In Phase I of the Evaluation of Live-Capture Gear Study (May 1, 2007 - June 1, 2008), rankings for twelve gear types were evaluated. The highest ranked gears included beach seine, fishwheel, weir, gill net and volunteer channel. Gill nets are an effective method of fishing, but their use as live-capture selective fishing gear in ESA listed waters are highly uncertain, and were excluded from further consideration. Volunteer channels will be investigated as part of the Chief Joseph Hatchery complex, and are not considered further for this study. Moderately ranked gears included hoop net, tangle net, purse seine, and dip net. These gears received the highest ranks because their individual criteria were rated as having the strongest potential to meet optimal conditions for catching fish and allowing non-target species to be released with the highest potential survivorship. In addition, their relative costs of setting up, operating, and conducting monitoring and evaluation studies were rated the highest. In contrast, the remaining gear types received lower rankings because they tended not to achieve optimal conditions for the evaluation criteria.

The high and moderate gear types were then tested and evaluated during the summer and fall of 2008, at sites where they could be effectively operated, and where additional information collected during the assessment (e.g., public input, on-site operational assessments, literature) supported or detracted from their potential use. The complete assessment resulted in the following gears being recommended for actual testing in Phase II of the program:

1. Beach seine. This method has proven to be an effective method for live capture, selective harvest for broodstock in the local area. The relatively high catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), low by-catch, site suitability, and ease of operation appear to fit the needs of the Colville Tribe.
2. Weir. This method shows good potential as a method for live capture, selective harvest in the Okanogan near Chiliwist Creek (see Nass et al. 2006). Weirs are a common tool used in fisheries research, broodstock collection, and subsistence harvest. The ability to effectively capture live fish and release non-target fish with high post-release survival is certain. Design, engineering, feasibility and environmental compliance are being be evaluated in Year 1 and 2 of Phase II (2008 and 2009), with possible deployment by Year 3 (2010).
3. Fishwheel. This method shows good potential as a method for live capture, selective harvest in the Okanogan River (see Smith and Nass 2005). Although more detailed site and water quality evaluations must be done to ensure that appropriate conditions are available, successful establishment of a fishwheel could lead to effective and continuous passive live capture, selective harvest for the Colville Tribes, much like the sovereign Tribes in British Columbia have done. Due to high water clarity in the Okanogan and Columbia rivers, gear avoidance is expected to lessen the feasibility of successful fish wheel operations.

Next priority gears include purse seine, hoop net, tangle net, and dip net.

4. Purse seine. A commercial sized vessel outfitted with the appropriate seine, brailing system, and holding tanks could be a suitable method for use in the main-stem Columbia between Brewster and Chief Joseph Dam. This method could potentially capitalize upon fish schooling in the vicinity of the Okanogan River that are staging for ascent to the spawning grounds. Selective fishing using a purse seine operation has been tested by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and is gaining increased attention as an effective sorting process in weak stock fisheries. A lower Columbia River commercial fishing company (Kuller Fish Company) was contracted in 2008 and they outfitted a trailer-able gillnet vessel with a stern operated purse seine which was tested for 8 days in the Wells Pool (Lake Pateros) near the Okanogan River confluence. This gear met with high success, both in high CPUE of target species (Summer/Fall Chinook and sockeye salmon) and very high immediate release survival of non-target species (Natural-Origin Summer/Fall Chinook). This gear will be used again in 2009, with operations expanded to include live-capture and release of ESA listed Spring Chinook and Steelhead (early Summer and late Fall).
5. Hoop/Tangle/Dip net (including deployment off of riverside platforms). Tangle nets can be used effectively in both the mainstem Columbia River and in the Okanogan River. They need constant attention in order to “hot pick” them, and their CPUE might be relatively low. Evaluation in 2008 resulted in fairly high CPUE when fished where fish are concentrated, but the immediate release mortality was 20%, much higher than the less than 1% mortality experienced in the beach seine and purse seine operations. Hoop nets and dip nets are presently used in the lower Columbia and tributaries in sustenance fisheries. They have the positive aspect of being used by individual fishermen in fish staging areas in proximity to a dam (e.g., In-Lieu/Fishing Access Sites used in Zone 6). Therefore, they need to be evaluated for use near Chief Joseph Dam. Other locations in the Okanogan River where fish are concentrated into narrow passage areas may also be suitable (e.g., Chiliwist Creek, McAllister and Janas rapids, McLaughlin Falls, below Enloe Dam). Land ownership, access and potential for scaffold construction will continue to be evaluated and these gears will be implemented where feasible.

Results for 2008 live-capture gear fishing effort are:

Tangle Nets - 40 sets, 4 HOR Steelhead (1 released), 452 Sockeye (all kept), 304 Summer/Fall Chinook, 178 HOR (all kept), 126 NOR (25 kept), 80% immediate release survival.
Purse Seine -  40 sets, 0 Steelhead, 544 Sockeye (all kept), 314 Summer/Fall Chinook, 202 HOR (all kept), 112 NOR (0 kept), 100% immediate release survival.
Beach Seine - 30 sets, 1 NOR and 1 HOR Steelhead (both released), 28 Sockeye (all kept), 184 Summer/Fall Chinook, 99 HOR (all kept), 85 NOR (1 kept), 99% immediate release survival.
Total - 5 HOR Steelhead (2 released), 1 NOR Steelhead (released), 1,024 Sockeye (all kept), 802 Summer/Fall Chinook, 479 HOR Summer/Fall Chinook (all kept), 323 NOR Summer/Fall Chinook (26 kept), 92% immediate release survival of Summer/Fall Chinook.

The Colville Confederated Tribes are employing the following five principles in developing live-capture selective fishing strategies in the Upper Columbia River:

1) Selective harvest to protect species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA): Upper Columbia River Spring Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) intend to use selective harvest methods to protect salmon stocks listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) (i.e. Upper Columbia River Spring Chinook and Upper Columbia River steelhead), while providing harvest of un-listed species (Upper Columbia River Summer Chinook, Fall Chinook, and Sockeye) for tribal utilization. The harvest of abundant stocks, while at the same time catching and successfully releasing live listed species by using live-capture harvest gears and revival technologies, will continue to be tested and refined during this test phase (2008-2010). The evaluation (test) phase will include analysis of efficiency of capture techniques, evaluation of fish release condition, and education of tribal fishermen in selective harvest technologies. Specifically, the CCT plan to test large fishing gears (purse seine, beach seine and weir) in addition to smaller more individual-use gears (tangle nets, dip nets and hoop nets) in order to determine the efficacy of harvest and live-release gears.  Catch-per-unit effort will be analyzed in order to determine the methods with the highest catch rates of un-listed species; while at the same time determining the release condition of listed species. Associated with these live-capture gears will be the use of revival (recovery) devices (boxes with circulating water) and potentially, tagging of released fish for post-release “recapture” in spawning ground surveys, creel surveys, and subsequent re-capture in the gears themselves to further investigate post-release fish condition.  The problem with using mark-recapture is the confounding impacts of tagging and releasing fish, resulting in uncertainty about whether the live-capture gear and catching technique results in mortality, or the tagging operation. A public education and training program aimed at instructing tribal members on live-capture techniques (fish handling, determination of which fish to release, and assistance in tag recoveries) will be conducted. Volunteer channels as a live-capture harvest method will also be evaluated, once the proposed Chief Joseph Dam Salmon Hatchery Project is built (i.e., fish ladder and holding trap).

2) Selective harvest to protect natural-origin recruits (NOR) – to prevent future listings: Upper Columbia River summer Chinook and fall Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Upper Columbia River Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). These selective harvest live-capture gear strategies and evaluations will also be applied to other species that are not listed under the federal ESA (Upper Columbia River summer and fall Chinook, and sockeye salmon). The Tribes wish to protect naturally-producing fish of these un-listed stocks for broodstock needs and natural productivity, increasing pNOB (proportion of natural-origin fish in the broodstock) in addition to preventing future listings under the federal ESA.

3) Modern with traditional. Preserving and restoring the tribal salmon fishery resource is on equal footing with preserving and restoring tribal culture. Salmon fishing is a fundamental aspect of Colville tribal culture, but has been significantly diminished, primarily due to the construction and operation of large hydroelectric dams that have eliminated salmon from the vast majority of the Tribes traditional fishing areas. With the massive reduction of salmon, and hence salmon fishing, a significant part of the Tribal culture has been hindered. The Tribes are resolute to preserve and re-establish this significant and central aspect of their historical culture. The Tribes intend to use traditional techniques, fused with modern applications, in order to protect and re-build the salmon resource and a significant part of the Tribal culture. Most of the traditional salmon fishing techniques and gears the CCT have used since time immemorial are well suited for selective harvest.  The CCT have used live capture techniques for thousands of years – primarily fish baskets, dip nets and weirs with traps. These techniques, modernized, along with new live-capture gears such as fish wheels and seines will be evaluated for harvest efficiency and release condition of natural-origin and listed fish.  Although non-selective and lethal spear fishing is traditional, this method has not been used for several generations, and will not be evaluated as a live-capture technique.  Methods such as snagging and gillnetting are more modern techniques presently used in the limited tribal salmon fishery, and although the Tribes are cognizant that this method will continue to exist for securing the tribal harvest allocation, the Tribes are likewise encouraged that positive education and outreach to inform and train the membership in new fused with old techniques is anticipated to be highly effective in order to increase harvest opportunities while at the same time preserving and re-establishing culturally significant techniques.

4) Secure harvest allocation (“Agreement between the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on Jointly managed salmon and steelhead populations”). In June of 2007 the CCT and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife entered into a formal harvest agreement on jointly managed salmon and steelhead populations (Agreement).  Pursuant to the government-to-government relationship between the Colville Tribes and the State of Washington, the Agreement develops formal recognition of the rights of the Colville Tribes to an opportunity to harvest a fair share of the salmon and steelhead originating from the Colville Reservation, the former North Half thereof, and all Reservation and North Half boundary waters.  The Agreement recognizes the critical need to ensure that spawning escapement goals are achieved for the salmon and steelhead populations of the upper Columbia basin, along with the partnership of the CCT and the WDFW in managing tribal and non-tribal salmon and steelhead fisheries on and adjacent to the Colville Reservation and North Half. It is the intent of both parties to develop annual fisheries that achieve allocation objectives and full utilization of each parties share. It is the intent of the CCT to use live-capture, selective fishing techniques and gears to increase the Tribes’ salmon harvest capacity in order to fully utilize their harvest allocation. Thus, this evaluation of live-capture gears is of paramount importance to the CCT to protect the salmon resource, the Tribal fishery, and its culture for current and future generations.

5) Linkage of selective fishing to Chief Joseph Hatchery  Program. The development and deployment of live-capture, selective fishing gear is critical to the successful operation of the Chief Joseph Hatchery Program (CJHP).  First, selective harvesting will allow the Colville Tribes to reap the ceremonial and subsistence benefits of Chinook propagation provided by the CJHP without endangering the status of other, depressed fish species that may be co-mingling with the marked, hatchery-origin Chinook.  Second, selective fishing is essential to remove a high proportion of hatchery Chinook originating from the CJHP and the significant numbers of stray hatchery Chinook from downriver programs.  This method will significantly decrease pHOS (the proportion of hatchery-origin fish on the spawning grounds). The harvest of hatchery Chinook and allowing the natural escapement of natural-origin Chinook will increase and preserve the diversity and viability of the Okanogan summer/fall Chinook population.