Statement of Work and Budget FY2005

BPA Project Number:  2003-013-00
BPA Project Title: Grays River Watershed and Biological Assessment
Contract Number:  0016458
Contract Title:  Grays River Watershed Assessment
Performance/Budget Period: January 1 - December 31, 2005

Contracting Contact: Ken Johnson / Nancy Walters
Contracting Contact Title: Program Coordinator / Contract Administrator
PSMFC
205 SE Spokane Street, Suite 100
Portland, OR  97202-6413
(503) 595-3100 / (503) 595-3232
ken.johnson@psmfc.org
nancy_walters@psmfc.org

Financial Contact: Pam Kahut
Financial Contact Title: Fiscal Manager
PSMFC
205 SE Spokane Street, Suite 100
Portland, OR  97202-6413
(503) 595-3100 / (503) 595-3232
pam_kahut@psmfc.org

Technical Contact: Todd Hillson/Dan Rawding
Technical Contact Title: Fish Biologist
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
2018 Grand Blvd.
Vancouver, WA 98661
(360) 906-6730 / 906-6747
hillsth@dfw.wa.gov
rawdidr@dfw.wa.gov

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) are cooperating with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to enhance and restore the ecological integrity and ecosystem function of the Grays River watershed.  The primary role for WDFW and PSMFC are defined in the sentences below and by work elements included.  

Define critical habitat features within chum salmon and fall chinook salmon spawning areas in the Grays River (WDFW and PNNL).

Survey and map chum salmon spawning sites in the Grays River subbasin (WDFW).

The purpose is to locate and map chum and chinook salmon spawning sites in the Grays River subbasin.  The initial study design called for surveyors to individually identify each redd and GPS all individual redd locations or active spawning sites.  The GPS location for redds will be downloaded onto a GIS map.  Redd mapping is proposed to be conducted annually through out this project to determine if spawning distribution changes over time or flows.  In addition, the following tasks will use this information to identify current areas of spawning and non-use and habitat parameters associated with each.

The individual redd mapping of chinook salmon is likely to meet accuracy requirements for watershed models.  However, redd mapping has proved not to be as accurate as researchers require for chum salmon and modifications have occurred to meet the intent of the study design.  A chum salmon redd may be visible for less than one week to more than three weeks depending on environmental conditions and without individually marking each redd surveyors may count previous counted redds or may not count redds because mass spawning makes it is difficult to identify individual redds.  In addition, surveyors found it difficult to GPS exact redds locations because they could not reach redds locations without possibly stepping on previously constructed redds. Therefore, WDFW has proposed an alternative method for estimating chum salmon abundance and distribution based on 2004 field surveys.
The extent of spawning distribution on the Grays River will be divided  into ~50 meter reaches uniquely identified by surveyors flagging.  The beginning and end of each reach will be surveyed and their location recorded with a GPS unit.  Crews mark an end point on each stream where they could get an accurate GPS point, then used the chain method (a pre-cut 50m length of rope) to mark off each 50m segment from that point.  That way, if there is a problem with GPS accuracy on any of the 50m segments, it doesn't matter, because we can insert the accurate endpoints into GIS and measure off 50m increments in GIS.  Survey data forms will be developed to record field data.
Field notes will be kept to describe redd distribution in areas where they weren't evenly distributed within the 50m segments.  For example, in areas where the channel was complex (e.g., braided and they didn't spawn in all of the channels) or where one part of the 50m area was heavily favored over another part (e.g., all the redds occurred on a particular geomorphic feature within the area). The field notes are important because in many areas it may be difficult to obtain GPS coverage.  For chinook salmon the number of live fish, carcasses, and the number of redds will be recorded for each reach.  For chinook salmon, the cumulative number of redds per reach will provide and accurate estimate of adult spawning abundance and distribution.
Since there is uncertainty in the redd counts for chum salmon, the number of live chum salmon will be recorded by reach for each survey.  Surveys conducted over the entire spawning season yield the Area-Under-the-Curve (or the number of fish days) per reach.  The AUC divided by the average residence time will yield an estimate of spawners per reach.  Since spawning sites are determined by females, the ratio of males to females from bio sampling will be used to estimate the number of females per reach. To estimate apparent residence time, bio-sampled fish will be carcass tagged with individual numbers.  Population estimates will be determined using the Jolly-Seber model by major spawning group (WF Grays, Crazy Johnson, and mainstem Grays).  Capture-recapture assumptions regarding tag loss, survival, catchability, and closure will be assessed.  Jolly-Seber model will be used to estimate capture, survival, and probability of entry.  These will be used to estimate abundance, births, and gross births (salmon escapement).  Kologromov-Smirnov, chi-square tests, and goodness of fit tests along with double marking will be used to assess the capture-recapture assumptions.  Akiake Information Criteria (AIC) will be used to selection the best model.