U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Connecticut River Coordinator s Office Ken Sprankle Connecticut River Coordinator
Largest river basin in New England 400 miles long 11,250 mile 2 area Over 2,700 dams identified in basin (TNC 2005)
1867 First attempt at Atlantic salmon and American shad restoration, 4 basin states 1967 The Policy Committee for Fisheries Management of the Connecticut River Basin. 1983 Congress passes PL98-138 Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Compact 2003 Compact re-authorized for 20 more years
Commission = Agency Directors and Public Representatives (Policy) Technical Committee = Senior Field Biologists (Implementation) Subcommittees (9) = Tech members and specialists
Blueback herring Diadromous Fishes Alewife American shad Hickory shad Gizzard shad
Atlantic salmon Sea lamprey Striped bass & ~ white perch American eel* Shortnose sturgeon (ESA) Atlantic sturgeon (extirpated) rainbow smelt brown trout (introduced)
Timing of fish migrations Species Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Sea Lamprey Atlantic Salmon Shad Alewife Blueback Eel Catadromous Juveniles returning from ocean Uprunner - Adult Downrunner - Juvenile Adults leaving freshwater
Number Passed Holyoke Fish Lift Number Counted (Basin Total) 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 800x10 3 600x10 3 400x10 3 200x10 3 Connecticut River Fish Counts 1967-2012 (2012 counts are preliminary) Atlantic salmon American shad Number Passed Holyoke Fish Lift 0 800x10 3 600x10 3 400x10 3 200x10 3 Blueback herring Number Passed Holyoke Fish Lift 0 120x10 3 100x10 3 80x10 3 60x10 3 40x10 3 20x10 3 0 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Year Sea lamprey
Lets put our local river data in some broader context nearly all diadromous fish species are in a universal state of decline rangewide!
There is one fisheries management success story, contrasting with the near universal declines in diadromous fishes But is there an ecological cost?
Salmon are given a vaccination, against furunculosis (bacterial disease), PIT tagged, tissue and blood samples taken, length, weight, and scale taken for aging/origin
Sea-runs are spawned mid-oct, ~800 eggs/lb of weight or ~7,000-10,000 eggs per female, USFWS Conservation Genetics Leader determines mating pairs to maintain genetic diversity and unique alleles
Domestic broodstock have parents that were sea-run returns. They are raised from egg to adult in a hatchery. Their progeny are stocked out as fry (grandparents were sea-run fish).
Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Restoration Strategies (1998) Annual Targets Produce 15 million eggs Stock 10 Million fry Scatter stock fry into suitable habitat (20-80 fry per unit) A unit of habitat is 100 sq meters, 245,000 units identified in the entire basin Goal to produce 2 smolts per unit Raise and stock 100,000 two-year old smolts
Thousands of Parr and Smolts Stocked Millions of Fry Stocked 800 12 700 600 500 Parr Smolts Fry 10 8 400 6 300 200 100 4 2 0 0 1976 Penobscot River fish become available as donor stock 1994 No longer importing/using any external sources of genetic material (eggs/fish)
Image produced by The Nature Conservancy, using 2010 agency data
Downstream passage of smolts* = operational and engineered approaches; sluice gates, reduced trash rack spacing, louvers, bypass structures *juv shad/herring and spent adults DOES NOT address Predator fields, concentrated release, cumulative effects (delay and sub-lethal)
Atlantic Salmon Migrational Routes
How can the agencies evaluate fry stocking (primary) strategy? Index site assessment (over 200 sites) annual fall parr surveys (15-25 years of data), all tributaries Smolt mark and recapture population estimate for tributaries upstream of Holyoke Dam (18 years) Return rates of adults (yearclass stocked) by trapping facility (Salmon, Farmington, Westfield rivers and Holyoke Fish Lift) based upon number stocked (reading of scales) Use of microsatellite DNA markers, select matings of adults (White River Hatchery), and known DNA markers of progeny (fry), stock into known tributaries, sample smolts and adult returns for where they came from
1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 x 100,000 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Wild Smolt Production Index
Number of fry stocked (x 10,000) Adult return rate per 10,00 fry Atlantic Salmon Fry Stocked and Return Rates* Entire CT River Basin 1200 1000 Total Fry (10,000s) Returns (per 10,000) 1.8 1.6 1.4 800 1.2 600 1 0.8 400 0.6 200 0.4 0.2 0 0 * return rates for 2008 only includes 4 year old fish (2012 and earlier run data) Shift in marine survival in spite of closure of ocean intercept fisheries improved downstream passage, increased fry stocking, selection/adaptation occurring? Major unknowns what happens post fall parr assessments? Outmigration impacts, and other factors in ½ of life in ocean?
BY 1997 491K 91% Numbers and percentages of identifiable fry stocked into known locations in Connecticut River Watershed in 2002 20K 8% 512K 100% 554K 89% 610K 79% 240K 64% 140K 34% 513K 100% 387K 83% 176K 37%
What else does the Connecticut River Coordinator, as a CRASC agency member, do besides salmon work? Habitat based activities: Administer 3 Federal Grant programs, 13 projects active from Pittsburgh, NH to Easthampton, NY Developed/initiated long-term, year round, river temperature monitoring program Population Assessments: Developed/initiated long-term monitoring program for adult river herring Expanded juvenile shad production survey upstream of Holyoke Dam Developed/initiated sea lamprey nest survey program Developed/initiated assessment project for American eel Ongoing wild fish health assessment for shad
Active fish population restoration: Developed/initiated river herring net and transfer program Continue American shad trap and transfers to upper basin focus on tribs Research: Developed and implemented whole river shad migration and survival study in partnership with USGS Conte Lab in 2011 & 2012. Developing age lab for fishes (shad/herring focus) Coordination duties: Work with CRASC agency partners on fish passage and habitat issues, relicensing*, multispecies planning and coordination Maintain databases, reporting, outreach, regional programs/activities, meetings, planning, technical involvement (VY, Upper basin mitigation, TNC projects)
Unresolved issues and concerns with CT River American shad American shad counts at HFL have declined but remained stable since early 1990s. Numbers well below management set targets (1.5 2M to mouth). % of repeat spawners declining sharply from 1970s, < 5% now, was ~20% - important concern Loss of older age shad, no age-7 & age-8 last 10 years Commercial and rec fisheries inriver declining, closed ocean fisheries, last 10 years Vernon Dam passage issue resolved via this study What factors are influencing stock structure? How can we scientifically identify issues? Tagging study for whole river, examine cumulative effects (dams) and variables (temp/flow). Has not been done since late 1960s in lower river only (MAJOR changes since then)
2011 CT River American Shad Migration and Survival Study USFWS Set up and maintained 11 stationary radio receiver units (April Aug) focus on dams Middletown CT to Turners Falls MA USGS Conte Lab - Set up and maintained receiver array at Turners Falls and up to Vernon Dam (VT) ongoing study at TF, special array in place
USFWS net, tag and released 82 shad at river mouth (April June) tag and release 70 shad at Holyoke Dam (May June) Total of 152 radio/pit tagged fish Grand total of 272 shad radio/pit tagged! USGS Conte Lab fishway trap/transfer tag 120 shad radio/pit all tagged shad released in Turners Falls Canal additional 120 fish PIT tag only
Preliminary Results Lower river releases only Lots of analyses remain to be done Total of 82 shad tagged 54 tagged shad detected at first lower river receiver (Middletown CT) = starting population, accounts for fallbacks/losses 35 of these 54 PASSED Holyoke Dam (65%!) conservative Average time taken from release at mouth to passage at Holyoke Dam 17.2 days, minimum 6 days, maximum 35 days Significant negative relationship for date of release and days to pass at Holyoke Plot of our tagged fish passage at Holyoke vs. wild fish daily counts shows we did not have study fish in the early part of the run EX. Of upper river results, found 90% of shad passing Turners reached Vernon Dam, none passed.
American shad passed at Holyoke Fish Lift in 2011 shad study tagged fish vs. daily count totals and river flow 60000 Total daily shad counts HFL and CFS 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 HFL Shad Passed PIT tagged shad passed HFL Date vs CFS 8 6 4 2 Study shad detected passing at HFL 0 0 5/2 5/16 5/30 6/13 6/27 7/11 Date
Date of tagged shad release (river mouth) vs. number of days until PIT tag detection at HFL - Spring 2011 (PIT tag data, 38 detected of 92 released) 40 # Days from release to passage at HFL 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 4/25 5/2 5/9 5/16 5/23 5/30 6/6 Date shad tagged and released at river mouth
70000 American Shad Passed at Gatehouse Fish Ladder (Turners Falls Dam, MA) and Passed at Vernon Dam Fish Ladder (VT) 1980-2012 Number of American Shad Passed 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 0 1996 1998 Gatehouse Fish Ladder Vernon Fish Ladder 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 Year Figure. American shad counted as passing the Gatehouse Fish Ladder at Turners Falls Dam 1980-2012 and the number counted as passing Vernon Dam Fish Ladder 1981-2012. Dam and fishway operational, structural, and environmental parameters have varied and been modified over this time period. Identification of passage issue via Shad Movement/Migration Study results, CRASC involvement, USFWS Engineering and Conte Lab, and TransCanada support/responsiveness, led to "fixes" at ladder effective in 2012.