PROJECT SUMMARY:

This project will evaluate the success of fall Chinook salmon supplementation above Lower Granite Dam and facilitate management decisions for future conservation and perpetuation of naturally spawning populations of fall Chinook salmon in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers above Lower Granite Dam specifically addressing RPA 184 in the FCRPS 2000 Biological Opinion and as recommended in the FWP, Snake Hell's Canyon and Clearwater Subbasin Summaries and Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit.

PROJECT COORDINATION:

This project complements and collaborates with several other Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) projects as recommended in the Snake Hell's Canyon and Clearwater Subbasin Summaries.  Foremost is the Fall Chinook Acclimation Project (FCAP), which consists of BPA projects 199801005, 199801007 and 199801008.  These projects are the operations of the Pittsburg Landing, Captain John Rapids, and Big Canyon Fall Chinook acclimation facilities, respectively.  This project conducts monitoring and evaluation on the supplementation yearling and subyearling fall Chinook that are reared at Lyons Ferry Hatchery (LFH) and transferred for acclimation and release from these facilities.

This project shares personnel, equipment and vehicles with the fall Chinook portion of the Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery M&E (NPTH M&E) Project (198335003).

Beginning in 2003 we took the lead for conducting fall Chinook salmon spawning ground surveys on the Grande Ronde, Imnaha and Salmon Rivers.  The NMFS and WDFW complement this project by sampling adult fall Chinook returns to LFH and Lower Granite Dam.  The Idaho Power Company (IPC) and USFWS (project 199801003) conduct spawning ground survey activities on the Snake River and the NPTH M&E project (198335003) leads spawning ground surveys in the Clearwater River Subbasin.  

All PIT tagging operations at the acclimation facilities are led by the NPT and may be assisted by WDFW.  PIT tagging activities at Pittsburg Landing in 1996 were conducted cooperatively between the USFWS and NPT.  The USFWS led PIT tagging operations at Pittsburg Landing in 1997 and 1998.  The NPT has led PIT tagging operations at Pittsburg Landing since 1999.  The NPT has led all PIT tagging activities at the Big Canyon Creek facility since 1997 and will continue to do so in the future.  The NPT has led PIT tagging activities at the Captain John Rapids facility since 1998 in close coordination with WDFW.

We coordinate with USFWS Idaho Fish Health Laboratory personnel on the transfer of the fish health sampling data (Bacterial Kidney Disease, all viral checks, etc.) which we analyze and report in annual reports. The ISRP confused  "condition" as a metric we were using for fish health which we are not.  Condition as we measure in this SOW is a "condition factor" which is simply a relationship of fish length to weight.

We coordinate with co-managers (USFWS, WDFW, IDFG, NMFS, IPC, ODFW, etc.) and TAC to develop fall chinook management and monitoring and evaluation planning documents through the US v. Oregon proceedings.

We coordinate with WDFW, TAC, and the University of Idaho on the annual fall Chinook run re-construction to Lower Granite Dam.

PROJECT BACKGROUND:

Agreements were reached through U.S. v. Oregon to release 450,000 yearling fall Chinook salmon on-station at Lyons Ferry Hatchery as well as an additional 450,000 (total) yearlings from three acclimation facilities above Lower Granite Dam.  The USFWS Lower Snake River Compensation Plan (LSRCP) funded the first two years (1996 and 1997) of this project, through the BPA.  Direct BPA funding began in 1998.  Supplementation of LFH fall Chinook yearlings and monitoring and evaluation studies were initiated with the commencement of operations of the Pittsburg Landing acclimation facility on the Snake River in 1996.  The Big Canyon facility on the Clearwater River and the Captain John Rapids facility on the Snake River began operating in 1997 and 1998, respectively.  The acclimation facilities have also accommodated annual releases of up to 2.4 million subyearling fall Chinook in all but one year since 1997 due to ample broodstock availability.  Releases have typically occurred at 2 different times, early (May) and late (June).  These subyearling releases have no specific monitoring and evaluation associated with them as mandated in the FCRPS 2000 Biological Opinion, FWP, Snake Hell's Canyon and Clearwater Subbasin Summaries and Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit.  We proposed in the 2002 Provincial Rolling Review to expand our scope to include tagging a portion of the subyearling release groups as these releases have not received funding for monitoring and evaluation, however the additional funds we requested have not been made available.  Beginning 2005, the US Army Corps of Engineers funded a transportation/in-river smolt-to-adult survival study using PIT tags in all production subyearling fall Chinook released in the Snake River Basin.  From 2005-present, all three upriver acclimation sites have had subyearlings available for PIT tagging in proportion to the number released in the basin.  Results from this study are available in the CORPS annual reports.

Our primary study area includes the mainstem Clearwater River from Big Canyon Creek downstream to the mouth, the mainstem Snake River from Pittsburg Landing downstream to the mouth, and the Columbia River from the Snake River confluence downstream to Bonneville Dam.

Our monitoring and evaluation efforts from 1996-2011 have resulted in obtaining up to 16 years of comparative size, condition and health data as well as documenting survival estimates, migration rates and timing of yearlings, and in some years subyearlings, from the FCAP facilities to Lower Snake and Columbia River dams.  Data from 1999-2006 have been analyzed and annual reports for these years are currently available on the BPA website.  Smolt-to-adult return comparisons have been analyzed and compared to Lyons Ferry Hatchery releases and will be forthcoming in a separate comprehensive report.

Results from the acclimation monitoring and evaluation program of both subyearling and yearling fall Chinook have been encouraging.  Numbers of adult fall Chinook returning to Lower Granite Dam have increased dramatically since 1998 (the first year of adults returns from FCAP releases), indicating that supplementation efforts appear to be having positive effects on natural spawning and juvenile abundances.  Fish health assessments for BKD levels have been variable over the years.  Acclimation of fall Chinook from Captain John Rapids vs a direct release at Couse Creek on the Snake River in recent years have indicated that juveniles have higher survival from release to the Snake and Columbia River dams.  This project will assess if this holds true for adult returns as well.