Variation in minijack production among Columbia River Chinook salmon hatcheries Brian Beckman & Don Larsen NOAA Fisheries, NWFSC, Seattle, WA
Do other hatcheries produce minijacks? Where do they go? What s the overall abundance?
Goal: to provide information (something to think about) no value judgments (good or bad)
How do we assess precocious male maturation? Don s method is a lot of work! Testes Testes Plasma 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) O OH O
Upstream migration by PIT-tagged minijacks
7 dams have PIT-tag detectors in adult ladders Washington Yakima River N Columbia River Clearwater River Salmon River Oregon Snake River Idaho
Movement pattern of PIT-tagged smolts released from Cle Elum Hatchery acclimation sites in 2003 35 25 15 5 5 15 25 35 % of total count 5 day increment McNary Dam juvenile by-pass Adult Ladder Operational definition: Minijacks are detected in adult ladder after 15 June, same year that they were released. 20 15 10 5 0 10 20 30 40 Bonneville Dam juvenile by-pass Adult Ladder April May June July August Sept
Individual movement may be tracked Yakima River 30 July 24 July N Columbia River Clearwater River 9 July 15 July Salmon River 3D9.1BF15D5CBD Released from Methow Hatchery 30 April Snake River Idaho
May numbers of PIT-tagged fish detected in adult ladders be used to index minijack production?
Minijack detection at Bonneville Dam relates to Cle Elum Hatchery minijack abundance pre-release.40.35 2002 2003 Cle Elum Hatchery minijacks detected in adult ladder at Bonneville Dam (% of release).30.25.20.15.10.05 10 15 20 25 30 35 Maturing males pre-release (% of population) (Larsen et al. 2006)
Approach used to compare minijack abundance: Detection rate in adult ladder at Bonneville Dam
Hatcheries that release PIT-tagged yearling chinook smolts (>7500, 2002-2003) Carson spring chinook Columbia River below McNary Umatilla fall chinook Clark Flat (Cle Elum) spring chinook Columbia River Jack Creek (Cle Elum) spring chinook above McNary Easton (Cle Elum) spring chinook Leavenworth spring chinook Entiat spring chinook Winthrop spring chinook Methow spring chinook Chewuch (Methow) spring chinook Dworshak spring chinook Snake River Catherine Crk (Looking Glass) spring chinook Lostine Pnd (Looking Glass) spring chinook Rapid River spring chinook Knox Bridge (McCall) spring chinook Imnaha spring chinook
Canada Washington 10 9 8 6 7 5 Yakima River 4 3 11 N Columbia River 1 2 12 Clearwater River 13 14 15 Bonneville Dam 16 Salmon River Detectors installed in all Oregon ladders 2002 Snake River Idaho
Minijacks were detected at Bonneville Dam from all releases 160 140 # PIT-tags detected 120 100 80 2002 2003 60 40 20 0 Carson Umatilla Clark Flat Jack Creek Easton Leavenworth Entiat Winthrop Methow Chewuch Dworshak Lostine Catherine Creek Imnaha Rapid River Knox Bridge
Total minijack production by hatchery
# PIT-tags expanded by % of release tagged & number smolts released Estimated # of minijacks at Bonneville (Expanded PIT-tag) 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 2002 2003 4,000 2,000 0 Carson Umatilla Clark Flat Jack Creek Easton Leavenwroth Entiat Winthrop Methow Chewuch Dworshak Lostine Catherine Creek Imnaha Rapid River Knox Bridge
Canada Carson Washington Hatchery is very close to Bonneville Dam Carson Yakima River Hatchery N Columbia River 1 Clearwater River Bonneville Dam Salmon River Oregon Snake River Idaho
minijack detection varies independently of release number 2000 1750 1500 1250 1000 2002 2003 750 500 250 0 Carson Clark Flat Easton Jack Creek Leavenworth Entiat Winthrop Methow Chewuch Dworshak Lostine Catherine Creek Imnaha Rapid River Knox Bridge 11,000 4,000 2,500,000 1,500,000 1,400,000 1,000,000 1,000,000
Minijack detection at Bonneville Dam relates to minijack abundance pre-release.40 Cle Elum Hatchery minijacks detected in adult ladder at Bonneville Dam (% of release).35.30.25.20.15.10.05 2 order of magnitude difference Bonneville Dam and hatchery 10 15 20 25 30 35 Maturing males pre-release (% of population) (Larsen et al. unpublished)
Minijacks released (Estimated @ Bonneville X 100) Guesstimated total release of minijacks to Columbia Basin by comparable hatcheries 200,000 (above McNary Dam) 175,000 150,000 125,000 100,000 75,000 SWAG 2002 2003 50,000 25,000 0 Clark Flat Jack Creek Easton Leavenwroth Entiat Winthrop Methow Chewuch Dworshak Catherine Creek Lostine Imnaha Rapid River
Relative minijack production (%)by hatchery + 2007 data
0.7 2002 2003 Minijacks detected at Bonneville Dam (% PIT-tagged juveniles released) 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 Carson Umatilla Clark Flat Jack Creek Easton Leavenworth Entiat Winthrop Methow Chewuch Dworshak Imnaha Catherine Creek Lostine Rapid River Knox Bridge Relative minijack production differs 0.8 between hatcheries (%) nd nd
Minijacks detected at Bonneville Dam (% PIT-tagged juveniles released).9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2 x x Carson Umatilla 2002.1 0 2003 -.1 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 River kilometers to Bonneville Dam
minijacks were also detected in 2007 1.6 Minijacks detected at Bonneville Dam (% PIT-tagged juveniles released) 1.4 1.2 1.8.6.4 33% Leav % minijacks @ hatchery measured by Don 29% Cle Elum 35% Winthrop MidCol Snake UpCol.2 0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 River kilometers to Bonneville Dam
Do you remember Don talk? The bigger they are at release, the higher the minijack rate (BY X acc.site, BY 2000-BY 2005) 70 60 50 Post-Growth Expt. BY 2005 High Growth BY 2002-2004 Pre-Growth Expt. BY 2000, 2001 Minijacks rate (% males) 40 30 Low Growth BY 2002-2004 20 10 R 2 = 0.53 P < 0.0001 0 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 Weight (g)
Size matters: length @ tagging relates to Minijacks detected at Bonneville Dam (% PIT-tagged juveniles released) 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.8.6 minijack rate ~9/lb MidCol Snake UpCol.4.2 0 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 Length at Tagging (mm) (date undefined)
Relative minijack production differs between hatcheries and between years but not predictably.9 Minijacks detected at Bonneville Dam (% PIT-tagged juveniles released).8.7.6 2002 2003 2007.5.4.3.2.1 0 Carson CleElum Dworshak Leavenworth LookingGlass McCall RapidRiver Winthrop
Detection rate throughout the basin?
Washington Canada 7 dams have detectors in adult ladders Yakima River N Columbia River Clearwater River Salmon River Oregon Snake River Idaho
% of total minijacks detected all dams, detected at a particular dam 100 Where are minijacks from each hatchery found? Bonneville McNary 80 Priest Rapids 60 40 Rock Island 20 Wells 0 Clark Flat Jack Creek Easton Leavenworth Entiat Winthrop Methow Chewuch 2003
Overall Summary PIT-tagged minijacks can be detected in adult ladders at Columbia River dams. PIT-tagged minijack data is informative but neither precise nor accurate MiniJacks are everywhere and may be abundant Minijack detection rate varied with release location, hatchery, and year.