Background
It is becoming increasingly clear that marine-derived nitrogen and phosphorous once delivered to the rivers of the Columbia Basin by spawning salmonids are a critical part of ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest.  Because many of the systems in which salmon spawn and rear are inherently nutrient poor, the delivery of marine-derived nutrients by returning salmon carcasses may be crucial to survival of juvenile salmon and recovery of depleted salmon. Nutrient limitations may restrict primary production, thus resulting in a major constraint limiting the restoration of salmonids.  A variety of methods have been proposed to offset this nutrient deficit including: allowing greater salmon spawning escapement, stocking hatchery salmon carcasses, and stocking inorganic nutrients.  The recovery of Columbia Basin salmonids is contingent on the existence of fully functioning ecosystems with adequate productivity to support viable populations of salmonids.  While a number of enhancement strategies for increasing the ability of streams to support salmonids exist, few studies have evaluated the methodologies for enhancing stream productivity on a comprehensive scale.  This project combines three approaches: 1) laboratory experiments investigating nutrient contributions under controlled conditions, 2) field experiments comparing the use of carcass analogs to control areas in 3 stream systems, and 3) field experiments comparing 3 different nutrient enhancement methods to a control area in one of these stream systems.

Project Development
This Combined Statement of Work addresses all of the activities done under BPA Project 2001-009-00 by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Bio-Oregon, Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, and National Marine Fisheries Service.  It represents a combination of Innovative Proposals # 22002; "Influences of stocking salmon carcass analogs on salmonids in Columbia River Tributaries", and Innovative Proposal #22047 "Salmonid response to fertilization: an experiment al evaluation of alternative methods of fertilization".  Individual activities that are being funded for a specific entity are detailed in Table 1.  

Major Responsibilities

• Bio-Oregon will be producing, delivering, and providing quality control for salmon analogs. Researchers are primarily responsible for analog placement, biological and physical data collection, analysis of samples, and publication of results.
• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is the lead agency in the Yakima River.
• Yakama Nation is the lead agency in the Klickitat River.
• Shoshone-Bannock Tribe and NMFS will jointly lead field-sampling efforts in 16 tributaries in the Salmon River. Shoshone-Bannock Tribe is the lead agency for the analog addition treatments. NMFS is the lead for the carcass and inorganic nutrient treatments and comparative evaluations among treatments.

All entities have agreed to intergovernment coordination, joint work and cooperative publication of results.

Project Goal
Determine whether the addition of nutrients in the form of nutrient-releasing pellets, carcass analogs, or carcasses to stream systems benefit salmonid populations.