I normally wouldn't put this in a post, but because Kingjamm posted a link to the UW Highseas Research Program I suggest taking a look at the key links, Current Research Topics, and A Day in the Life of - - - - - . My wife, and fishing partner, has been part of the program since 1980. The focus of the program has always been towards Alaska salmon but in the many cruises over the years she has taken every opportunity to learn about steelhead ocean ecology. This year Sea Grant awarded funding for possibly the first ever directed high seas steelhead research. Because of budget problems only enough money has been provided up to this point to get a person on board the cooperating Japanese research vessel. The ocean is not the "black box" that is so often blamed when fish runs don't go as predicted. There is information that can be valuable to formulating recovery plans.

The POST acoustic array project is good for tracking steelhead smolts in Puget Sound but is not effective in the ocean because steelhead seem to move directly offshore rather than along the coast. The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and other international cooperative research can provide significant information about steelhead ocean ecology, in particular the effects of climate change and ocean acidification. The Alaska Region of NOAA Fisheries eliminated funding to the UW for high seas research and participation in NPAFC. WDFW and the Washington NPAFC commissioner have recognized that the NPAFC provides a forum to learn about steelhead in the ocean. My wife attended the last years annual meeting as a volunteer representing Washington in the USA delegation with the goal of discussing steelhead research. As a result of the ESA listing of Puget Sound steelhead I think it would be reasonable to ask our representatives in Washington DC to push for funding for highseas steelhead research.