Habitat Use of Juvenile Chinook Salmon in Lake Washington and the Ship Canal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Employees Chris Allar Matthew Arasim Eric Bixler Becky Braley Eleanor Bosman-Clark Sergio Camacho Steven Celedonia Bob Clement Hilary Collis James Curtis Steve Damm Steve Dilley Emily Dunklee Tay Dunklee Molly Ehlert William Gale Howard Gearns Ian Grettenberger Stephen Hager Andrea Henton Jack Holbrook Jonathan Hyde Nathan Hyde Christine Iverson Kevin Kennedy Hwa Kim Dan Lantz Tracy Leavy Fan Lee Terence Lee Zhuozhuo Li Zuma Martin Charles McCoy III Linda Moore Eric Myers Thomas Mohagen Sedge Neil Kenneth Ostrand Roger Peters Richard Piaskowski Jon-Michael Pratt Benjamin Price Sharon Rainsberry Sean Rubey Scott Sanders Briana Shrier Jamie Sproul Tracey Scalici Julie Scheurer Lauren Seyda James Steele Eric Tallman Brad Thompson Heather Tschaekofske Lindsy Wright Bob Wunderlich Mathew Wynn Matthew Zimmer
Acknowledgements Seattle Public Utilities SPU Keith Kurko, Julie Crittenden, Michele Koehler US Army Corps of Engineers USCOE Fred Goetz Washington State Department of Transportation WSDOT Phil Bloch King County City of Mercer Island Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife WDFW University of Washington UW City of Renton Hydroacoustic Technology Inc HTI Muckleshoot Tribe MIT
Study Objective Determine habitat requirements of juvenile Chinook salmon in Lake Washington and Ship Canal Determine relationship between habitat use and shoreline development Identify potential types of restoration activities and monitor ongoing restoration projects Determine habitat use of key predators of juvenile Chinook salmon Determine movement patterns of emigrating Chinook smolts Evaluate fish passage of Chinook salmon at the Ballard Locks
Timeline 2001-2005 - Early rearing period in nearshore areas primarily south Lake Washington 2004-2008 Smolts - movement and habitat use in Lake Washington and Ship Canal 2004-2008 - Habitat use and seasonal movement of predatory fishes in Lake Washington and Ship Canal 2007-2008 Movement patterns of smolts and predatory fishes at SR 520 Bridge
Reports: www.fws.gov/wafwo/fisheries/wwfish_pub4.html roger_tabor@fws.gov mark_celedonia@fws.gov
Juvenile Chinook Salmon - Methodology February -April Snorkeling April-May Snorkeling May-July Acoustic tracking
Distribution and Habitat use of Juvenile Chinook Salmon in Nearshore Areas of Lakes in Western Washington
Lake Washington Basin Bear Creek Lake Sammamish Issaquah Creek Cedar Falls Chinook Hatcheries Landsburg Dam
Migration Cedar River Chinook Outmigration Migration of juvenile Chinook out of the Cedar River and into Lake Washington; based on WDFW fry/smolt traps at the mouth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Juvenile Chinook groups Lake Washington Cedar River fry - early migrants Cedar River pre-smolts late migrants Bear Creek fry early migrants Bear Creek pre-smolts late migrants Issaquah Creek pre-smolts (hatchery and wild) Lake Sammamish Issaquah Creek fry early migrants Isaquah Creek pre-smolts (hatchery and wild)
Fresh et al. 1999-2000, WDFW Lake Washington Littoral zone Juvenile Chinook Pelagic zone February-April Littoral zone Pelagic zone May-June
Outline Depth selection Distribution Substrate use Overwater structures and armoring Woody debris Emergent and overhanging vegetation Artificial lighting Non-natal tributaries
Depth distribution Water column depth
Mean depth (m) South Lake Washington Night snorkeling/scuba diving: 0 3 m deep 0.80 0.70 c 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 a b 0.00 March 10 April 7 May 12 N = 31 40 46 Mean length (mm) = 43 50 92
Selectivity (α) 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 South Lake Washington Dawn surface feeding activity F M A M M Feb Mar Apr May Jun Depth category (m) 0-0.5 0.5-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5
Chinook distribution South Lake Washington - night snorkeling February 4 May 27, 2003 Chinook / m 2 0.6 0.4 y = -0.14Ln(x) + 0.36 R 2 = 0.81 0.2 0 0 5 10 15 20 Shoreline distance to Cedar River (km)
Chinook Salmon Nursery Areas February to mid May Bear Creek Chinook Cedar River Chinook
South Lake Washington Variables include: Substrate use Use of armored shorelines Use of overwater structures
Selectivity ( α ) Substrate selection 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 Day March, N = 25 0.2 0.1 0 0.6 Sand Gravel Cobble Boulder Bulkhead 0.5 0.4 0.3 Night Feb-March, N = 127 April-May, N = 360 0.2 0.1 0 Sand Gravel Cobble Boulder Bulkhead
Selectivity ( α ) Shoreline Armoring 1 0.8 Day 0.6 March, N = 25 0.4 0.2 0 1 Rip rap Bulkhead No armor 0.8 0.6 Night Feb-March, N = 127 April-May, N = 360 0.4 0.2 0 Rip rap Bulkhead No armor
Selectivity ( α ) Overwater Structures 1 0.8 Day March, N = 25 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 OWS - under OWS - within 5 m Open 0.8 0.6 Night Feb-March, N = 127 April-May, N = 360 0.4 0.2 0 OWS - under OWS - within 5 m Open
# Chinook / 100 m Rainier Beach Restoration Site Marina and rip rap replaced with gravel beach 120 100 80 60 March Night snorkel counts control restoration 40 20 Pre-restoration Post-restoration 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Year
Seward Park Restoration Sites Substrate replacement N
Natural overhanging vegetation (OHV) with small woody debris (SWD) SWD and OHV Experiment
# of Chinook # of Chinook SWD and OHV Experiment 160 120 80 40 late March-early April Day, n = 10 Night, n = 3 0 SWD/OHV SWD Open 100 80 May 60 40 20 0 Day, n = 7 Night, n = 4 SWD/OHV SWD Open
Juvenile Chinook under OHV
Lake Quinault Habitat Use Emergent Vegetation Large Woody Debris
2 Lake Quinault results April 2003 c Chinook / m 2 1.5 b 1 ab ab 0.5 a 0
Number of Chinook Artificial Lighting Experiment February 23, 2005 Mean length 49 mm FL 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Control areas Lighted areas 0.2 0.3 lux Mean: 5 10 lux Max: 80 100 lux
Non-natal tributaries Kennydale Creek Laughing Jacobs Creek Gene Coulon Park
Non-natal tributaries Stream habitat - South Lake Washington - North Lake Washington - South Lake Sammamish Convergence Pool Delta Lake reference site
Chinook / m Non-natal Tributaries Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish 0.6 0.5 0.4 March-April May June 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Small tribs (< 2 cfs) Large tribs (> 2 cfs) Tributary
Number of Chinook Chinook Abundance in Johns Creek Lower 260 m 700 600 500 2003 400 300 2004 200 100 0 Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Johns Creek Close to Cedar River Low gradient Small to medium-sized Few other fish present
Non-natal Tributary Deltas Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish 1.2 June 1 0.8 Lakeshore Delta Chinook / m 2 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tributary
Percent Number of Chinook Non-natal Tributary Deltas Rain events 50 Abundance 40 30 20 Base flow High flow 10 0 May Creek Taylor Creek Bryn Mawr tributary 100 80 Other Diet 60 40 Oligochaetes Chironomids 20 0 Baseline Rain event Baseline Rain event Lakeshore Bryn Mawr trib.
Summary Juvenile Chinook inhabit shallow waters in the south end of Lake Washington Non-armored, open sandy beach (Day and night habitat) Woody debris and Overhanging vegetation (Day habitat)
Summary Juvenile Chinook appear to be attracted to artificial lighting which may increase predation risk Non-natal tributaries can provide valuable habitat for juvenile Chinook