Fine-scale spatial and stock variations among juvenile Chinook salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River plume: May 2015 Cheryl A. Morgan 1, Brian R. Beckman 2, Brian J. Burke 2, Laurie A. Weitkamp 3, Jessica A. Miller 4, Kym C. Jacobson 3, Elizabeth A. Daly 4, Donald M. Van Doornik 5,, and Kurt L. Fresh 2 1 Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies, Oregon State University, Newport, OR 2-3, 5 NOAA Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA, Newport, OR & Manchester, WA 4 Oregon State University, Fisheries & Wildlife, Newport, OR Financial support by BPA and NOAA Fisheries
WA & OR Juvenile Salmon Surveys Previous May Surveys (1999, 2006 2012) In 2015, we re-invented our May survey Focus on assessing juveniles from Interior Columbia River stocks soon after they emigrated from the Columbia River Estuary and while they were still within the plume.
Take Home We saw fine-scale spatial differences in biological attributes for Chinook But not for steelhead! Short term growth varies by steelhead stock
May 2015 Sampling Locations B May 25th May 26th Columbia River May 24th A May 27th Oregon
Two parts to this talk 1. Chinook 2. Steelhead
Chinook Focus Stocks
May 2015 Chinook Catches by Stock Yearling Catch Count 40 30 20 WC_F WC_Sp WR_Sp UCR_Su/F Snake_Sp Snake_F Mid&UCR_Sp N/Mid_OR_Cst Rogue Mid_UCR Snake_Sp 10 0 A 24 25 26 27 B B May 24-27, 2015 UCR_ Su/F A
Frequency Chinook Length- Varies by Stock Snake_Sp Mid_UCR UCR_Su/F 100 150 200 250 Length (mm)
Brian Burke ran a bunch of models We ll show plots for the important variables
Model Variables Area Mar_Sig Stock Length Haul Wild Tide Time Stage Day Length X X X X X X Condition X X X X X IGF X X X X X Stom Empty Stom NoEmpty %BW X X X X X X H/W X X X X
Site was important for Chinook B Columbia River A 20 nmi ~ 37 Km Oregon
Fork Length (mm) 220 200 180 160 140 Fish longer at site A Length by Stock and Area MUCR_Sp Snake_Sp UCR_SF 120 A B
Higher proportion with estuary/ocean signal at site A Proportion with an Ocean Sr Signal Otolith 1.0 0.8 Signal > 3 days Proportion 0.6 0.4 No Signal 0.2 0.0 A B
Fish with estuary/ocean signal are longer Estuary/Ocean Signal Otolith Fork Length (mm) 200 Estuary/ocean signal No signal 180 160 140 120 A B
Chinook IGF
Count 40 Large IGF range in all stocks 30 MUCR_Sp Snake_Sp UCR_SuF 20 10 0 0 IGF-1 100
Higher IGF at site A IGF by Stock and Area 80 MUCR_Sp Snake_Sp UCR_SF 60 IGF-1 40 20 A B
Higher IGF with estuary/ocean signal Estuary/ocean Signal Otolith 80 Estuary/ocean signal No signal 60 IGF-1 40 20 A B
Chinook Condition
Higher condition at site A Condition by Stock and Area Fulton Condition Index 1.2 MUCR_Sp Snake_Sp 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 A B
Higher condition with estuary/ocean signal Fulton Condition Index 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 Estuary/ocean Signal Otolith Estuary/ocean signal No signal A B
Chinook Stomach Fullness
Higher stomach fullness at site A Stomach Fullness by Stock and Area % Body Weight 3.0 MUCR_Sp Snake_Sp 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 A B
No difference in stomach fullness with 3.5 3.0 estuary/ocean signal Estuary/ocean Signal Otolith Estuary/ocean signal No signal % Body Weight 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 A B
Marked vs Unmarked Chinook
Chinook summary With only 4 days and in a small area we saw differences by area and estuary/ocean signal! Length IGF Condition Stomach fullness
Chinook summary Fish with estuary signal. - More of these type of fish at site A. - Fish longer at A and in better condition then at B. - Growing better at A - Are these fish mostly hatchery fish.
Steelhead
Steelhead Stocks Mid&Up CR Lower Snake Clearwater R Lower CR Salmon R
Steelhead Catch By Stock
May 2015 Steelhead Catches by Stock 140 120 100 80 40 WA_Coast Willamette Low_Columbia Juvenile Catch MUCRLS Clearwater Salmon_R Salmon R Clearwater R Count 30 20 MUCRLS 10 Lower CR 0 A 24 25 26 27 B B May 24-27, 2015 A
Steelhead Length
Frequency Steelhead length varies by stock Lower CR Clearwater R Salmon R Mid&Up CR/Lower Snake 100 200 300 Length (mm)
Steelhead lengths similar between sites Fork Length (mm) 350 300 250 200 lower river stock is shorter Length by Stock and Area Salmon_R Clearwater MUCRLS LowCol 150 A B
Steelhead IGF
Steelhead IGF similar between sites higher IGF for by lower Stock and river Area stocks IGF-1 120 Salmon_R Clearwater 100 MUCRLS LowCol 80 60 40 20 0 A B
Does marine migration behavior explain differences we found Salmon R. Clearwater R. Lower Columbia R.
Marked vs Unmarked Steelhead
Take Home We saw fine-scale spatial differences in biological attributes for Chinook But not for steelhead! IGF varies by steelhead stock
Implications We saw fine-scale spatial differences in biological attributes for Chinook Survival may be set a small spatial scales and really soon after ocean entry Implications for sampling design? But not for steelhead! Steelhead behavior is different Survival implications? IGF varies by steelhead stock Steelhead behavior differs by stock LCR, smaller, grow better. Do LCR stocks have longer coastal residence times?
We are repeating our effort in 2016 Stay Tuned