The Chief Joseph Kokanee Enhancement Project (CJKEP) is focused on investigating factors that limit kokanee production in the San Poil River while also investigating potential egg sources for reintroduction into the basin as a whole.  The project has four specific objectives for 2010 that include:

1) Determine the impact  predators such as walleye (Sander vitreus), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), burbot (Lota lota), and northern pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) have on migrating and resident salmonids.  
2) Determine the extent to which juvenile kokanee and rainbow trout migrate out of the San Poil River.  
3) Determine adult escapement in San Poil River and Barnaby Creek and investigate Lake Roosevelt shoreline spawning.
4) Determine available habitat in the San Poil River and West Fork San Poil River.  

The Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) have recently been attempting to enhance our rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and kokanee salmon (O. nerka) fisheries in the San Poil River, tributary of Lake Roosevelt. This work is being accomplished by stocking hatchery raised kokanee and by enhancing streams for natural reproduction of rainbow trout.  Both species make adfluvial downstream migrations into Lake Roosevelt where they feed and grow to maturity. They subsequently return to the San Poil River to spawn. One potential road block to this enhancement work is that as the juvenile rainbow and kokanee migrate out of the free-flowing San Poil River into the section that is impounded by Lake Roosevelt, they may be subject to predation by walleye (Sander vitreus), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) and burbot (Lota lota) that are concentrated there.  We would like to know what percentage of the downstream migrants are consumed by these species.  We will have knowledge of the number of kokanee stocked and the number of rainbow juveniles emigrating down the San Poil River because we intend to operate a screw trap to obtain such counts.  We need to determine the food habits of walleye, smallmouth bass and burbot in the impounded section and apply these results to a bioenergetics model to find out exactly how much and how many rainbow trout and kokanee are consumed by an individual predator.  This average rate of consumption then needs to be multiplied by the population of predators in the area to determine the total numbers/weight of kokanee and rainbow trout consumed throughout the impounded section. Hence, we need to conduct an assessment of the food habits and estimate predator populations in the impounded section of the San Poil River. In addition to the above, we will conduct an acoustic telemetry survey of walleye in the San Poil basin that will support our population estimate, determine migratory pathways and diurnal habitat utilization.  We have contracted with Eastern Washington University in 2009 and will continue the contract into 2010.  We anticipate several manuscripts from this work which we plan to publish in scientific journals.  Results from these two years worth of data will guide the tribe in removal efforts if predators are determined to be a significant problem.  

The San Poil River and Barnaby Creek will continue to be monitored for adult migratory kokanee in the fall of 2010.  We anticipate that the construction of a fishway will be complete by spring 2010 and that the fishway will allow salmonids to actively migrate into Barnaby Cr.  In the past, the outlet of Barnaby Creek supported a small population of kokanee every three years and it is expected in 2010.  Hatchery returns into the San Poil river are not expected in 2010 however we will continue to monitor the wild population since a permanent trap has been installed and is a potential egg source.  

Recent genetics research conducted by Kassler et al. (WDFW, in press) indicated an in basin stock unique to Lake Roosevelt itself and different from other Upper Columbia sources.  This supports the fact that a wild, independent and self sustaining kokanee population exists.  Since tributary spawning is very low, lake spawning could explain the sustained survival of wild Lake Roosevelt kokanee.  In 2010, the CCT will investigate potential areas using existing videography to identify  gravelly/rocky areas on the shoreline of the San Poil River and areas below Keller Ferry to Grand Coulee Dam.  We will also assess groundwater inflow using videography taken when the reservoir was at its lowest.  Areas that display suitable spawning habitat and ground water inflow will be surveyed using a combination of scuba, video, and gill nets to detect beach spawners.  If beach spawning locations are identified, a strategy will be developed to collect eggs from these fish or from the redds for supplementation into the San Poil River and also for a captive brood program.  

We will continue the habitat analysis of the San Poil River and West Fork San Poil River from 2009 in 2010.  Due to the overall length river we were unable to complete the entire assessment in 2009.  We will continue using the modified OBMAP protocol from 2009

In addition to the objectives above, the project will support artificial production efforts in the San Poil River.  In 2009, the CCT Fish and Wildlife Department funded the hatchery operations at the WDFW's Colville Hatchery to support fisheries on the North Half Reservation and in the San Poil River.  Within this contract, the state has agreed to obtain 500,000 kokanee eggs purchased by this project from Meadow Creek, British Columbia and transport them to the Colville Hatchery. At the hatchery two groups each of 250,000 will be otolith marked (differently) at the eyed egg stage.  The first group of 250,000 will be directly planted in the  San Poil River at the eyed egg stage using egg tubes buried 8-10" below the surface substrate.  The other 250,000 will be raised at the hatchery and released in the San Poil River as spring fry.  The only funding support required from this project is the purchase of eggs from Canada, one to two chillers for otolith marking, egg tubes for seeding and support costs to prep, complete and monitor the seeding site.  This objective is predicated by the availability of Meadow Creek kokanee eggs.  This has been very inconsistent in the past and could be in the future.