Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) program measure 7.4D addresses captive brood stock studies within the Fish and Wildlife program.  It acknowledges that captive brood stock programs have the potential to rapidly increase adult fish numbers, while retaining genetic diversity of severely depleted wild or naturally spawning stocks of salmon@.  The NPPC program measure also states that implementation of captive brood stock programs may be the most effective means of accelerating recovery of severely depleted stocks.  NPPC program measure 7.4D.2 directs that the program fund captive brood stock demonstration projects identified under the coordinated habitat and production process.  It also advises that adequate evaluation be conducted to understand the fitness of captive brood progeny for supplementation, evaluation of fish husbandry and fish health techniques and development of culture systems that minimize loss of fish.  A similar NPPC Measure (7.3.B2) directs the implementation of high priority supplementation projects which should include monitoring and evaluation. The current Captive Broodstock Artificial Propagation project addresses the monitoring and evaluation of the Grande Ronde River Chinook captive brood stock program in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Project Coordination:

The Captive Broodstock Artificial Propagation Chinook project in the Grande Ronde River is a high priority project recognized by state, federal and Tribal representatives through the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA).   This project has been coordinated with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).  Project coordination with NMFS has resulted in sharing of NMFS facilities at the Manchester Research Station and in ODFW procuring a Section 10 permit to conduct Chinook salmon captive broodstock enhancement activities in the Grande Ronde River.  In addition, the Nez Perce Tribe received its own ESA Section 10 Permit (#1149) to operate the weir on the Lostine River. The draft NMFS recovery plan, under the Endangered Species Act, acknowledges the use of captive broodstock programs to prevent population extinction and to supplement and enhance natural Chinook populations.

Attend all relevant Inter- and Intra-agency meetings as required to coordinate activities and share project information. Abide by the Nez Perce Tribe policies and procedures as required (Human Resources, Finance, Resolutions, Administrative Actions, etc.) and with all other policy personnel directions.
  
Project History

The Nez Perce Tribe recommended implementation of a captive broodstock and/or conventional hatchery Chinook smolt production program in the Lostine River in 1994 in an attempt to preserve a salmon spawning aggregate that was at low levels of abundance and high risk of extirpation.  Subsequently, in 1995, the Tribe cooperated with the ODFW in the planning and development of a Chinook salmon captive broodstock management plan for the Grande Ronde River.

Chinook captive broodstock program activities were initiated in 1995 with the collection of juvenile Chinook salmon from the Lostine River, Catherine Creek and upper Grande Ronde River.  Fish were reared at Lookingglass Fish Hatchery until the smolt stage and then were transferred to temporary facilities at Bonneville Hatchery and to the Manchester Research Station.  This allowed the ability to evaluate freshwater and saltwater captive broodstock rearing strategies.  Chinook salmon parr were also collected in 1996 from the Lostine River and Catherine Creek and in 1997 through 2004 juvenile Chinook were collected from all three streams.  Chinook salmon parr are scheduled for captive broodstock collection from all three streams in 2005.  Therefore funding is required for continued monitoring and evaluation of the spring Chinook captive broodstock program in 2005 and beyond.

Project Goals and Objectives:

1.  To prevent extirpation of native Grande Ronde Basin spring Chinook salmon.
2.  To preserve and enhance Grande Ronde Basin spring Chinook salmon through implementation and use of the captive broodstock program.
3.  To maintain genetic diversity in the artificially propagated captive broodstock Chinook population.
4.  Maintain genetic diversity in the natural population of salmon in the Grande Ronde Basin.

Objective 1.  Coordinate the Captive Broodstock Artificial Propagation project with state and federal management agencies in the Grande Ronde Basin.

Approach:  The Nez Perce Tribe has participated in the Conservation Planning Oversight Team (CONSPOT) and Integrated Team (IT) planning process with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the development of the Grande Ronde Basin captive broodstock plan and Section 10 permit application under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  As a salmon manager the Tribe is interested in coordinating with ODFW and CTUIR in the successful development and monitoring of the experimental captive broodstock program.  The Tribe believes that close coordination in the monitoring and evaluation of this captive broodstock project should lead us to an understanding of the effectiveness of this approach in threatened and endangered species preservation and recovery under the ESA.

Objective 2.  Monitor and evaluate captive broodstock with ODFW and CTUIR.

Subobjective 2.1.  Monitor and evaluate captive broodstock parr at Wallowa Fish Hatchery (WFH) with ODFW and CTUIR.

Approach:  The captive broodstock management plan, which the Tribe assisted in development of, contains proposed monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the Chinook salmon captive broodstock program throughout all phases of its implementation.  The Tribe did not received sufficient funding to participate in the captive broodstock program until 1998.  Since the initiation of the captive broodstock program in 1995 there have been adjustments to the M&E plan and development of a technical oversight team (TOT) that meets on a regular basis to discuss program effectiveness, problems encountered and to discuss necessary management changes.  The following tasks would be conducted to evaluate natural Chinook salmon which are reared at WFH until smolt size and before transport to the Manchester Research Station (MRS) and Bonneville Hatchery (BOH) for rearing to adult size.  Tribal evaluation staff would coordinate closely with ODFW and CTUIR in the ongoing evaluation of natural Chinook which are reared at WFH.

Subobjective 2.2.  Monitor and evaluate captive broodstock post smolts reared at Bonneville Hatchery and at the Manchester Research Station.

Approach:  During the smoltification process, Chinook at WFH are transported to either the BOH (freshwater rearing) or to the MRS (saltwater rearing).  Evaluation of captive brood post-smolts would occur for the groups reared in freshwater and saltwater rearing strategies until the fish matured at age II (precocial males), III, IV or V.  Evaluation of fish during post-smolt growth periods would be minimized to avoid disturbances to the captive brood fish.  Assistance will be provided and closely coordinated with ODFW and CTUIR for VI tagging, analysis of mortalities, spawning of fish, collection of information from spawned adults and collection of cryopreservation samples.

Objective 3.  Monitor the abundance and timing of migration of adult Chinook salmon into the Lostine River.

Approach:  An adult Chinook salmon fish weir and trap are planned for operation in the Lostine River in 2005 as part of a separate project to trap and spawn adults and develop a conventional hatchery smolt production program.  Information collected from this facility will assist in developing baseline information on the abundance and timing of migration of adult salmon into the Lostine River for comparison with progeny of captive brood parents. Adults from the F1 generation are expected to return in the year 2005. Nez Perce staff will install and operate the Lostine River weir and trap for data collection on adult salmon. Information on adult size and age composition of the run will be obtained from salmon carcasses collected on the spawning grounds in a cooperative effort with ODFW.

Objective 4.  Monitor and evaluate the F1 generation offspring.

Approach:  Monitoring of the captive brood production rearing at Lookingglass Hatchery allows for a measure of comparison among treatment groups and across years. Therefore data collected during the rearing process assists in the proper evaluation of the captive brood product used in supplementation.

Objective 5.  Technology Transfer.

Approach:  Communication of results is essential for practical adaptive management in the Grand Ronde basin. Information shared between stakeholders regarding the captive broodstock process increases our collective knowledge of supplementation. That knowledge will lead us to effective salmon management in the Lostine River and other salmon streams.