across watersheds depending on locations of different channel gradients, flow, and channel confinement. Other important factors include channel size (width), substrate, log jams and tributary confluences.

Step 1: Habitats have already been mapped for three anadromous species (coho salmon, Chinook salmon, steelhead)

Go to NetMap Basic Tools > Maps > Aquatic Habitats > In drop down list, find coho, Chinook and steelhead. Values range from 0 to 1, poor to high quality habitat.

Step 2: To create the habitat values yourself, or to modify the habitat model (preference curves), Go To NetMap Aquatic Habitat Tools > Create Aquatic Habitats. Select either “Anadromous (Intrinsic Potential), Cutthroat trout (Bayesian) or Bull Trout (empirical). Follow Tech Help to create new habitat indices or to modify existing published models.

Step 3: To locate the top 10% (5%, 1% etc.) of fish habitat of a particular species in your watershed, Go To Basic Tool Module > Risk Analysis > Stream Segment Overlap. Select, for example, coho habitat for “display” and “choose constraining factors” coho habitat.