RPA 50.7 - The entire hatchery production of winter steelhead and spring Chinook salmon associated with the Hood River Production Program (HRPP) is visibly marked (e.g. fin clip) and a percentage of the production also receives an internal mark (e.g. CWT and/or PIT tag).  Within the scope of work defined by BPA project 1988-053-08, Hood River stock winter steelhead (stock 50) are reared at Oak Springs hatchery and externally marked to identify for harvest and management needs.  Two external marks are currently in use, an adipose clip and a ventricle clip.  All fish receive an adipose clip and the ventricle clip alternates between the left and right side annually to assist with identifying adults originating from outside the subbasin.  Spring Chinook salmon are reared and externally marked under BPA project #1988-053-07.  Currently three stocks of spring Chinook salmon are reared; Hood River stock (stock 50), Round Butte/Pelton stock (stock 66), and Carson stock.  All spring Chinook salmon are externally marked with an adipose clip and each individual release group are identified through the use Coded Wire Tags (CWT).  Rearing and tagging takes place at the Pelton Ladder (Deschutes River), Parkdale Fish Hatchery (Hood River), and Carson National Fish Hatchery (Carson River).  BPA project 1988-053-03 PIT tags a percentage of the winter steelhead and spring Chinook salmon released as part of the HRPP.  Prior to release this project PIT tags 10% of the production goal for each species.  Winter steelhead are tagged at Oak Springs hatchery and spring Chinook salmon are tagged in the acclimation ponds in the Middle and West forks of the Hood River.

 

PRA 56.3 - The Hood River Production Program - ODFW M&E project (1988-053-04) is not associated with NOAA CHaMP monitoring at this time.  This project conducts the monitoring and evaluation associated with the biological effects of the actions associated with the HRPP.  BPA project 1998-021-00 (Hood River Fish Habitat) conducts physical environmental surveys as part of pre- and post - monitoring of habitat improvement projects conducted as part of the HRPP.  This project identified the need to conduct habitat surveys on the Hood River and is in contact with ODFW, Corvallis Research Office to conduct an aquatic inventory (AIP).  NOAA CHaMP surveys have been discussed between Hood River Fish Habitat and the ODFW, Corvallis Research Office, but it is uncertain at this time if the methodology will be applied.      

The ISRP particularly welcomes the pledge by the sponsors to dedicate staff in FY 2007 to synthesizing data and submitting manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed journals, using information collected by the Hood River monitoring and evaluation projects, the Parkdale Fish Facility, and the Powerdale Fish Trap.

A concern identified by the ISRP in the Hood River habitat project (199802100) is the need to assess the extent to which the residualism of hatchery steelhead is resulting in the displacement of wild fish from Hood River habitat. It is expected that much of this task will be done in close conjunction with projects 199802100 and 198805303. It is important to ensure that the benefits to wild salmon and steelhead are fully realized because some of the fish response to the habitat work might be confounded by residualized steelhead.

An over-riding issue with respect to the suite of Hood River projects is to more fully define the future timeline and objectives for the project, particularly with the impending loss of Powerdale as a counting and monitoring station. The sponsor's judgment on success of the program is premature. For example, statements such as "Underwood et al. (2003) used Hood River adult returns and smolt to adult rates to determine whether or not the hatchery component of the program was contributing to the wild fish runs. The winter steelhead hatchery supplementation has benefited the wild population and has met or exceeded program goals (Underwood et al., 2003, p.218)" need to be examined more closely and peer reviewed.

The following are the three initial ISRP concerns and an assessment of the sponsor's responses:

1) The lack of peer reviewed publications. The sponsors did not provide an adequate response to this question but noted that budget and time constraints most likely precluded publication efforts.

2) Project design post-Powerdale Dam. Although the authors stated, "We did not address how we propose implementing this project post- Powerdale Dam, primarily because the dam is not slated for removal until after the upcoming three year funding cycle," they went on to give a reasonable explanation.

3) Lack of management recommendations stemming from data collected on this M&E project. The authors responded with a multi-page listing of recommendations covering a broad range of topics that was sound and convincing.