Project GOAL

The Manchester Spring Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Project's primary goal is to provide a marine reared safety net population that can be used to sustain ESA-listed stocks of spring/summer Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in years when no fish return from the sea.  The Project's secondary goal is to provide maturing fish to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), the Nez Perce Tribe (NPT), and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT) for use in their collaborative supplementation efforts to rebuild these ESA-listed populations in the Snake River Basin.  The specific project goal for FY 2006 is produce up to 400 maturing adults each for use in the Grande Ronde and Salmon River recovey efforts

BACKGROUND

In spring 1995, IDFG and the ODFW initiated captive broodstocks as part of their conservation efforts for ESA-listed stocks of Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon.  Oregon's Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon captive broodstock program currently focuses on three stocks captured as juveniles from the Grande Ronde River Basin.  Idaho's Snake River program includes two stocks captured as eyed eggs from the Salmon River Basin.  IDFG and ODFW requested that a portion of each group be reared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) in protective culture in seawater.  In August 1996, NOAA Fisheries began a Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funded project (Project 199606700) to rear Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon captive broodstocks in seawater at the Manchester Research Station.  State and Federal involvement in these programs is coordinated through the BPA chaired Chinook Salmon Captive Propagation Technical Oversight Committee (CSCPTOC).

The use of captive broodstock fish to restore anadromous runs of Snake River Chinook salmon is an action required to reach objectives of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) Mountain Snake and Blue Mountain province planning documents, the artificial propagation summary for the Mainstem/Systemwide Province, and the 2000 NPCC Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.  In addition, safety net captive broodstocks are among the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA 175, 176, 177) actions called for in the 2000 NOAA Fisheries Biological Opinion, and are an ESA mandated item in the NOAA Fisheries Recovery Plan for Snake River Salmon (Schmitten et al. 1995, 4.1a and 4.1b).  The Oregon (Project 199604400) and Idaho (Project 199700100) components of these cooperative captive broodstock projects were recently reauthorized through the Blue Mountain and the Mountain Snake Provincial review processes.  The NOAA Fisheries component (Project 199606700) was reauthorized by the NPCC in July 2003 under the Mainstem/Systemwide Provincial review process.  Continuation of the marine rearing component at Manchester is vital to the overall success of these cooperative projects.

Between 1996 and 2005, NOAA Fisheries has provided seawater captive-rearing for more than 30 groups of Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon sent to Manchester as smolts from Idaho and Oregon.  Maturity of these fish in captivity between fall 1996 and 2005 has resulted in more than 4,401 prespawning adults provided to IDFG and ODFW.

EXPECTED RESULTS

It is expected that the continued marine rearing of Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon at Manchester will continue to provide a safety net for these ESA listed stocks while habitat improvements are underway.  The continued operation of geographically separate captive brood populations at Manchester, Washington; Bonneville, Oregon; and Eagle, Idaho will continue to reduce the risk of catastrophic loss of these gene pools from mechanical failure, human error, or disease.  In FY 2006 the Manchester Spring Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Project expects of produce up to 400 Grande Ronde spring/summer Chinook salmon adults for use in Oregon' restoration actions.  The project also anticipates providing up to 400 Salmon River spring/summer Chinook salmon to Idaho in FY 2006 for use in their restoration efforts.