The Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) Resident Fish RM&E project is a Columbia River Fish Accord project that began in 2008. The primary goal for the Resident Fish RM&E Project is to conserve, enhance and restore native fish populations in the blocked area above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams, and to provide opportunities for subsistence harvest by the Colville Tribal members and recreational anglers when appropriate. The current work of the RM&E project will focus on the protection and conservation of redband trout populations found in the Sanpoil River drainage, a tributary to Lake Roosevelt.

Effective fisheries management of redband trout requires an understanding of population structure, complex historical management activities, geography, and life history strategies (Small et al. 1998; McCusker et al. 2000; Spidle et al. 2003; Spruell et al. 2003; Small et al. 2007).

The primary objectives during 2012-13 of the RM&E Project are:
1) Finalize a three year study that focused on studying the spawning, overwintering movements, and habitats use of rainbow trout in the Sanpoil River (sub-contract with Battelle).
2) Begin a stock assessment study of Sanpoil River redband trout that will monitor trends in abundance and survival over time.

The data will be used by fisheries managers to address limiting factors for redband trout production. The project design has also been developed to address RM&E needs by the CCT Lake Roosevelt Habitat Improvement Project (1990-018-00) (LRHIP) related to status and trend monitoring (recommended by ISRP).

Data currently being gathered on redband adult life histories within the Sanpoil basin have identified three primary life history strategies (fluvial, fluvial-adfluvial and lacustrine-adfluvial) (Northcote 1997). The lacustrine-adfluvial population (migrates from Lake Roosevelt into the Sanpoil River) has been found to contain three "components" which include a spring, summer, and fall run, with the spring run being the most robust. The complex life-history and migratory cycles has made this population difficult to understand and study.  

Objective 1. Spawning, overwintering movements and habitat use.

The 2012-13 funding cycle is the final year of a three year study to identify life histories strategies of rainbow trout within the Sanpoil Subbasin, identify spawning locations, and determine overwinter movements and habitat use.
During 2012-13 tasks include:
(1) Identify all life histories of rainbow trout within the Sanpoil Subbasin.
(2) Examine timing and location of spawning for all life histories of adult rainbow trout within the Sanpoil subbasin
(3) Identify overwintering locations of rainbow trout
(4) Analyze data related to the timing and location of spawning for all life histories of rainbow trout within the Sanpoil subbasin
(5) Analyze data related to overwintering locations of rainbow trout and warm groundwater areas within the Sanpoil Subbasin.
(6) Prepare and submit a final report


Objective 2.  Redband trout stock assessment

In 2010 the Colville Tribe began working with regional co-managers to develop a comprehensive plan to monitor redband trout populations in the blocked area. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (Lee and McLellan 2010) developed a guide that would assist the co-managers when developing redband stock assessment projects. It was envisioned this document would be used by the co-managers thereby ensuring data collected by multiple entities would be compatible and comparable. The RM&E Project plans to implement four primary tasks which include monitoring abundance, monitoring recruitment, monitoring harvest, and monitoring escapement over the next five years. The development of a multi-year data set will enable managers to monitor trends over time and address potential limiting factors.
(1) Monitoring Abundance (2014-2017): The RM&E Project will begin abundance monitoring in 2014, the next funding cycle. The CCT’s LRHIP will conduct a baseline inventory of redband trout abundance in the Sanpoil River and primary tributaries during the summer of 2013. This inventory will assist the LRHIP with prioritizing restoration projects, and provide the first data point for the RM&E project to monitor trends over time.
(2) Monitor Recruitment (2013-2017): Juvenile recruitment, for both fluvial and adfluvial populations will be assessed through a series of PIT tag arrays setup at key locations. During the current project year (2012-13) the first PIT tag array will be placed on the mainstem Sanpoil at the weir site, located near the reservoir/ river interface.  During subsequent years (2013-14), 8 additional PIT tag array systems will be set up at key tributaries to monitor fluvial and fluvial adfluvial recruitment trends.  A screw trap and the mainstem PIT tag array will be used to estimate recruitment to the reservoir.
(3) Monitor Harvest (2013-2017): The RM&E project will use two creel surveys to monitor harvest of redband trout. During the current project year (2012-13), the Project will coordinate with the Lake Roosevelt Fisheries Evaluation Project (1994-043-00) to obtain creel information on wild rainbow trout harvested in the lower sections of Lake Roosevelt. Creel clerks currently scan all wild rainbow trout for PIT tags. The project will estimate harvest impacts from these data.
In subsequent years beginning in 2014, the Project will utilize a roving 7 month creel survey (May – Nov) to estimate harvest impacts on the Reservation.
(4) Monitor Escapement (2013-2017): The Project will monitor lacustrine adfluvial escapement into the Sanpoil River from a weir trap installed near the mouth of the river. The project will operate the weir for two full years beginning in 2013 to quantify escapement for each of the three sub-timing groups (spring, summer and fall). These data will be used to adjust weir trap timing during subsequent years. The mainstem PIT tag arrays will also be used to track movements of spawning fish within the system.  

The development of a standardized stock assessment project will enable biologists to estimate the current status of the redband stock relative to management targets. These estimates will then be used to suggest management activities to improve abundance of redband trout.