| Proposal title | Life History of Spring Chinook Salmon and Summer Steelhead |
| Proposal ID | 199202604 |
| Organization | Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) |
| Proposal contact person or principal investigator |
| Name | Richard W. Carmichael |
| Mailing address | 211 Inlow Hall, EOU, 1410 “L” Avenue La Grande, OR 97850 |
| Phone / email | 5419623777 / [email protected] |
| Manager authorizing this project | |
| Review cycle | FY 2000 |
| Province / Subbasin | Blue Mountain / Grande Ronde |
| Short description | Investigate the abundance, migration patterns, survival, and alternate life history
strategies exhibited by spring chinook salmon and summer steelhead from distinct populations in the Grande Ronde and Imnaha River basins. |
| Target species | spring chinook salmon and summer steelhead |
| Year | Accomplishment |
|---|
| 1994 |
Deployed rotary screw traps at sites in the Grande Ronde River below upper rearing areas and below Grande Ronde valley. |
|
Pit tagged 1,500 juvenile salmon and obtained recapture data from mainstem dams |
|
Completed annual progress report. |
|
Presentation to Grande Ronde Model Watershed Board of Directors. |
| 1995 |
Maintained Grande Ronde traps and deployed screw trap in Catherine Creek. |
|
Pit tagged 1,500 juvenile salmon in both Catherine Creek and the upper Grande Ronde River and obtained recapture data from mainstem dams |
|
Determined nighttime snorkeling to be the most effective method for locating juvenile salmon in winter. |
|
Completed annual progress report. |
|
Presentation at BPA review. |
| 1996 |
Maintained Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek traps. |
|
Pit tagged 1,500 juvenile salmon in both Catherine Creek and the upper Grande Ronde River and obtained recapture data from mainstem dams |
|
Conducted summer and winter habitat surveys for juvenile chinook salmon. |
|
Completed annual progress report. |
|
Presentation to Northeast Oregon regional managers at ODFW Research Review. |
|
Presentation at Oregon AFS. |
| 1997 |
Establish a field office for Wallowa River life history study. |
|
Maintained Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek traps. Deployed two traps in the Wallow River and one in the Lostine River. |
|
Pit tagged 1,500 juvenile salmon in Catherine Creek, the upper Grande Ronde River, and the Lostine and obtained recapture data from mainstem dams. |
|
Conducted summer and winter habitat surveys for juvenile chinook salmon. |
|
Completed annual progress report. |
|
Presentation at CBFWA Fish and Wildlife Program review. |
| Project ID | Title | Description |
|---|
| 9403300 |
Fish Passage Center's smolt monitoring program |
Trap data will be exchanged with the Lower Grande Ronde study to provide in-river information on migration timing |
| 8805305 |
Northeast Oregon Hatcheries Master Plan |
Provide information on local populations that is crucial for planning, implementation, and evaluation of supplementation in the Grande Ronde basin. |
| 9402700 |
Grande Ronde Model Watershed |
Provide information on habitat utilization and juvenile production that is used to idnetify and prioritize habitat improvement projects. |
| 9801001 |
Grande Ronde Basin Spring Chinook Captive Broodstock Program |
Screw trap abundance will be used to monitor the success of the captive program when juveniles are released. Parr surveys will provide reconnaissance information for juvenile collection. Life history information will be used to evaluate captive program. |
| 9600800 |
PATH: Plan for analyzing and testing hypotheses |
Provide data for life cycle model |
| 8805301 |
NEOH Grande Ronde (Nez Perce) |
Provide information on local populations that is crucial for planning and implementation of supplementation in the Grande Ronde Basin. Provide monitoring for evaluating impacts of this project on naturally reproducing populations |
| 8805302 |
NEOH Grande Ronde (CTUIR) |
Provide information on local populations that is crucial for planning and implementation of supplementation in the Grande Ronde Basin. Provide monitoring for evaluating impacts of this project on naturally reproducing populations |
| 8810804 |
STREAMNET |
Provide information for use in database. |
| 9405400 |
Bull Trout Studies in Central and Northeast Oregon |
Collect bull trout for tagging and provide meristic and recapture data. |
| 20512 |
ODFW Grande Ronde River Subbasin Umbrella |
|
| Item | Note | FY 2000 cost |
|---|
| Personnel |
permanent = 189,865
seasonal = 132,228 |
$322,093 |
| Fringe |
36% for permanents = 68,351
45% for seasonals = 59,503 |
$127,854 |
| Supplies |
|
$65,000 |
| Capital |
Computer printer = 2,500
Truck Canopy = 1,500 |
$4,000 |
| PIT tags |
13,000 @ 2.90 each |
$37,700 |
| Travel |
100 d @ $90/d =9,000
8 Commercial flights@ 350 = 2,800 |
$11,800 |
| Indirect |
35.5% of PS and S&S (526,747) |
$186,995 |
| Subcontractor |
Oregon State University |
$42,174 |
| $797,616 |
Schedule Constraints: -Salmon and steelhead in the Grande Ronde River are listed under ESA and thus, this research is regulated by NMFS and is subject to annual permitting.
-Field activities on private land are subject to landowner permission.
This information was not provided on the original proposals, but was generated during the review process.
Comments:
The panel agreed that this is an excellent proposal that provides a comprehensive evaluation of spring chinook salmon and summer steelhead life-history variation in relation to habitat characteristics such as substrate composition, stream depth, water temperature, and discharge. Comparison of techniques for estimating abundance of summer steelhead smolts is included in the project. One value is that they will be able to monitor the effects of hatchery releases on native populations. The data could be extrapolated for more general use. As hatcheries are about to be added in this area, this proposal will provide extremely valuable baseline and continuing data for evaluation and understanding of the experiments and mitigation efforts. Examples of adaptive feedback to management are also a strong point of the project.
The panel had several specific comments and questions: Why is Objective 8 considered "descriptive" and not subject to hypothesis testing? The PIs should justify how much more they need to know and these needs should justify the project's expense. Why is the habitat work needed, since they say they have already determined that juvenile salmon are most abundant in pools. It would seem that the habitat of the various rivers should be protected and restored in light of the dire situation of the salmon. Since apparently much field work has been done, the data should be analyzed and a report written.