Transition to a locally adapted steelhead stock at Winthrop NFH Northwest Fisheries Science Center Chris Tatara, Bill Gale*, Penny Swanson, Don Larsen, Matt Cooper*, Chris Pasley*, and Barry Berejikian * 63 rd Annual NWFCC December 11-13, 2012
Steelhead program at WNFH Location: Winthrop, WA on Methow River 54 miles from Columbia Confluence 524 miles from Pacific Ocean Nine Columbia River dams Purpose Mitigation for Grand Coulee Dam Recover threatened upper Columbia River steelhead U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 2
Recovery actions for upper Columbia steelhead Past program: Wells yearling smolts (S1) Switch to local Methow River broodstock Requires change to the culture regime Late spawn timing of Methow broodstock Cold water temperatures at Winthrop NFH Two year smolt rearing (S2) Compare S1 and S2 strategies to determine viability of switching to local broodstock. U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 3
Winthrop NFH steelhead smolt size at release 2010 2011 S1 Mean = 194 mm S2 Mean = 214 mm S1 Mean = 159 mm S2 Mean = 187 mm U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 4
Evaluation of S1 and S2 steelhead smolts Outmigration (PIT tag data) Survival Travel time Residualism Precocious male maturation Too small to smolt Prerelease sampling FL, WT, Sex, SI, tissues U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 5
Outmigration Survival 2010 2011 S1 S2 RELEASE YEAR GROUP # PIT TAGS RELEASED SURVIVAL RELEASE-RR SURVIVAL RR-MCN OVERALL (JOHN DAY) 2010 S1 14,841 73.7 (2.4) 55.4 (10.1) 40.8 (7.3) S2 14,756 81.5 (3.0) 64.9 (12.7) 52.9 (10.2) 2011 S1 14,907 45.8 (1.8) 55.9 (5.3) 25.6 (2.2) S2 14,945 69.5 (2.1) 57.4 (4.3) 39.9 (2.7) U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 6
S1 vs S2 PIT-tag detections (2011 release) 50% 50% Winthrop NFH 62% 38% Rocky Reach S1 S2 67% 33% 57% 43% 66% 34% Bonneville John Day McNary
Travel time by reach 2010 2011 U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 8
Gender-biased outmigration (2011) U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 9
Evaluating Residualism I PIT tag data Compare size & sex of released and detected S1 & S2 populations Annual field sampling (August and September) Electrofishing, seining, angling Outfall of WNFH Downstream reference reach of Methow River 10
Selection on body size after release (2011) U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 11
Percent of fish released Characteristics of Residuals 0.50% 100% 113 7 200 35 0.40% S1 S2 0.42% 90% 80% F M 70% 0.30% 60% 50% 0.20% 0.16% 0.13% 40% 30% 0.10% 20% 0.02% 10% 0.00% 2010 2011 0% 2010 S1 2010 S2 2011 S1 2011 S2 U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 12
Evaluating Residualism II (male maturation) Annual lethal sampling of 600 S1 and 600 S2 smolts last week of March Fork length, Weight, Smolt index, Sex Blood, Testes, Pituitary gland, Gill tissue Male Maturation GSI Plasma 11-KT Histology Pituitary LH and FSH Testis AMH
GSI of Male WNFH Steelhead March 2012
Frequency Pituitary LH beta mrna in Male WNFH Steelhead March 2012 80 S1 Immature S2 60 Initiating Mature 40 LH > 100 LH > 10000 20 0 0.0 0.40.8 1.2 1.62.0 2.4 2.83.2 3.6 4.04.4 4.8 5.25.6 6.0 6.46.8 7.2 7.68.0 8.4 8.89.2 Log 2 Pituitary LH beta (relative expression) 9.6 10.0 10.4 10.8 11.2 11.6
Classification & male maturation status Immature: GSI < 0.05 Initiating: GSI > 0.05 LH > 100 Mature: GSI > 1
Conclusions from first two years Outmigration Survival: S2 > S1 Travel time: S2 < S1 Greater post-release size selection on S1 Outmigration of S1 & S2 is gender biased Residualism Recaptures: S1 > S2 Both S1 & S2 residual populations male biased More S1 grow too slowly to smolt Some male S2 mature or initiate maturation U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 17
Acknowledgements Collaborators USFWS staff of WNFH and Mid Columbia FRO NOAA/NWFSC - Manchester and Montlake UW USGS WDFW Funding: BPA (project 1993-056-00), BOR, USFWS, NOAA U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Fisheries Page 18