A:  ADMINISTRATIVE SUMMARY:

Organization:  Nez Perce Tribe
Address:  P.O. Box 365, Lapwai, ID 83540
Project Leader:  Jay Hesse
Telephone:  (208) 843-7145 Ext. 3552
Address:  PO Box 365, Lapwai, ID 83540
Administrative Contact: Arleen Henry
Telephone:   (208) 843-7317 Ext. 3833
Project Period:  January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011

B:  AUTHORIZATION:
The Fish Passage Center's Smolt Monitoring Program is identified in Appendix G of the 2000 FCRPS Biological Opinion (action 1193).  The Northwest Power Planning Council's 1987 Fish and Wildlife Program established the Fish Passage Center (FPC) to manage fish mitigation measures on behalf of the fishery agencies and tribes represented on the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA). The FPC accomplishes this through the Smolt Monitoring Program (SMP).  SMP is implemented at selected smolt monitoring sites. The Nez Perce Tribe operates one of these sites on the Imnaha River.  The objectives of the SMP program are: 1) planning and implementing the annual smolt monitoring program, 2) developing and implementing flow and spill requests, and 3) monitoring and analyzing research results to assist in implementing the water budget and spill planning and in preparing reports."

C:  COORDINATION:
This project has been ongoing since 1994 as part of the Smolt Monitoring by Non-Federal Entities (Project No. 198712700) and the FPC's SMP.  It is coordinated with all salmon managers in the Columbia River basin through the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority.  It is closely coordinated with ongoing Lower Snake River Compensation Plan (LSRCP) hatchery evaluation studies in the Imnaha River and with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife through annual operation plan meetings.  The LSRCP program provides cost-share funds which are tightly coordinated to ensure collection of an essential time series of information on anadromous salmonids emigrating primarily through the fall and spring from the Imnaha River which is not duplicated by other efforts. The Imnaha SMP program will also continue to monitor throughout the year to provide better estimates of smolt production. The program will continue to coordinate with the Northeast Oregon Hatchery Monitoring and Evaluation program to develop and implement a study design to assess juvenile salmonid survival and smolt to adult returns to Lower Granite Dam (LGR) through technical work groups within NPT.

D:  BACKGROUND:

The USFWS Lower Snake River Compensation Plan (LSRCP) funded the first two years (1992 and 1993) of this project, through the BPA.  Direct BPA funding began in 1994.  This project provides the FPC's SMP with tributary specific emigration data from the Imnaha River.  It continues a collection of a time series of Chinook salmon and steelhead smolt arrival and survival information to mainstem dams.  Additional funds acquired from BPA in 2010 will allow this project to monitor emigration from the Imnaha River for 10 or more months in the year. This will allow for more precise estimates of the total emigrating wild populations.

The FPC will be provided with an index of daily fish catch and condition from the Imnaha River, and smolt performance characteristics past the series of hydroelectric projects on the Snake and Columbia River.  Indices of fish passage, migration strength (or peak migration) and migration timing are provided for Imnaha River smolts at key monitoring sites and mainstem dams.  PIT tagged smolts also provide measures of smolt travel time and in-river survival through key index reaches.  This is accomplished by individual tag detections at mainstem sites on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers.  Additionally, fish quality and descaling information are collected at the Imnaha River trap and provide indicators of the health of emigrating smolts.  The data provided to the FPC is used for in-season operational decisions relative to flow and spill management, particularly during periods when spill is being provided to improve smolt passage.    

Smolt monitoring and PIT tagging is conducted during the spring, summer and fall smolt emigration periods.  The project will PIT tag up to 4,600 natural steelhead smolts during the spring to provide emigration timing, travel time, and estimated survival from the mouth of the Imnaha River to Snake River and Columbia River dams.  The project will assist the LSRCP hatchery evaluation study with PIT tagging an additional 5,000 natural and 2,000 hatchery steelhead smolts.  The project will also assist LSRCP with PIT tagging as many as 14,400 spring emigrating natural Chinook salmon smolts, 5,600 fall emigrating pre-smolts may also be PIT tagged for the LSRCP program.