2012 Annual Report
Steelhead Broodstock Acclmaton and Montorng (BAM) Program n the Okanogan Basn, Annual Report covers performance under GPUD Contract No. 430-3559 1/1/2012 12/31/2013 Tbbts, W.T., R.E. Dasher, B. Hudson and J.A. Arterburn. 2013. Colvlle Confederated Trbes (CCT) Department of Fsh & Wldlfe Anadromous Fsh Dvson Omak Offce Omak, WA 98841 Phone: 509.422.7424 Fax: 509.422.7428 Suggested ctaton: Tbbts, W.T., R.E. Dasher, B. Hudson and J.A. Arterburn. 2013. Steelhead Broodstock Acclmaton and Montorng (BAM) Program n the Okanogan Basn, Annual. Colvlle Confederated Trbes Fsh and Wldlfe Department, Nespelem, WA. Project No. 430-3559. 2
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I. Executve Summary by Chapter. 7 II. Acknowledgements. 8 III. General Introducton 8 IV. Study Area.. 11 V. Chapter 1. Hatchery Brood Report... 13 Introducton. 13 Methods.. 14 Results. 17 Broodstock Collecton and Spawnng. 17 Juvenle Hatchery/Natural Survval 18 Juvenle Rearng and Release... 19 Dscusson 23 Recommendatons 24 VI. Chapter 2. Smolt Montorng and Acclmaton 24 Introducton.. 24 Methods 25 Results.. 27 Number of smolts and producton estmate usng a RST 27 Sze at emgraton. 27 Age at emgraton. 29 Smolt emgraton tmng... 31 Smolt survval... 32 Dscusson 32 Recommendatons. 33 VII. Chapter 3. Harvest and Steelhead Spawnng Ground Surveys. 34 Introducton... 34 Methods 35 Results.. 36 Omak Creek adult abundance estmates.. 36 Omak Creek mgraton and spawn tmng 38 Salmon Creek adult abundance estmates 39 Salmon Creek mgraton and spawn tmng... 41 Harvest Counts (Upper Columba and Okanogan Rver)... 41 Dscusson. 42 Recommendatons.... 42 VIII. References 43 IX. Appendx A: Length frequency graphs for wld steelhead captured n the Omak Creek Rotary Screw Trap by month 45 4
X. Appendx B: Smolt Estmator Standard Measurement Methods.. 47 XI. Appendx C: Hatchery Scentfc Revew Group Revew and Recommendatons 59 Lst of Tables Table 1. Summary of broodstock collected n the Okanogan basn between the years 2003-2012 for the locally adapted summer steelhead program. Orgn by year and dranage wth total number trapped and broodstock collected for spawn. HM = Hatchery Male, HF = Hatchery Female, WM = Wld Male, WF = Wld Female, H:W = Hatchery:Wld. Table 2: Okanogan Basn locally-adapted steelhead hatchery egg-take, fecundty and lfe stage survval between the years of 2004-2012. Table 3. Count, mortalty and cumulatve post pondng survval for broodyear 2012 Okanogan basn locally-adapted summer steelhead from July 2012 to Aprl 2013. (July to March data provded by Wells Fsh Hatchery, WDFW). Table 4. Average weght (g), length (mm) and coeffcent of varaton of broodyear 2012 summer steelhead reared at Wells Fsh Hatchery from June 2012 to Aprl 2013. (August to March data provded by Wells Fsh Hatchery, WDFW). Table 5. Total number of smolts released n the Okanogan basn by trbutary for 2003-2012. Table 6. Total number of PIT tags detected outsde of Omak Creek. Percent survval to Rocky Reach (RRJ) Dam and out of basn survval. RRJ= Rocky Reach Dam. Table 7. Average fork length at release compared to Smolt to Adult Returns (SAR) and Hatchery Return Rate (HRR) of Omak Creek locally-adapted steelhead back to Wells Dam for 2004-2012. Passve Integrated Transponder (PIT) detectons were not corrected for tag loss, resduals or stray rate. *2011 based on two years of adult returns and 2012 based on only one year of adult returns. Table 8. Total number of CWT tags deployed snce 2009 and number of adults wth CWT to Wells Fsh Hatchery and Omak Creek. 5
Table 9. Total number of PIT tags detected outsde of Omak Creek. Percent survval to Rocky Reach (RRJ) Dam and out of basn survval. RRJ= Rocky Reach Dam. Table 10. Recent adult steelhead counts at Wells Dam and harvest n the Columba Rver above Wells Dam and the Okanogan Rver for the Colvlle Trbes and the Washngton Department of Fsh and Wldlfe (WDFW). Lst of Fgures Fgure 1: Okanogan basn and ts connecton to Canada and the Columba Rver through the Unted States. Fgure 2: Ftness model based on a length weght regresson of wld juvenle steelhead collected from the Omak Creek RST. Fgure 3: Ftness model based on a length weght regresson of hatchery juvenle steelhead collected from the Omak Creek RST. Fgure 4: Wld juvenle steelhead captured at the rotary screw trap n Omak Creek length frequency graph for the month of May 2012. Fgure 5: Hatchery steelhead length frequency collected from the RST on Omak Creek for the month of May 2012. Fgure 6: Hatchery steelhead length frequency collected from the RST on Omak Creek for the month of June 2012. Fgure 7: Juvenle emgraton model based on dscharge for the month of May. Total hatchery and estmated wld detectons are expanded from the determned effcency of the Omak (OMK) PTIS. Fgure 8: Map of summer steelhead redds observed below the Omak Creek adult trap n 2012. Fgure 9: Run tmes for summer steelhead n Omak Creek 2005-2009. Fgure 10: Map of summer steelhead redds observed below the Salmon Creek dverson n 2012. 6
I. Executve Summary by Chapter Chapter 1 The 2012 spawnng steelhead were comprsed prmarly of 2-salt hatchery fsh wth a mean fecundty of 5,500 eggs and no sgnfcant dfference n fecundty between wld and hatchery steelhead was detected between fsh of the same salt-age. Low numbers of broodstock captured from Omak Creek n 2012 resulted n below average numbers of smolts for release n 2013. Egg to smolt survval exceeded hatchery goals for Omak Creek wld by wld locally-adapted steelhead. Releases of wld-by-wld progeny from 2011 n Omak Creek dd not meet levels dentfed n the CCT juvenle stockng plan for 2012. Overall juvenle release numbers were wthn 10% of release goals for the Okanogan Basn. The most recent brood years of steelhead exhbted hatchery replacement rates great enough to replace parent broods (.e., > 1). Number of smolt-to-adult-returns (SAR) was below 0.5 % based on one year of return data. A larger return of 2-salt fsh s expected n 2014 from ths brood year. Chapter 2 A total of 40 females were collected at the wer and 9 redds counted below the wer provde an estmated 49 redds n Omak Creek for 2012. Trap effcency was low due to hgh water for most of the month of May. Based on effcency trals from a RST we estmated 6,519 (± 3,956, 95% CI) of natural orgn smolts were produced n Omak Creek for 2012. Dvdng the number of estmated smolts by the total number of redds produced n Omak Creek we calculated 133 smolts per redd. A hgh and low estmate at the 95 % confdence nterval conclude a range of 213 to 52 smolts per redd. Average fork length of natural and hatchery juvenle salmonds captured at the Omak RST were 128 mm and 188 mm, respectvely. Condton factors (K) measured for natural (N=3,882) and hatchery (N=808) steelhead at the RST n Omak Creek were 1.071 and 0.868, respectvely. Chapter 3 Redd surveys dentfed 9 redds below the Omak Creek wer trap. Usng an expermental escapement model those redds were expanded to 30 hatchery and fve wld steelhead from FPR and percent wld values derved at the wer (Mller et al., 2012). Based on combned redd 7
surveys and wer counts, the escapement estmate was 193 adult steelhead for Omak Creek n 2012. Usng a determned NRR of 13.3 % from wer collectons we estmated 25 natural orgn fsh to spawn n Omak Creek. A total of 191 steelhead were calculated to have returned to Salmon Creek based on redd surveys, PITS and vdeo montorng. Vdeo montorng provded an estmate of 20 % of the run to be of natural orgn for Salmon Creek. Expanded for the entre dranage we calculated 38 of the 191 fsh to be of natural orgn. Harvest counts based on WDFW creel surveys ncludng Columba Rver (Rocky Reach to Chef Joseph Dam), Okanogan Rver and the Smlkameen Rver was 1,772 steelhead. II. Acknowledgements We would lke to thank Grant County PUD (GCPUD) for fundng the Okanogan locally-adapted summer steelhead project. Edts to ths report from Bran Mller and Jennfer Mller. The Okanogan Basn Montorng and Evaluaton Program (OBMEP) for contrbutng nformaton regardng adult spawner estmates. Feld data collectors Rhonda Dasher, Olver Pakootas, Rocky Tmentwa, Oly Zacherle, and Byron Samam. Collaboraton efforts wth the WDFW Charle Snow, Charles Frady and Alex Repp and many thanks to those spawnng and rearng our fsh at the Wells Fsh Hatchery Faclty. III. General Introducton Upper Columba summer steelhead populatons have had a long hstory of declne resultng n protecton under the Endangered Speces Act (ESA) snce 1997 (NMFS 2009). Several reasons for ths declne nclude overharvest, habtat degradaton/alteraton, hydro-system mortalty and past hatchery practces. Okanogan steelhead populaton contnues to be at hgh rsk of extncton based on current abundance, productvty, spatal dstrbuton and dversty. The NOAA Fsheres 2008 FCRPS Supplemental Comprehensve Analyss (SCA) dentfed the Okanogan Rver steelhead populaton at hgh rsk for extncton. Natural orgn returns (NOR) s currently 104 steelhead, compared to the recovery abundance target of 1,000. The SCA descrbes the Okanogan populaton to be hgh rsk relatve to productvty (NOAA 2008) based on an average Hatchery Return Rate (HRR) or recrut/spawner value of 0.06 for brood years 1980-1999. Furthermore, the SCA dentfes genetc dversty and spatal dstrbuton as hgh rsk, due to large hatchery 8
nfluence of non-local stock (Wells stock) and spawner escapement lmted to only Omak and Salmon Creeks (NOAA 2008). Salmon and steelhead fshng has hstorcally been an mportant use of the Okanogan Rver by the members of the Colvlle Confederated Trbes (CCT). Unfortunately, spawnng and rearng habtat for summer steelhead s now lmted n the Okanogan Rver Basn wthn the state of Washngton, prmarly due to rrgaton dversons or water wthdrawals from trbutares. Omak Creek s a unque trbutary to the Okanogan Rver because t s located entrely wthn the Colvlle Indan Reservaton and offers perennal flow. For ths reason Omak Creek has been a prorty n the recovery efforts for summer steelhead wthn the Okanogan Rver basn. In 1992 personnel of the CCT-Fsh and Wldlfe Department surveyed and descrbed the physcal condton of n-stream habtat n Omak Creek from the confluence of the Okanogan Rver upstream 12.2 mles. Begnnng n 2005, multple long-term montorng stes were establshed n Omak Creek. Habtat and water qualty data collected at these stes over multple years are beng ncluded n an ongong, basn-wde analyss of fsh habtat status and trends Grant County PUD provdes fundng to develop hatchery programs coupled wth comprehensve montorng and evaluaton (M&E) plans that are ntended to provde the nformaton necessary for adaptve management. To be consstent wth other montorng and evaluaton (M&E) actvtes a comprehensve plan ncludng a montorng and evaluaton (M&E) program was developed. In coordnaton wth project plannng and mplementaton the Colvlle Trbe, under contract wth GCPUD, provded the M&E strategy for the Okanogan locally-adapted summer steelhead program. Consultaton wth the hatchery sub-commttee of the Prest Rapds Coordnatng Commttee (PRCC HSC 2009) helped develop ths plan for the Okanogan basn. The gudng prncples for the development of the M&E plans were developed from the Hatchery Scentfc Revew Group recommendatons (HSRG 2009) and current M&E plans n the Methow and Wenatchee basns (Pearsons and Langshaw, 2009). Background The Publc Utlty Dstrct No. 2 of Grant County funds hatchery programs ntended by the Jont Fshery Partes (JFP) to supplement natural populatons of summer steelhead, and to produce summer steelhead for harvest augmentaton. These hatchery programs collect, rear, and release salmonds under the PRCC Salmon and Settlement Agreement and n accordance wth protocols governng the number, orgn, and tmng of adult salmon and steelhead collected for broodstock, thereby affectng the subsequent number and genetc composton of the juvenles released. 9
In 2002, the Colvlle Trbe, wth support from NOAA Fsheres and fundng from the Pacfc Coast Salmon Recovery Fund, ntated a locally-adapted plot broodstock program n Omak Creek, a trbutary to the Okanogan Rver Basn. Intal objectves were to determne f non-local hatchery steelhead released nto the Okanogan Rver Basn would have an mpact on the local populaton. Future objectves ncluded ncreasng juvenle to adult survval due to development of a locally-adapted summer steelhead n Omak Creek. Begnnng n 2007, Grant County Publc Utlty Dstrct (GCPUD), through the Prest Rapds Project Settlement Agreement process, began provdng the operaton and mantenance fundng for mplementaton of a locally-adapted steelhead producton program at Cassmer Bar Fsh Hatchery (CBFH). Past producton targets at CBFH were 20,000 yearlng steelhead smolts for release n the Okanogan Rver Basn. In conjuncton wth the CBFH, the Wells (WDFW) Hatchery Genetc Management Plan (HGMP) fulflls the remanng GCPUD Hatchery Program mtgaton requrement of 100,000 (±10%) smolts. The program was permtted under ESA through Secton 10(a)(1)(A)(Permt 1412). In 2010, the CBFH was closed due to program falures, ncludng low smolt to adult return rates and t was decded that the entre 100,000 GCPUD Hatchery Program component for the Okanogan Basn would be moved to Wells Fsh Hatchery. Components of the current Scope of Work funded by GCPUD nclude: 1) annual broodstock collecton of up to 16 adults from Omak Creek; 2) transfer of broodstock from Omak Creek to Wells Fsh Hatchery; 3) conduct spawnng and egg ncubaton at Wells Fsh Hatchery; 4) rear summer steelhead to approxmately 18-20 fsh per lb. by release date; 5) annually tag up to 20,000 juvenle steelhead; 6) release of approxmately 20,000 yearlng steelhead smolts n the Okanogan Rver Basn; 7) mantan Wells Fsh Hatchery and provde fsh health treatments as prescrbed by state fsh pathologst; 8) evaluate survval of out-mgratng steelhead smolts released from Omak Creek; 9) estmate juvenle abundance n Omak Creek and up to three addtonal trbutares and 10) provde monthly and annual reports of the program. Summarzed data and recommendatons ncluded n ths annual report for the perod of January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012 ncludes: 1) Adult broodstock collecton and spawnng for Omak Creek; 2) Relatve success of hatchery and natural reared locally-adapted returnng adults; 3) Redd abundance and adult estmates for Omak and Salmon creeks; 4) Rotary screw trap juvenle survval and producton estmates; 5) Juvenle short-term acclmaton and survval estmates. 10
IV. Study Area The Okanogan Rver headwaters begn n Brtsh Columba (B.C.) and flows nto the Unted States near the town of Orvlle, WA, where t then contnues south and meets the Columba Rver near the town of Brewster, WA. (Fgure 1). The majorty of the landscape conssts of rugged hllsdes and rollng shrub steppe. Ths ard envronment often provdes lmted overhead cover and one of the major reasons for warm (>25 0 C) summer water temperatures n the Okanogan Rver. Steelhead appear to have a better probablty of survval n small trbutares, where thermal refuge can be found, but often these nlets are blocked by nsuffcent water, geographc obstructons, and man-made dversons. Progress s ongong n the areas of habtat mprovements and landowner agreements to provde more cover and water n these senstve areas n the Okanogan Basn. 11
Fgure 1: Okanogan basn and ts connecton to Canada and the Columba Rver through the Unted States. 12
V. Chapter 1. Hatchery Brood Report Introducton A hatchery program has been funded by GCPUD to mtgate for the mortalty assocated wth mortalty assocated wth the constructon and operaton of the Prest Rapds and Wanapum hydroelectrc projects. Hatchery mtgaton has been a cornerstone for hydroelectrc mtgaton for decades. The number of broodstock requred for the Okanogan summer steelhead program was derved from bologcal assumptons related to the sex rato, broodstock survval, fecundty, and juvenle survval wthn the hatchery. The rato of the number of returnng hatchery fsh from a partcular brood year to the number of broodstock collected for that brood s referred to as the Hatchery Replacement Rate (HRR). Ths chapter addresses hatchery actvtes related to the 2012 brood Okanogan summer steelhead program. Specfcally for HRR, number of fsh released and sze of fsh released for the followng objectves and assocated hypothess statements. Objectve 3: Determne f populaton structure and effectve populaton sze have changed n natural spawnng populatons as a result of the hatchery program. Addtonally, determne f hatchery programs have caused changes n phenotypc characterstcs of natural populatons. H0: Age at Maturty Hatchery = Age at Maturty Naturally produced H0: Sze (length) at Maturty Hatchery Age X and Gender Y = Sze (length) at Maturty Naturally produced Age X and Gender Y Objectve 4: Determne f the hatchery adult-to-adult survval (.e., hatchery replacement rate) s greater than the natural adult-to-adult survval (.e., natural replacement rate) and equal to or greater than the program specfc expected value (BAMP 1998). H0: HRR Year X < NRR Year X H0: HRR < BAMP value (expected) Objectve 6: Determne f hatchery fsh were released at the programmed sze and number. H0: Hatchery fsh Sze at release = Programmed Sze at release H0: Hatchery fsh Number released = Programmed Number released 13
Methods Broodstock Collecton and Spawnng Steelhead broodstock were collected n accordance wth protocols desgned to ensure a desred genetc composton (.e., hatchery and wld) were collected to satsfy specfc program release goals. A gravty-style wer located at rver klometer 2.1 on Omak Creek was used to collect adult summer steelhead for the locally-adapted Okanogan summer steelhead program. A flotaton system used to keep a pcket fence above water drected fsh nto a holdng box. Fsh were held n the box by a v-shaped entrance and cod trggers whch dscourage fsh from backng out of the trap. Collecton occurred once every mornng and durng peak flows, a second vst occurred n the afternoon to clear debrs from the trap and check for addtonal fsh captures. Adult steelhead return to the Okanogan Rver Basn n late wnter and early sprng and are affected by rver flow and water temperature. Because these envronmental condtons were varable between years and wthn a partcular stream, a systematc broodstock collecton s not possble; therefore, broodstock collecton s opportunstc and dependent upon n-season assessment of return abundance and composton. Intally, broodstock collecton targeted natural orgn steelhead and collected one of every three natural orgn steelhead captured n Omak Creek. As the return progressed, abundance and orgn composton was assessed and the rato of natural orgn steelhead was adjusted accordngly to only collect 33 percent of the total wld run. Should the abundance of natural orgn steelhead be low, where the full broodstock collecton of 16 adults s not attanable, broodstock collecton targets shft to F1 generaton hatchery fsh returnng from the locally-adapted steelhead program (.e., adpose present/adpose CWT) and fnally to adpose-clpped steelhead f necessary to acheve the target collecton of 16 brood fsh. At tme of collecton, CCT staff recorded the date of collecton, marks/tags, presumed orgn, sex, maturaton state (.e., how close to spawnng) and ndvdually PIT tags each fsh collected. These data were recorded on a data sheet and provded to WDFW and left at Wells FH each day as fsh were delvered to Wells FH. Transport/Holdng Adult steelhead collected from Omak Creek were transported to Wells FH daly as collected. Collecton and transport occurred Sunday-Saturday, wth delvery at Wells FH between 8:00 am and 7 pm. Adults were held n a covered vnyl raceway (raceway #12). 14
Spawnng Wells FH staff checked all fsh and spawned them as needed, at a mnmum of once a week. Wells FH staff, at tme of spawnng examned fsh for marks and scanned for PIT and CWT tags for orgn determnaton and made the approprate parental orgn crosses. Spawn date, parental cross(s) and estmated number of green-eggs per cross were recorded by WDFW. If suffcent males were avalable on the spawnng day, factoral spawnng was conducted. Female eggs are equally dvded and fertlzed wth two separate males and ncubated separately untl vrology results were avalable. Factoral spawned females can be recombned as a sngle female, pendng a negatve vrology result for all fsh nvolved n an ndvdual factoral cross. Females were kllspawned and males were lve-spawned and used multple tmes for fertlzaton, when requred. At the end of spawnng, males were sacrfced for vrology samplng. Vrology for the locallyadapted steelhead was kept separate from the remander of the steelhead at Wells FH. Juvenle Rearng and Release An agreement wth the WDFW and Wells FH (Wells project No. 2149 and Secton 10 (a)(1)(a) permt number 1395) states that all spawnng, rearng and transportng of locally-adapted summer steelhead smolts to the Okanogan basn shall be managed by Wells Hatchery. Up to 100,000 (±10%) smolts are produced at Wells FH for GCPUDmtgaton requrements. The program rears locally-adapted Okanogan fsh and Okanogan basn safety-net fsh. A descrpton of the rearng facltes at Wells FH can be found n the Integrated Hatchery Operatons Team (IHOT) (1995) manual. The markng scheme for ths program vares dependng on study purpose. All Wells stock fsh released nto the Okanogan Basn receved an external mark (.e., adpose fn-clp). Locally-adapted summer steelhead smolts reared at Wells fsh hatchery were transported to the St. Mary s acclmaton pond on Omak Creek. Acclmated fsh at St. Mary s acclmaton pond below Msson Falls, a natural falls, consdered a barrer to anadromous fsh were voltonally released. A det used to mantan ftness, but not growth, was mplemented n order to encourage outmgraton. We fed fsh a ftness det over a three-week perod, from May 7 to May 28, to allow ample acclmaton tme. Any remanng fsh were removed, transported and released n the lower Okanogan Rver and assumed part of the local harvest group. Juvenle Hatchery/Natural Survval The survval of juvenles n the hatchery s montored under the Wells HGMP Plan. Survval rates were calculated based on the complete nventory of the populaton at taggng and any 15
mortalty that occurred pror to or after taggng was complete, dependng on the specfc stage of development. PIT tagged natural steelhead captured at the Rotary Screw Trap (RST) n Omak Creek were used to determne out-of-basn survval. Number of Juvenle Fsh Released A 100% nventory of fsh on staton was acheved because all juvenle fsh receved ether an nternal and/or external tag or mark durng rearng. The actual number of juvenle fsh released was calculated by subtractng any mortalty that occurred durng holdng from the total number of marked fsh. Sze of Juvenle Fsh Released Target release szes specfed n the M&E Plan were derved from weght at release (fsh per pound) goals outlned n the Wells HCP. Correspondng length at release targets were derved from 5-years of pre-release length and weght sample data for each stock. The sze of juvenle fsh released was estmated from fsh randomly sampled mmedately pror to release. Fork length was measured to the nearest mllmeter and weght was measured to the nearest 0.1 gram. Hatchery/Natural Replacement Rate Hatchery and natural replacement rates were calculated by dvdng the number of PIT tagged returnng adults detected at Wells Dam. Natural orgn fsh on average have a two year fresh water lfe cycle and therefore total number of wld returns n 2012 were dvded by a two year return hypothess (2010 and 2011) to provde a natural adult to adult survval estmate. Estmates are based on total escapement numbers collected at Wells and a proporton of those (13.5%) assumed destned for the Okanogan Rver (Mller et al., 2013). These estmates are then valdated through actual numbers collected at the adult wer and expanded PIT tag data for Omak Creek. 16
Results Broodstock Collecton and Spawnng Locally-adapted summer steelhead collected from Omak Creek were used as part of the locallyadapted summer steelhead program for the Okanogan basn. In 2012, we captured a total of 171 adult summer steelhead n the Omak Creek wer (Table 1), of whch 48 were natural orgn and 123 were of hatchery orgn. Of the hatchery fsh collected at the wer, 73.9 % were male (N=91) and 26.1 % female (N=32) (Table 1). Smlarly 33 of the 48 natural orgn fsh collected at the wer were male compared to 15 female (Table 1). A total of nne natural orgn broodstock were collected from ths pool of fsh for broodstock. Four females and fve males were spawned by a factoral cross to enhance genetc varaton. Vrology tests were taken on all broodstock to test for dseases and any abnormaltes. Table 1. Summary of broodstock collected n the Okanogan basn between the years 2003-2012 for the locally adapted summer steelhead program. Orgn by year and dranage wth total number trapped and broodstock collected for spawn. HM = Hatchery Male, HF = Hatchery Female, WM = Wld Male, WF = Wld Female, H:W = Hatchery:Wld. Dranage Year HM HF WM WF Total Total Broodstock Trapped Brood Rato H:W Omak Cr. 2003 3 2 1 2 8 4 1:3 2004 63 33 8 2 106 16 8:8 2005 83 62 0 3 148 15 12:3 2006 21 76 2 6 105 11 8:3 2007 39 37 15 5 96 12 7:5 2008 39 15 15 9 78 8 1:7 2009 22 9 12 4 47 8 2:6 2010 25 16 111 54 206 16 2:14 2011 5 3 20 28 36 11 0:11 2012 91 32 33 15 171 9 4:5 Bonaparte Cr. 2006 10 0 2 0 12 0 0 2007 140 0 23 0 163 0 0 2008 13 0 13 0 16 4 0:4 2009 14 7 6 3 30 8 3:5 2010 45 0 32 0 77 1 1:0 2011 1 0 2 2 5 3 0:3 2012 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17
The majorty of natural steelhead returned to Omak Creek as a 2-salt fsh. Sze-at-maturty for natural steelhead ranged from 330 mm to 840 mm (N=9). Average age-at-maturty for natural steelhead was 3.5 years (N=9) and fsh greater than 720 mm was assumed a 3-salt fsh based on scale analyss. Mean fork length was 565 mm for natural steelhead measured at the Omak wer. Egg fecundty from broodstock taken at Omak Creek averaged 5,500 eggs per female. Juvenle Hatchery/Natural Survval The Wells steelhead Fry-Smolt survval was estmated to be 91.5 percent, far above current standards for fry to smolt survval (Table 2). Ths may be due to the lower denstes of fsh beng reared and less chance of dsease and ncreased ftness due to less competton then those reared n hgher denstes. Survval n the unfertlzed egg-to-eyed egg and pondng-to-release categores were hgher than expected (Table 2). Overall, the wld by wld locally-adapted summer steelhead met survval standards at release (Table 3). Survval of most recent broods of Wells steelhead for the Twsp and Methow stock has been below survval standards for these categores (WDFW, 2011). Table 2: Okanogan Basn locally-adapted steelhead hatchery egg-take, fecundty and lfe stage survval between the years of 2004-2012. Year Number Total Eggs- Total Grn-Eyed Total Fry-Smolt Total Females Green Female Eyed Survval Fry Survval Smolt 2004 8 31,414 3,927 24,260 77.2 21,500 88.6 13,232 2005 9 32,038 3,560 25,206 78.7 21,452 85.1 19,862 2006 8 36,345 4,543 33,221 91.4 30,895 93.0 27,219 2007 8 43,327 5,416 42,439 98.0 41,447 97.7 32,915 2008 4 19,868 4,967 17,938 90.3 16,771 93.5 15,505 2009 8 33,112 4,139 31,815 96.1 30,505 95.9 23,618 2010 8 39,539 4,942 36,174 91.5 33,748 93.3 32,333 2011 8 55,678 6,960 50,256 90.3 50,256 90.3 41,285 2012 2 11,000 5,500 10,758 97.8 10,521 91.5 9,639 18
Table 3. Count, mortalty and cumulatve post pondng survval for broodyear 2012 Okanogan basn locally-adapted summer steelhead from July 2012 to Aprl 2013. (July to March data provded by Wells Fsh Hatchery, WDFW). Ste Month Inventory Morts % Survval Wells June NA NA NA Fsh July 10,015 322 96.9 Hatchery August 9,802 213 94.8 September 9,750 52 94.3 October 9,700 50 93.8 November 9,680 20 93.5 December 9,665 15 93.4 January 9,654 11 93.4 February 9,639 15 93.2 March 9,200 439 89.0 Omak Aprl 9,079 121 87.8 Acclmaton Juvenle Rearng and Release A total of 9,203 juvenle fsh reared at Wells Fsh Hatchery, from 2012 locally-adapted adult steelhead, were delvered on 27-March, 2013. Locally-adapted summer steelhead acclmated at St. Mary s Msson pond were held on a mx of both well and Omak Creek water. Average fork length at release for the locally adapted steelhead was 179 mm wth a CV of 16.99 (Table 4). A voltonal release strategy was ntated on 23-Aprl, 2013. Table 4. Average weght (g), length (mm) and coeffcent of varaton of broodyear 2012 summer steelhead reared at Wells Fsh Hatchery from June 2012 to Aprl 2013 (August to March data provded by Wells Fsh Hatchery, WDFW). Month Length Weght CV (mm) (g) Length June NA NA NA 19
July NA NA NA August 42.0 0.79 NA September 65.0 3.34 15.81 October 85.0 7.96 14.18 November 112.0 15.65 13.47 December 140.0 30.24 11.12 January 155.0 41.24 13.43 February 170.0 54.65 9.51 March 187.0 NA 9.50 Aprl 179.0 56.41 16.99 Total number of fsh released n Omak Creek has ncreased from 20,000 to 40,000 startng n 2010 (Table 5). Smlarly n Salmon Creek stockng efforts ncreased drectly resultng n fewer fsh beng stocked n the manstem Okanogan. Table 5. Total number of smolts released n the Okanogan basn by trbutary for 2003-2012. Brood year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Omak Cr. Salmon Cr. Nnemle Cr. Smolt Release Antone Cr. Tunk Cr. Smlkameen R. Okanogan R. Total 3,450 - - - - 50,860 65,920 120,230 13,442 - - - - 57,750 12,000 83,192 19,862 - - - - 68,940-88,802 19,772 7,447 - - - 146,862-174,081 19,914 13,120 5,152 2,856 4,993 106,317 16,403 168,755 13,601-1,904 - - 79,286 14,200 108,991 23,618 25,657 - - - 51,868-101,143 32,333 40,000 - - - 61,090-133,423 41,285 50,000 - - - 73,623 3,960 168,868 43,226 50,000 - - - 10,080-103,306 Total 196,647 186,224 7,056 2,856 4,993 706,676 112,483 1,250,791 20
Numbers of smolts released n 2012 was consstent wth the management plan for stockng locally-adapted fsh n Omak Creek (HGMP, n revew). Detecton of juvenle fsh at Rocky Reach dam on the Columba Rver has greatly mproved wth the addton of Rocky Reach Juvenle (RRJ) fsh passage detecton ste. Survval estmates were determned based on the number of fsh detected passng the RRJ PTIS. An assumpton was made that all fsh released and survved to RRJ mgrated through the PTIS and not over the spllways at the dam. Based on PIT tags over the last three years Omak Creek locally-adapted fsh are between 10 and 20 percent survval to Rocky Reach dam (Table 6). Table 6. Total number of PIT tags detected outsde of Omak Creek. Percent survval to Rocky Reach (RRJ) Dam and out of basn survval. Brood Smolts PIT Detected Detected Percent Percent Percent Year Released Tagged @RRJ All Dams RRJ All Dams PIT 2005 19,862 19,862 0 1,593 0.00 9.10 100 2006 19,772 19,772 0 NA 0.00 0.00 100 2007 19,914 6,753 0 1,307 0.00 7.25 33.91 2008 15,505 13,665 0 45 0.00 0.65 88.01 2009 23,801 14,482 17 447 0.00 3.75 60.84 2010 32,346 19,898 4,519 5,120 22.71 25.73 61.52 2011 41,250 16,887 2,004 2,948 11.87 17.46 40.94 2012 43,226 17,390 2,309 2,741 13.28 15.76 40.23 Average fork length for smolts released between 2004 and 2008 was 158 mm (Table 7). Average fork length for smolts released after 2008 was 196 mm (Table 7). The number of adults returned (SAR) to Wells Fsh Hatchery ncreased after 2009 (Table 7). Based on a one year return n 2012, smolt to adult returns (SAR) were 0.39% of the total number of smolts released n 2011 (Table 7). Snce 2010, hatchery return rates have exceeded the expected >1 replacement rate (Table 7) dentfed n the HGMP (HGMP, 2013 n revew). A natural return rate for 2012 based on a two year (2010 and 2011) return was estmated at 5.6% (Mller et al., 2013). 21
Table 7. Average fork length at release compared to Smolt to Adult Returns (SAR) and Hatchery Return Rate (HRR) of Omak Creek locally-adapted steelhead back to Wells Dam for 2004-2012. Passve Integrated Transponder (PIT) detectons were not corrected for tag loss, resduals or stray rate. *2011 based on two years of adult returns and 2012 based on only one year of adult returns. Rearng Faclty Cassmer Bar Hatchery Wells Fsh Hatchery Release Year (RY) Smolts Released PIT smolts released Average Fork Length at Release SAR (.%) HRR 2004 NA 13,232 137 0.17 5.5 2005 19,862 19,862 160 0.04 0.4 2006 19,772 19,772 153 0.00 0.0 2007 19,914 6,753 160 0.22 1.4 2008 15,505 13,665 184 0.00 0.0 2009 23,801 14,482 190 0.06 1.0 2010 32,346 19,898 208 0.56 14.0 2011* 41,250 16,887 191 0.73 7.8 2012* 43,226 17,390 187 0.39 6.1 Coded Wre Tag (CWT) recovery at Wells was estmated to be 0.06 percent of the total number of CWT tagged fsh from 2009 and 2010 brood years (Table 8). Tag rate ncreased to a 100% CWT from prevous years (Table 8). Even though CWT tag rates ncreased from prevous years total number of those recovered dd not ncrease at the Omak wer (Table 8). Coded wre tags are used to determne orgn of adult broodstock at both the Wells Fsh Hatchery and for the BAM program at the Omak adult wer. Table 8. Total number of CWT tags deployed snce 2009 and number of adults wth CWT to Wells Fsh Hatchery and Omak Creek. Brood Smolts CWT Tag Rate CWT Adults.% CWT Adults Year Released Tagged CWT Wells Hatchery Recovered Omak Creek 2009 23,801 15,430 0.65 447 0.04 2 2010 32,346 23,618 0.73 5,120 0.29 106 2011 41,250 32,346 0.78 2,948 0.11 74 2012 43,226 43,226 1.00 2,741 0.06 56 22
Dscusson Hatchery return rate (6.1%) was smlar to the natural return rate (5.6%) for Omak Creek n 2012 based on one year of data. A larger proporton of males then females for both hatchery and wld fsh returned to Omak Creek. The replacement rate for hatchery fsh has ncreased snce 2009 and was greater than the expected value for 2012. A hgh percentage of Cassmer Bar Hatchery fsh comprsed the majorty of the hatchery fsh n Omak Creek. However, extrapolatng the number of adult steelhead observed at Wells Dam to the entre Okanogan Basn and then estmatng what porton of those fsh are bound for Omak Creek nvolves makng a lot of assumptons and the resultng estmate may not be precse. Collecton of natural orgn fsh at the wer and detecton of prevously PIT tagged fsh n Omak Creek help valdate some of our assumptons and contrbute to a better estmate. Brood year 2012 fsh released n 2013 was wthn range of the acceptable sze at release for a one year hatchery reared summer steelhead smolt. Number of smolts (N = 9,070) released n Omak Creek was below the program goal of 20,000 wld-by-wld hatchery reared summer steelhead. Only eleven of the sxteen total fsh needed for broodstock n Omak Creek were collected n 2011. Fsh capture at the Omak Creek wer has become ncreasngly dffcult due to sedment buld up on the trap. A revsed desgn to ths trap capable of removng sedment and debrs and ncreased buoyancy to elevate the trap s needed to effectvely collect broodstock and manage hatchery fsh on the spawnng grounds nto the future. Plans to deploy a box trap n Wld horse Sprng Creek and collect adult broodstock to be used for 2014 broodyear. Populaton structure and effectve populaton sze are changng n natural spawnng populatons as a result of the hatchery program. Addtonally, the hatchery programs have caused changes n phenotypc characterstcs of natural populatons based on observatons. To defne the extent of these changes, a genetc study has been proposed to defne the natural composton stock of those spawned n Omak Creek (CRTFC, 2007). Broods determned to be from returnng adults wll provde the potental F1 progeny; however, reproductve success, hatchery nfluence on the spawnng grounds and ocean survval or productvty can greatly reduce fnal outcomes. To determne successful reproducton from returnng adults, ther progeny wll need to be recaptured and dentfed at the rotary screw trap. Ths would then provde a complete hstory of orgn of Omak Creek steelhead producton for each brood year. In 2013 a 3-D mcro-dgtal fsh scale camera and scope was purchased by the CCT to analyze scales taken from wld adult broodstock n Omak Creek. Scales are currently beng analyzed to confrm orgn (hatchery vs. wld), and determne age at maturty, sze at age, average number of 23
ocean years and average sze at return. These fndngs wll be reported n the 2013 annual report and on-gong monthly reports as data are analyzed. Recommendatons Broodstock collecton n 2012 ncreased from 2011 due to run-sze and wer trap mprovements. Capture effcency can be drectly related to wer trap avodance by returnng adults. In 2011, we found a greater number of fsh return as kelts than spawners ndcatng poor upstream trap effcency. In 2011, mprovements to reduce trap avodance (2011 Annual Report) were made and found to be hghly effectve. Numbers of adult steelhead n Omak Creek was relatvely hgh for 2012 but due to a selecton process geared towards natural orgn stock few fsh were collected for broodstock. Ths lmted our total numbers of fsh and n the process only allowed nne of the 16 total to be collected from Omak Creek. A more conservatve approach wll be taken n future years to ensure local broodstock and provde gametes of local stock rather than Wells hatchery stock. Improvements to the wer are needed to provde better trap effcency durng hgh water events. Ths may nvolve a structural change to the overall desgn of ths trap to allow debrs removal upon demand. Often ths trap s nundated by woody debrs and slt and sand that wll wegh the floatng pcket fence down allowng fsh to pass. A desgn that enables debrs to pass freely and or on demand as needed would help ncrease the number of locally adapted broodstock collected from Omak Creek. VI. Chapter 2. Smolt Montorng Introducton Estmates of natural producton by steelhead, coupled wth characterstcs of the spawnng populaton (.e., abundance and composton), should provde some of the data necessary to assess the effcacy of hatchery supplementaton programs. Lmted nformaton exsts on smolt producton n the Okanogan Basn because of hghly varable envronmental condtons, small sample szes, and dffcultes gettng suffcent recapture to produce meanngful estmates. Estmates of smolt producton for the entre Omak Creek were not calculated because montorng was ntermttent or occurred for only short perods of tme due to low water condtons. The prmary objectve to operatng a Rotary Screw Trap n Omak Creek was to estmate juvenle 24
producton of steelhead and to estmate stage-specfc survval rates. These objectves were ncorporated nto the Dstrcts Montorng and Evaluaton plan (GCPUD M&E Plan 2008). Objectve 7: Determne f the proporton of hatchery fsh on the spawnng grounds affects the freshwater productvty (.e., number of smolts per redd) of supplemented streams when compared to non-supplemented streams. Hypotheses: H0: smolts/redd Supplemented populaton smolts/redd Non-supplemented populaton Gven varablty n abundance of adult salmond populatons n the Upper Columba Rver Basn, montorng juvenle producton (e.g., smolts/redd) should provde a drect assessment of the effcacy of hatchery fsh n rebuldng natural populatons. Montorng the freshwater producton of both supplemented and non-supplemented populatons may provde an early ndcaton of the reproductve success of hatchery fsh on the spawnng grounds. Smolt montorng programs are currently ongong for Omak Creek and estmates are beng made from these efforts. Improvements n PIT tag montorng and evaluaton have been made n recent years that has allowed for the use of these technologes n the assessment of smolt producton. Increased taggng n all natal and potental natural rearng streams (.e., Salmon Creek) n conjuncton wth redd surveys can be used to determne the number of smolts per redd. In ths chapter, we focus on the number of smolts produced from Omak Creek usng a Rotary Screw Trap and PIT tag nterrogaton systems. Currently resources do not allow for smolt producton estmates n non-supplemented streams. Methods Downstream juvenle steelhead mgrants were collected usng a fve foot rotary screw trap n Omak Creek. We started to trap on 3, Aprl 2012 and trapped 24 hours a day fve days a week or untl flows allowed, endng 29, June 2012. Fsh collected were handled and sampled followng standard operatng procedures as descrbed n the ISEMP feld protocols for operaton of a rotary screw trap n the upper Columba basn (protocol avalable at www.montorngmethods.org). Age breaks were determned by fork length usng a length frequency hstogram. We used ths model to predct lfe stage for fry (<45mm), parr (45>90), parr-smolt (90>120mm (transtonal)) and smolts (>120mm). Condton factors were calculated for both hatchery and natural orgn fsh captured at the RST n Omak Creek. We determned these factors usng a K-formula (W/L 3 X 10 5 ). 25
Mark/recapture effcency trals were conducted throughout the season wth a mnmum of 30 ndvdual fsh of a gven target speces over a three day perod. Mark groups can be comprsed of hatchery fsh or fsh that have been prevously captured n the trap. However, f usng hatchery fsh, one must assume ther probablty of capture s the same as for naturally reared fsh. A vald estmate requres the followng assumptons to be true concernng the trap effcency trals: 1) All marked fsh passed the trap or were recaptured durng tme perod. 2) The probablty of capturng a marked or unmarked fsh s equal. 3) All marked fsh recaptured were dentfed. 4) Marks were not lost between the tme of release and recapture. Producton estmates were calculated usng estmated daly trap effcency derved from a R- scrpt wrtten regresson formula usng trap effcency (dependent varable) and dscharge (ndependent varable) (Appendx A). Trap effcency was calculated usng the followng formula: Trap effcency = E = R / M Where E s the trap effcency durng tme perod ; M s the number of marked fsh released durng tme perod ; and R s the number of marked fsh recaptured durng tme perod. The number of fsh captured was expanded by the estmated daly trap effcency (e) to estmate the daly number of fsh mgratng past the trap (N). Estmaton of abundance: Seasonal juvenle mgraton, N, s estmated as the sum of daly mgratons, N,.e., and daly mgraton s calculated from catch and effcency, C Nˆ, eˆ where C = the number of fsh caught n perod I; N, N Dscharge levels are measured from a staff gauge located at rkm 8.2 n Omak creek below Msson falls. Washngton State Department of Ecology (DOE) has developed a dscharge ratng table for Omak Creek at vald perods throughout the year. Determnaton of a gven flow can be determned by readng the staff gauge and referencng the ratng table for the correspondng dscharge. An annual vst to ths ste for calbraton purposes s made by the Unted States Geologcal Survey (USGS). Data are compled and uploaded to a DOE web ste 26
(https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/wrx/wrx/flows/staton.asp?sta=49c100). A new real tme USGS dscharge gauge wll be nstalled at ths ste n the fall of 2013. Results Number of smolts and producton estmate usng a RST In 2012, we captured a total of 3,838 O. mykss at varous lfe stages of wld parr, parr-smolt (transtonal) and smolt at the RST n Omak Creek. We estmated that a total of 6,519 (± 3,956, 95% CI) O. mykss from the 2010-2011 spawnng actvtes emgrated from Omak Creek ncludng 1,093 parr and 5,200 wld smolts. Estmates were based on 0.64 trap effcency durng peak steelhead mgraton (May). Effcency trals and producton estmates were based on flows; therefore more effcency trals for the entre range of flows n Omak Creek are needed to produce more precse estmates. Sze at emgraton We used a model based on a length weght relatonshp to predct sze at emgraton for natural orgn steelhead from Omak Creek (Fgure 2). Compared to actvely mgratng natural orgn fsh hatchery fsh released from St. Mares Acclmaton pond were on average larger n weght and fork length (Fgure 3). Natural steelhead were found to mgrate early n ther lfe stage (parr) and presumably smolt to the ocean. Dfferences n lfe hstory between natural orgn fsh may be due to pressure from hatchery released fsh to mgrate pror to smoltng. Average fork length for wld steelhead was 128 mm for the month of May (Fgure 4). Hatchery reared 2011 brood year summer steelhead were on average 188 mm at release (Fgure 5). Hatchery reared fsh captured n the RST on Omak Creek were on average 51 mm larger then wld juvenle summer steelhead. Condton factors (K) measured for natural (N=3,882) and hatchery (N=808) steelhead at the RST n Omak Creek was 1.071 and 0.868, respectvely. A <1.0 ftness factor for hatchery steelhead may have been due to a reducton n feedng durng acclmaton. 27
Fgure 2: A length-weght regresson of wld juvenle steelhead collected from the Omak Creek RST. Weght (g) 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 y = 4E-05x 2.7218 R² = 0.9791 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Length (mm) Fgure 3: A length-weght regresson of hatchery juvenle steelhead collected from the Omak Creek RST. Weght (g) 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 y = 1E-05x 2.9052 R² = 0.9066 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Length (mm) 28
Age at emgraton Based on a length frequency relatonshp for wld juvenles we determned age at mgraton for wld summer steelhead to be age 2 (transtonal) and age 3 (smolt) from Omak Creek (Fgure 4). Due to low numbers (N=7), we could not provde a statstcally vald age 0 comparson for steelhead fry. Fry captured n the RST ranged from 28 to 45 mm n length and assumed age 0 n ther frst year of growth. Aprl length frequency data ndcates smlar age at mgraton to May length frequency data. Durng the month of June however length frequency data for wld steelhead showed more transtonal sze fsh mgrated then smolts from Omak Creek (Fgure 6). Fgure 4: Wld juvenle steelhead captured at the rotary screw trap n Omak Creek length frequency graph for the month of May 2012. 30 25 Frequency 20 15 10 5 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 Fork Length (mm) 29
Fgure 5: Hatchery steelhead length-frequency collected from the RST on Omak Creek for the month of May 2012. 25 20 Frequency 15 10 5 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 Fork Length (mm) Fgure 6: Wld steelhead length-frequency collected from the RST on Omak Creek for the month of June 2012. 40 35 30 Frequency 25 20 15 10 5 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 Fork Length (mm) 30
Smolt emgraton tmng Wld juvenle smolt mgraton tmng was measured by PIT tag detecton at the Omak Creek PTIS (Fgure 7). A total of 1,852 wld steelhead were captured durng the month of May whch represented 48% of the total summer steelhead collected n Omak Creek at the RST. The majorty of these wld steelhead were parr and transtonal sze fsh. Dscharge measured n Omak Creek peaked on 21 May at 365 cubc feet per second (cfs). Based on PIT tagged hatchery steelhead average travel tme to RRJ was 16 days. The mnmum number of days recorded to RRJ was 4 days and the maxmum number of days was 250 days. Fgure 7: Juvenle emgraton model based on dscharge for the month of May. Total hatchery and estmated wld detectons are expanded from the determned effcency of the Omak (OMK) PTIS. N u m b e r F s h 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 Hatchery Expanded Wld Expanded Dscharge 140 120 100 80 60 40 Dscharge (cfs) 50 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 0 Smolt Survval to Rocky Reach Dam (RRJ) Hatchery juvenle survval was estmated usng PIT tagged smolts released n the Okanogan basn. Only 40% of the total 43,226 steelhead stocked n 2012 receved a PIT tag. In 2012, 13.28 % of these PIT tagged fsh were detected at Rocky Reach Dam (Table 9). Rocky Reach s 31
80-90 percent effcent at detectng PIT tags through the PTIS. Usng ths expanson percentage (0.85) ths suggests 2,645 PIT tagged fshed survved to Rocky Reach Dam. Usng ths same survval estmate and percent detecton effcency at RRJ expanded over the entre mtgaton requrement of 100,000 fsh we estmate that 15,272 smolt survved to Rocky Reach Dam. Ths estmate does not nclude those PIT tagged fsh gong over spllways or through the turbnes. Usng a 0.5 % return rate suggests 76.4 adult steelhead would return from ths brood year. Table 9. Total number of PIT tags detected outsde of Okanogan basn. Percent survval to Rocky Reach (RRJ) Dam and out of basn survval. Brood Smolts PIT Detected Detected Percent Percent Percent Year Released Tagged @RRJ All Dams RRJ All Dams PIT 2005 19,862 19,862 0 1,593 0.00 9.10 100 2006 19,772 19,772 0 NA 0.00 0.00 100 2007 19,914 6,753 0 1,307 0.00 7.25 33.91 2008 15,505 13,665 0 45 0.00 0.65 88.01 2009 23,801 14,482 17 447 0.00 3.75 60.84 2010 32,346 19,898 4,519 5,120 22.71 25.73 61.52 2011 41,250 16,887 2,004 2,948 11.87 17.46 40.94 2012 43,226 17,390 2,309 2,741 13.28 15.76 40.23 Dscusson To provde the Dstrct wth drect measurements and meet ther requrements from the M&E plan, we have combned data from a smolt producton estmate usng a rotary screw trap and expanded redd densty estmates for Omak Creek. Smolts per redd were estmated usng both an expanded number of redds found n Omak Creek (Mller et al. 2012) and the estmated number of smolts produced usng a RST and producton model (Appendx B). Redd surveys combned wth dentfed 9 redds below the Omak Creek wer trap. Those redds were expanded to 30 hatchery and fve wld steelhead from fsh per redd (FPR) and percent wld values derved at the wer. Usng an estmated 6,519 (± 3,956, 95% CI) smolts produced n Omak Creek we calculated 133 (± 80, 95% CI) smolts per redd for 2012. A hgh and low estmate at the 95 % confdence nterval conclude a range of 213 to 52 smolts per 32
redd. To determne whether we can accept or reject the gven hypothess a non-supplemented stream would need to be studed. Average fork length of natural and hatchery juvenle salmonds captured at the Omak RST were 128 mm and 188 mm, respectvely. Condton factors (K) measured for natural (N=3,882) and hatchery (N=808) steelhead at the RST n Omak Creek were 1.071 and 0.868, respectvely. Although ths s not a parameter among the hypothess gven we feel sze at mgraton and the condtons of those fsh emgratng are tools we can use to measure the success or demse of those fsh downstream. 33 Recommendatons To determne f the number of naturally spawnng and naturally produced adults of the target populaton are changed relatve to a non-supplemented populaton (.e., reference stream) one must sample a non-supplemented stream. Currently the Colvlle Trbes are under contract to only sample supplemented streams (Omak and Salmon Creeks). Dfferences n carryng capactes of supplemented and non-supplemented streams can be confounded wth basn wde stockng efforts and the ablty of hatchery fsh to utlze non-supplemented streams (.e., Loup- Loup Creek). To avod the concluson that the supplementaton program has no effect on natural spawners correctons need to be made to the montorng and analyss wth the Dstrcts support. Smolt producton estmates often are problematc gven the constrants of the equpment used and envronmental condtons durng sprng run-off. Workng closely wth WDFW on predctng best estmates usng an R-scrpt based producton model s on-gong and mprovements are beng made to ths model. Collecton data needs to be consstent wth 2012 efforts whch provded 7 days a week, 24 hrs a day fsh collecton and effcency trals. Gaps n the model need to be flled at both hgh and low flows. Consstency n operaton of an RST for effcency trals on Omak Creek wll contnue.. Producton estmates usng a PTIS s new and on-gong for the CCT F&W program. In cooperaton wth OBMEP PIT tags wll be deployed n natural orgn fsh n 2013. An estmate based on a tag rate and detecton effcency of the Omak PTIS can be used to determne producton. These values wll prove nvaluable durng those perods when the RST s not n operaton due to low flow. Smlar effort should be concurrent wth Salmon Creek. In 2013, efforts to PIT tag natural orgn steelhead wll be a goal of ths program. Efforts to stock PIT tagged hatchery reared steelhead needs to take place n 2013-2015 to assess the effect of hatchery fsh on natural orgn fsh and provde a more accurate HOR estmate for Salmon Creek.
Efforts to provde better PIT detecton n Salmon Creek wll also be a goal of the CCT BAM Project movng forward. VII. Chapter 3: Harvest and Steelhead Spawnng Ground Surveys Introducton In 2009, n-stream antenna arrays were nstalled n all trbutares to the Okanogan Rver wthn the Unted States to assess the dstrbuton and mgraton tmng of adult hatchery and wld steelhead. Spawn tmng and redd dstrbuton data for summer steelhead was collected durng spawnng ground surveys (Mller et al. 2013). Selectng ndex reaches where smlar proportons of hatchery and naturally produced fsh are expected to spawn can be used to evaluate spawn tmng. All spawnng nformaton necessary for evaluatng dfferences between hatchery and naturally produced steelhead was collected durng spawnng ground surveys (e.g. presence or absence of an adpose clp). Objectve 2: Determne f the run tmng, spawn tmng, and spawnng dstrbuton of both the natural and hatchery components of the target populaton are smlar. Hypotheses: H0: Mgraton tmng Hatchery = Mgraton tmng Naturally produced H0: Spawn tmng Hatchery = Spawn tmng Naturally produced H0: Redd dstrbuton Hatchery = Redd dstrbuton Naturally produced In order for the natural populaton to reman stable or to ncrease, the Natural Replacement Rate (NRR), or the rato of NORs to the parent spawnng populaton, must be at a level where parents are beng replaced by ther offsprng as spawners n the next generaton. It s possble to affect an ncrease n natural orgn spawners through supplementaton wth a stable or decreasng NRR. However, f the NRR s below replacement (NRR<1.0), termnaton of the supplementaton program wll result n a declnng natural populaton should that state of NRR persst. Objectve 1: Hypotheses: 34 Determne f programs have ncreased the number of naturally spawnng and naturally produced adults of the target populaton relatve to a non-supplemented populaton (.e., reference stream or condton) and the changes n the natural replacement rate (NRR) of the supplemented populaton are smlar to that of the non-supplemented populaton.
H0: Number of HOR1 Supplemented populaton Expected value per BAMP H0: NOR2 Supplemented populaton NOR Non-supplemented populaton H0: NRR Supplemented populaton NRR Non-supplemented populaton Steelhead counts over Wells Dam and harvest estmates n the Okanogan have occurred snce 2001 (Table 8).. Levels of escapement for anadromous steelhead may change annually due to envronmental condtons, ocean condtons, and harvest. Harvest s consdered those fsh removed from the total run by removal at dams for broodstock collecton, recreatonal hook and lne and commercal fshng. Estmates provded here are only from those fsh that escaped to Wells Dam and specfc trbutares n the Okanogan Basn. Objectve 8: Determne f harvest opportuntes have been provded usng hatchery returnng adults where approprate. Hypotheses: H0: Harvest rate Maxmum level to meet program goals Methods As part of Broodstock, Acclmaton and Montorng (BAM) scope of work, redd surveys were conducted n Salmon and Omak Creeks. Prelmnary methods for mplementng redd surveys were developed n 2005 (Arterburn et al. 2004) and these methods were later revsed n 2007 (Arterburn et al. 2007c). Adult wer traps, PIT tag arrays, and redd counts were used to expand redd data beyond ther locatons n Omak Creek (Mller et al. 2013). Total number of adult spawners n Salmon Creek was enumerated usng redd counts by foot, PTIS, and underwater vdeo equpment (Mller et al. 2013). Harvest counts provded by the WDFW are for ad-clpped hatchery only. Incdental take of natural orgn fsh from catch and release s not ncluded n these estmates. Harvest n the 1 Hatchery Orgn Recruts 2 Natural Orgn Recruts 35
Columba Rver above Wells Dam ncludes fsh from multple locatons, not just the Okanogan. Columba Rver estmates nclude Rocky Reach Dam to Chef Joseph Dam. Omak Creek adult abundance estmates Results Redd surveys dentfed 9 redds below the Omak Creek wer trap (Fgure 8). Those redds were expanded to 30 hatchery and fve wld steelhead from fsh per redd (FPR) and percent wld values derved at the wer. Based on combned redd surveys and wer counts, the escapement estmate was 26 adult wld steelhead for Omak Creek n 2012. In 2012, a total of 158 unque steelhead were captured at the Omak Creek wer. A 13.3% wld NRR was calculated from the 21 wld and 137 hatchery steelhead handled and released upstream of the trap (Mller et al. 2013). Forty female and 117 male steelhead were sexed, renderng a sex rato of 2.93 M:F (3.93 FPR) for Omak Creek. The wer was compromsed due to hgh flows from Aprl 21 through May 6 and an unknown number of steelhead may have passed durng that tmeframe. A permanent PIT tag array was located on Omak Creek, just upstream from the confluence wth the Okanogan Rver, but below the adult wer trap, and t remaned functonal for the entre sprng. A total of 41 steelhead from the Prest Rapds Dam release group were detected, resultng n an estmate of 313 summer steelhead returnng to Omak Creek (Mller et al. 2013). It s stll beng determned whether the CCT wll use a combnaton of redd surveys and data from the wer or solely data from PIT tagged returnng adult steelhead to estmate escapement for Omak Creek. 36
Fgure 8: Map of summer steelhead redds observed below the Omak Creek Adult trap n 2012. 37
Mgraton and Spawn Tmng Complete run tmng at the Omak Creek wer was not determned due to unknown capture rates at the wer n 2012. Steelhead run tmng n Omak Creek from 2005-2009 s presented n Fgure 8 for reference. In 2012, the frst adult steelhead was detected at the PTIS n Omak Creek on 20 March and the last kelt to be captured was on 24 June at the Omak wer. Ths suggests mgraton to occur n Omak Creek n early March and run through June. Fgure 9: Run tmes for summer steelhead n Omak Creek 2005-2009. 38
Salmon Creek adult abundance estmates Salmon Creek was surveyed for redds on 11 Aprl, 2012 and 24 Aprl, 2012. Surveys could not be conducted after ths date due to sustaned hgh water through July. A total of 17 steelhead redds were documented n the lower 7.2 km of Salmon Creek (Fgure 10). A 20.0% ad-present rate (observed rate from vdeo counts) was appled to redd counts downstream of the dverson (Mller et al. 2013). Based on an expanded 2.06 fsh per redd those redds would then be expected to have 30 hatchery and fve ad-present presumed natural orgn A total of 68 hatchery and 17 adpose present adult steelhead were observed passng upstream through the vdeo system. An addtonal nne fsh were observed passng upstream wth no vdeo confrmaton of an adpose ntact or not (Mller et al. 2013). Two of the nne unknown orgn fsh were estmated to have been wld, based on the 20.0% observed wld rate. The combned estmate of 161 spawners from redd surveys and vdeo observatons should be consdered a mnmum escapement estmate, due to hgh water and ncomplete surveys n 2012 (Mller et al. 2013). Two wld, 30 hatchery, and one unknown orgn steelhead were detected at the PIT tag array on Salmon Creek above the cty of Okanogan. The calculated escapement estmate from Prest Rapds Dam release group (25) was 191 total steelhead. 39
Fgure 10: Map of summer steelhead redds observed below the Salmon Creek dverson n 2012. 40