Project Goals
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Kintama Research is endeavoring to build an ocean tracking array & establish the relevance of such a tool for addressing important resource management issues.  In particular, an important goal is to develop an ability to allow the assessment of early marine survival and ocean movements for Columbia River salmon stocks.  In 2004, Dr Carl Schreck tagged a total of 900 Chinook salmon smolts at Bonneville Dam as part of a project that seeks to follow the movements of transported fish from their release the dam to the river mouth.  In 2005, Kintama Research tagged 200 Snake R smolts that were barged to below Bonneville Dam and released.  

Dr Schreck's results indicate survival of acoustically tagged smolts to the river mouth have been very high, raising questions about why Columbia River Chinook have very low smolt-to-adult survival rates, and whether the differential (or delayed) mortality issues for various Columbia River Chinook stocks are really attributable to the operation of the hydrosystem.  An alternative hypothesis is that differences in smolt-to-adult returns (SARS, or more simply, marine survival) might be more simply explained by differences in the marine life history of different salmon stocks.  This project seeks to provide objective baseline information as to whether Columbia River Chinook salmon smolts can be tracked in the sea, and the first information on their initial rates of marine mortality during the initial phase of the marine life cycle.  Successful demonstration of the application of the array to Columbia River salmon recovery issues would address a number of key RPAs which existing approaches cannot adequately address.  Given the record salmon returns to the Columbia River since the ocean climate changes of 1999, a critical issue for successful salmon management is to distinguish the true effects on salmon returns caused by the operation of the hydrosystem from those due to ocean climate change.