Skeena Steelhead is a story of one of the world’s premiere freshwater game fish. You won’t find tales of heroic struggles with world-record summer steelhead. Instead you’ll see the events that have conspired to imperil an internationally renowned treasure.

The story begins with the Skeena steelhead biology and life history. First Nations fisheries are studied. Commercial fisheries that began 135 years ago are described in detail, showing their cumulative impact on homeward-bound Skeena steelhead. This tragic story could only be told by someone firmly entrenched in the river’s fisheries management community. Before his retirement, Bob Hooton was in charge of steelhead management on the Skeena and continues to be an inspirational defender of the Skeena’s steelhead.

The situation is not hopeless, the Skeena’s remarkable steelhead runs can be restored. In Skeena Steelhead Bob Hooton shows us how we can and, more importantly, why we must.

Robert S. Hooton was born and raised in the Vancouver area and spent all his school years there, including attending Simon Fraser University as a charter student. Entry into a career in fisheries came just a year after he graduated, and his career path took him from the East Kootenays to Victoria, then Nanaimo and on to Smithers before returning to Nanaimo. Steelhead and steelhead management dominated his professional and leisure pursuits. After 37 years of public service, Bob retired and eventually authored his first book, Skeena Steelhead: Unknown Past, Uncertain Future (Frank Amato Publications, 2012). Bob and his wife, Lori, live in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

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