Feather-Yuba River Interactions with an emphasis on Spring-run Chinook Salmon Yuba Accord River Management Team 6 th Annual Symposium July 15, 2014
LOWER YUBA RIVER Daguerre Point Dam and the Goldfields 2
Fixed Date Approach CHINOOK SALMON PASSING DAGUERRE POINT DAM Vaki Counts 2004-2010 3
CHINOOK SALMON PASSING DAGUERRE POINT DAM Vaki Counts 2011 Demarcation Date 2004-2010 combined data Simple crossing of the lines 7/14 4
CHINOOK SALMON Spring- and Fall-run Differentiation Variable Date Approach 2004 & 2005 No. of Fish 600 500 400 300 Chinook salmon = 5,927 fish 8/1/04 2004 Chinook Salmon Passing Daguerre Point Dam Spring-run Chinook Fall-run Chinook 200 100 No. of Fish 0 3/1 4/1 5/1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 3/1 Date 400 8/24/05 2005 Chinook Salmon 350 Passing Daguerre Point Chinook salmon = 11,374 fish Dam 300 Spring-run Chinook 250 200 150 Fall-run Chinook 100 50 0 3/1 4/1 5/1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 3/1 Date 5
CHINOOK SALMON Spring- and Fall-run Differentiation Variable Date Approach 2006 & 2007 No. of Fish 250 200 150 100 Chinook salmon = 5,203 fish 9/6/06 2006 Chinook Salmon Passing Daguerre Point Dam Spring-run Chinook Fall-run Chinook Salmon Predicted 50 No. of Fish 0 3/1 4/1 5/1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 3/1 Date 60 50 40 30 20 Chinook salmon = 1,394 fish 9/4/07 2007 Chinook Salmon Passing Daguerre Point Dam Spring-run Chinook Fall-run Chinook 10 0 3/1 4/1 5/1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 Date 6
CHINOOK SALMON Spring- and Fall-run Differentiation Variable Date Approach 2008 & 2009 160 140 Chinook salmon = 2,533 fish 8/10/08 2008 Chinook Salmon Passing Daguerre Point Dam No. of Fish 120 100 80 60 Spring-run Chinook Fall-run Chinook 40 20 No. of Fish 0 3/1 4/1 5/1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 3/1 Date 350 7/9/09 2009 Chinook Salmon 300 Passing Daguerre Chinook salmon = 5,378 fish Point Dam 250 200 150 100 Spring-run Chinook Fall-run Chinook 50 0 3/1 4/1 5/1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 3/1 Date 7
CHINOOK SALMON Spring- and Fall-run Differentiation No. of Fish 600 500 400 300 200 Variable Date Approach 2010 & 2011 Chinook salmon = 6,469 fish 7/6/10 2010 Chinook Salmon Passing Daguerre Point Dam Spring-run Chinook Fall-run Chinook 100 No. of Fish 0 3/1 4/1 5/1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 3/1 Date 600 9/7/11 2011 Chinook Salmon 500 Passing Daguerre Chinook salmon = 7,785 fish Point Dam 400 300 200 Spring-run Chinook Fall-run Chinook 100 0 3/1 4/1 5/1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 Date 8
CHINOOK SALMON Spring- and Fall-run Differentiation Variable Date Approach 2012 9
CHINOOK SALMON Run Timing and Modality Science-based Results Conventional Wisdom Spring-run return to the river from Feb through May and exhibit a single, distinct temporal mode in run timing Annually variable run timing Few fish passing Daguerre Point Dam prior to May Extended holding below Daguerre Point Dam over summer? 10
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Upstream Migration Acoustically tagged 90 spring-run Chinook salmon during 2009, 2010 and 2011 downstream of Daguerre Point Dam Tracked with 23 static receivers, and weekly roving surveys 11
90 Average Residence Times below Daguerre Point Dam SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Upstream Migration Residence Time (No. of Days) 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Average Residence Time 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 Month of Passage at Daguerre Point Dam 12
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Wild Population Conventional Wisdom Because there is no hatchery on the Yuba River, the population is composed of wild fish? Feather River Hatchery DWR and CDFW 2009 13
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Wild Population Determination of adipose fin clips Digital photography Videography 14
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Wild Population Avg. Avg. 15
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Wild Population Science-based Results Conventional Wisdom Because there is no hatchery on the Yuba River, the population is composed of wild fish Feather River Hatchery? Yuba River Ad-clipped (i.e., hatchery) fish comprise a large percentage of the annual run Of 43 genetic samples taken during May 2009 from upstream migrating Chinook salmon, 28 were FRFH spring-run and 15 were CV fall-run During fall 2010, examination of 333 heads from ad-clipped carcasses showed 97% from FRFH Do differences in flows and temps attract fish from the Feather River into the Yuba River? 16
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Hatchery Straying - Attraction to the Yuba River FLOW TEMP 17
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Hatchery Straying - Attraction to the Yuba River Modeled weekly averages of daily proportions of ad-clipped phenotypic spring-run 2004-2012 About 160 average weekly proportions Explanatory variables Weekly averages of the daily ratios of Yuba flows & temps to Feather flows & temps 10 combinations of flow and temperature attraction variables 18
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Hatchery Straying - Attraction to the Yuba River 19
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Hatchery Straying - Attraction to the Yuba River Do differences in flows and temps attract fish from the Feather into the Yuba River? YES! Lower Higher Feather Yuba Flows + Higher Lower Feather Yuba Temps = More Hatchery Strays 6 Weeks Later 20
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Lack of Reproductive Isolation Both spring-running and fall-running Chinook salmon are restricted to the lower Yuba River below Englebright Dam 21
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Introgressive Hybridization Gene flow movement from one run into the gene pool of another by repeated back-crossing of a hybrid with one of its parental genotypes The phenotypic spring-run Chinook salmon in the lower Yuba River actually represents hybridization Between Yuba River spring- and fall-run Chinook salmon With Feather River spring-run Chinook salmon With Feather River fall-run Chinook salmon With FRFH fall-run Chinook salmon With FRFH spring-run Chinook salmon Which itself represents a hybridization between Feather River spring- and fall-run Chinook salmon CWT Recoveries Vaki Ad-Clipped Fish NMFS & UC Santa Cruz 22
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Extirpation and Recolonization Debris dams 1900 to 1941- intermittently blocked migration Drought 1928-1934: high temps, likely extirpated spring-run b Englebright Dam built in 1941 Spring-run virtually disappeared by 1959 c Straying from the Feather River and stocking from FRFH a A remnant spring-run population persisted in the lower Yuba River as of 1991 a 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 DPD fish ladders built in 1911 a DPD fish ladders destroyed 1927/28 a DPD fish ladders rebuilt in 1938 but ineffective a Adequate DPD fish ladders built 1950-52 a Construction of New Bullards Bar 1970 higher, colder flows d FRFH springrun planted in the lower Yuba River a CDFG 1991 b Mitchell 1992 c Fry 1961 d YCWA et al. 2007 23
SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON Feather-Yuba River Interactions No genetic differentiation between Feather and Yuba Chinook salmon Lack of reproductive isolation Likely no pure ancestral genome There There is an is independent, NOT an independent, genetically genetically distinct population distinct population of spring-run of spring-run Chinook salmon Chinook the salmon lower in the lower Yuba Yuba River River? Yuba River spring-run extirpated by 1959 FRFH fish planted in 1970s Re-colonized by FRFH strays in 1970s Yuba and Feather flow and temp ratios influence hatchery strays Introgressive hybridization Hatchery straying rates up to 61%+ 24
FEATHER-YUBA RIVER INTERACTIONS Management Implications/Considerations ESA Consultations? NMFS Recovery Planning? Reservoir Management? Yuba River spring-run not an independent, genetically distinct population Feather River Fish Hatchery Management? Re-introduction into the Upper Yuba Basin? 25
NEXT STEPS M&E Program - The Next Few Years Further evaluate regional population structure What have we learned so far? Continue to explore in-basin and out-of-basin influences on population dynamics Final M&E Report in 2016 Draft M&E Interim Report available at: www.yubaaccordrmt.com Feather Yuba Interactions 26
Feather-Yuba River Interactions with an emphasis on Spring-run Chinook Salmon Yuba Accord River Management Team 6 th Annual Symposium July 15, 2014