Sandy River Fisheries Management Update Todd Alsbury District Fish Biologist (Cascade Unit)
Presenta(on Outline Remembering Marmot Dam Sandy River Popula(on Es(mates Sandy Spring Chinook Stray Control Program Willame?e Spring Chinook 2015
Marmot Dam Little Sandy Dam Marmot Dam removed during the summer of 2007 (complete in October) Little Sandy Dam removed in 2008
Pre-dam removal 10-19-07 Post-dam removal 10-21-07 View upstream of footbridge Post-dam removal 12-11-07
Marmot Dam The former Marmot Dam caused delay of upstream migrants (stress) and diversion of juveniles ( StW fry in par(cular) The Marmot Acclima(on pond was developed to enhance fisheries at the base of and below the dam The dam and associated fish ladder provided the ability to count, sort, and remove hatchery fish The removal of Marmot reduced the ability to effec(vely manage hatchery fish that stray from their point of release No issues with winter/summer steelhead and coho compared to spring Chinook with regard to stray
Sandy Winter Steelhead Increasing trend in abundance over the past 5 years >4,500 wild adults in 2015 Very popular hatchery StW program with limited hatchery influence in the wild 3,000-4,000 hatchery adults return annually Propor(on of hatchery origin spawners (phos) <10% and typically <5% Small reintroduced popula(on upstream of Sandy Hatchery beginning to contribute
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 # of Adults Sandy Winter Steelhead StW % Hatchery
Winter Steelhead Harvest 2003-2013 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 Hood River Clackamas River Sandy River Wilson River Siletz River N Fk Nehalem
Sandy Coho Largest return of wild adults in over 15 years in 2014 5,942 adults (1,200 ave. over 10 previous years) Poor return in 2015 (data not available) Hatchery returns ~5,000 annually Historically >12,000 adults per year prior to program reduc(on in 2011 Sport fishery not what it used to be Reintroduc(on program upstream of Sandy Hatchery contribu(ng significantly to produc(on Smolt trap counts confirm
Sandy Coho 7000 60% 6000 50% 5000 40% #of Adults 4000 3000 30% Co % Hatchery 2000 20% 1000 10% 0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 0%
Sandy Spring Chinook Increasing trend in abundance with over 1,500 adults 6 of the last 10 years (average 1,800) 2,447 wild adults in 2015 Historically popular hatchery ChS program that now only returns ~1,000 adults compared to >5,000 prior to 2010. Difficult accessing fish now that release is lower in river and fish do not stray Boa(ng is challenging where fish now hold through summer months (gorge sec(on below Bull Run)
Sandy Spring Chinook 3,500 100% 3,000 90% 80% 2,500 70% # of Adults 2,000 1,500 60% 50% 40% ChS % Hatchery 1,000 30% 500 20% 10% 0 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 0%
5,000 4,500 Clackamas wild Sandy Wild Sandy Hatchery 4,000 3,500 Marmot Dam Removed Adult Chinook 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Run Year Number of spring Chinook salmon in the Sandy River basin (hatchery and wild), and in the Clackamas Basin upstream of North Fork Dam (wild), 2002 2015. Number of fish in the Sandy River basin in 2008 2013 was esymated from redd counts. For 2002 2006, the number of fish was esymated with the relayonship of counts at Marmot Dam to redd counts. The proporyon of wild and hatchery fish was esymated from recovery of carcasses.
Sandy ChS Stray Control Program
Percentage of hatchery- origin spring Chinook salmon in the spawning populayon of Sandy River basin upstream of the Marmot Dam site, 2002 2015. 100% 80% Marmot Dam Removed Hatchery Origin 60% 40% 20% 0% 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Run Year
Sandy River spring Chinook stray reducyon program 2015 Weirs operated in Salmon, Zigzag, and Bull Run rivers to control hatchery stray Rigid picket weirs in Salmon and Zigzag Resistance board weir in Bull Run River Goal to operate from July 1 through mid- October Acclima(on in the Bull Run River star(ng in 2011 Adult ChS inside trap box
Sandy Spring Chinook 2015 Bull Run Salmon Zig Zag Trap Totals Hatchery Chinook 137 Hatchery Chinook 64 Hatchery Chinook 36 Total Hatchery Chinook 237 Wild Chinook 63 Wild Chinook 904 Wild Chinook 538 Total Wild Chinook 1505 Total Wild Wild Steelhead 59 Wild Steelhead 3 Wild Steelhead 3 Steelhead 65 Hatchery Steelhead 4 Hatchery Steelhead 1 Hatchery Steelhead 27 Total Hatchery Steelhead 32 Coho 20 Coho 0 Coho 16 Total Coho 36 Bull Run Hatchery rate Salmon River Zig Zag River 0.685 Hatchery rate 0.066116 Hatchery rate 0.062718
Salmon River weir
Bull Run Resistance Board Weir
Bull Run RBW 9/29/13
Spring Chinook AcclimaYon in the Sandy Basin Bull Run River Spring chinook program reduced from ~450,000 in late 90 s to 132,000 since 2013. Started acclima(ng smolts in the Bull Run River in 2012 Acclimated and released 132,000 smolts in 2013-2016 Es(mate ~1,000 adults returning to Bull Run in the future Reduce number of fish available for harvest at mouth of Cedar Creek and upstream above former Marmot Dam Full- spanning (resistance- type) weir opera(ng July- November near mouth of Bull Run to sort returning adults
Bull Run AcclimaYon Pond
Percentage of fin- clipped spring Chinook salmon in the Zigzag (A) and Salmon (B) rivers, and in the upper Sandy River basin (C) with and without traps, 2011-2015 The 10% line represents the conservayon and recovery objecyve for the proporyon of hatchery- origin spawners (phos)
Willame<e Spring Chinook 2015 51,046 adult ChS passed over Willame?e Falls (82.4% hatchery fish=42,062) 4,608 hatchery ChS returned to Clackamas Final run size not complete but expected to be > than pre- season forecast Severe mortality event occurred in late June due to high temperature (>75 deg) Water temperature reached 75 on June 12 th, peaked at 82 on July 11 th
Willame^e Spring Chinook 2015 Started seeing dead fish in Willame?e then Clackamas. High temperature not the lead cause of death Columnaris bacteria bloomed in warm water and a?aches to fish on gills, eyes, fins. Fish eventually succumb to bacteria since they can not respire normally.
Willame^e Spring Chinook 2015 Clackamas River 657 pre- spawn mortali(es Majority of fish found from Carver downstream to Riverside Park Willame?e (downstream of falls) 478 pre- spawn mortali(es 85% hatchery fish/15% wild fish (same as falls counts) 64 of 66 (97%) CWT+ fish were from Upper Willame?e hatcheries
Clackamas River adjacent to Barton Park Boat Ramp 6/19/15 Chrome Notice beer cans look a little like dead fish
Clackamas River near Carver 6/19/15 Notice bacterial growth near fins, mouth, and gills
Clackamas River upstream of Riverside Park 6/19/15
Johnson Creek near Milwaukie 7/14/15
Thank you! Todd Alsbury District Fish Biologist Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife 971-673-6011 503-781-8286