BPA Fish and Wildlife FY 1997 Proposal

Section 1. Administrative
Section 2. Narrative
Section 3. Budget

see CBFWA and BPA funding recommendations

Section 1. Administrative

Title of project
Smolt Condition & Arrival Timing at Lwr Granite

BPA project number   8332300

Business name of agency, institution or organization requesting funding
IDFG

Sponsor type   ID-State/Local Agency

Proposal contact person or principal investigator

BPA technical contact   Pat Poe, EWI 503/230-4043

Biological opinion ID   NMFS BO RPA Sec. 13a and 13f

NWPPC Program number   5.9A.1

Short description
Operate fish traps; monitor migration timing, relative passage index and smolt condition; tag groups of juvenile chinook and steelhead to provide in-season travel time information from traps through Lower Granite and Little Goose reservoirs.

Project start year   1983    End year   

Start of operation and/or maintenance   1985

Project development phase   Implementation

Section 2. Narrative

Related projects
Basin wide Smolt Monitoring Program (SMP)-project 8332300 provides in-season management information for flow and passage management. Project 9107300 uses data generated by project 8332300 in estimating survival from point of release to the head of Lwr Granite pool.

Project history
Component of basinwide Smolt Monitoring Program, which is the basis of flow and passage management. Initiated in 1983 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) who built and installed traps on Clearwater, Snake and Salmon Rivers. The Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG) assumed work in 1984 and continues to operate traps as part of the annual coordinated regional Smolt Monitoring Program.

Biological results achieved
Progress is measured by noting whether or not we are obtaining the necessary data. An evaluation of the effectiveness of downstream migration protection actions is contained in the annual reports of the FPC. The FPC reports analyze and synthesize the information from this project together with the information collected by all other SMP projects and other environmental information. Progress is measured by comparing the results of these reports over the years.

Annual reports and technical papers
Progress and Annual Reports 1983 until present.
Annual Report series under "Downstream Migration and Water Budget":
Title: "Smolt Monitoring at the Head of Lower Granite Reservoir and Lower Granite Dam"
1983 - DOE/BP 253 (NMFS); 1984 - DOE/BP 11631-1 (IDFG); 1985 - DOE/BP 11631-2 (IDFG); 1986 - DOE/BP 11631-3 (IDFG);
1987 - DOE/BP 11631-4a IDFG); 1988 - DOE/BP 11631-4 (IDFG); 1989 - DOE/BP 11631-6 (IDFG); 1990 - DOE/BP 11631-7 (IDFG); 1991 - DOE/BP 11631-8 (IDFG); 1992 - DOE/BP 11631-9 (IDFG); 1993-DOE 11631-10 (IDFG); DRAFT 1994 Report 11631-11.

Management implications
This project, as part of the SMP, provides important information on salmon and steelhead smolt movement at the upper end of the Snake River’s series of dams. This information is used for in-season operational decisions relative to flow and spill management. Fish PIT-tagged at these sites are used to measure migration speed in key reaches of the Snake and Columbia rivers. The determination of the current year’s migration timing of ESA listed Snake River wild chinook salmon stocks is a key aspect of the year’s in-season SMP management decisions.

Specific measureable objectives
1. Provide daily trap catch data and a smolt passage index at the head of Lwr Granite Reservoir and the lower Salmon River as part of the Columbia River Basin SMP and fish transportation management purposes.
2. Determine travel time of PIT-tagged smolts from the point of release to the smolt traps (index sites).
3. Provide an interrogation site for PIT-tagged smolts, marked on other projects, at the end of their migration in a riverine environment and the beginning of their migration in a reservoir environment and an intermediate site on the Salmon River.
4. Determine travel time for age 1 hatchery chinook and wild chinook, hatchery steelhead, and wild steelhead smolts from the lower Salmon River and the head of Lwr Granite Reservoir to Lwr Granite and Little Goose dams.
5. Determine the PIT tag detection rate at Lwr Granite, Little Goose, Lwr Monumental, and McNary dams during the spring outmigration period for PIT-tagged age 1 hatchery and wild chinook salmon, hatchery steelhead, and wild steelhead marked at both the Snake and Salmon River traps.
6. Correlate the smolt migration rate with river flow for fish moving in riverine and reservoir environments during the spring outmigration.
7. Evaluate timing of returning adult hatchery and wild steelhead crossing Lwr Granite Dam.
8. Analyze data and produce an annual report.
9. Provide fish collection (purse seining) in Lwr Granite Reservoir as requested by other agencies.
10. Maintain traps, boats, and other equipment prior to the field season to ensure minimal downtime during the field season due to mechanical failure.

Testable hypothesis

Underlying assumptions or critical constraints

Methods
1. To determine the timing of smolt arrival at the head of Lwr Granite Reservoir we propose to continue the operation of a migrant dipper trap located on the Snake River at Lewiston, Idaho and a scoop trap on the Salmon River near Slate Creek, Idaho. Trap operation will begin in mid-March and will continue until June 15. Fish will be enumerated by species and rearing type. This information will be reported to the Fish Passage Center daily. Hatchery chinook Salmon, wild chinook salmon, hatchery steelhead trout, and wild steelhead trout will be PIT-tagged daily at each trap to provide travel time information through Lwr Granite Reservoir. PIT tag tagging files will be submitted to PTAGIS daily. Daily PIT tag groups will be used to determine the relation between migration rate and discharge. Both trap sites will act as PIT tag interrogation sites for PIT-tagged fish released upstream of the traps.

2a. Smolt migration rate/discharge relations through Lwr Granite Reservoir are investigated using linear regression analysis after both variables are stratified into 5-kcfs discharge intervals and log transformed. The 0.05 level is used to determine significance. This analysis is performed for the PIT-tagged hatchery chinook, wild chinook, hatchery steelhead, and wild steelhead groups marked at the Snake and Salmon river traps.
2b. The migration rate/discharge relations for PIT-tagged hatchery chinook, wild chinook, hatchery steelhead, and wild steelhead are individually examined from 1988 to present using analysis of covariance to determine if there are groups of years with common slopes and intercepts. Plots are used to help identify years that differ when non-homogeneous slopes between years are found. If the final hypothesis of common intercepts is not rejected, then the years of data are pooled and a linear regression analysis is conducted on the combined years data.

3. The traps collect approximately 0.5 to 1.5% of the salmon and steelhead smolts that pass the traps. Of the fish that are collected up to 300 fish of each species and rearing type will be PIT-tagged per week over a minimum of three days and a maximum of five days totaling 1,800 smolts each for hatchery and wild steelhead and yearling chinook will be PIT-tagged (7,200 tags total at each trap).

Brief schedule of activities
1. Provide daily trap catch data and a smolt passage index at the head of Lwr Granite Reservoir and the lower Salmon River to assist in management of flow augmentation, spill, facility power operations, fish collection and transportation programs.
2. Determine travel time of PIT-tagged smolts from point of release to smolt traps.
3. Provide an interrogation site for PIT-tagged smolts marked on other projects.
4. Determine travel time of hatchery and wild chinook and steelhead smolts from the lower Salmon River and the head of Lwr Granite Reservoir to Lwr Granite and Little Goose dams.
5. Determine the pit tag detection rate at LGR, LGS, LMN, and MCN dams for hatchery and wild chinook and steelhead.
6. Correlate the smolt migration rate with river flow for fish moving in riverine and reservoir environments during spring outmigration period.
7. Evaluate timing of returning adult wild and natural steelhead crossing Lwr Granite Dam.
8. Analyze data and produce an annual report
9. Provide fish collection (purse seining) in Lwr Granite Reservoir as requested by other agencies.
10.Maintain traps, boats, and other equipment prior to the field season to ensure minimal downtime in-season due to mechanical failure.

Biological need
This project documents the arrival timing at the head of Lwr Granite pool of anadromous smolts and the migration timing and rate through the Snake and Salmon rivers and Snake River reservoirs by pit-tagging juvenile salmon and steelhead captured in the Snake and Salmon River traps. This information is critical for in-season management decisions relative to operstions of the FCRPS for fish protection, flow augmentation, facility power operations, fish collection, and transportation programs.

Critical uncertainties

Summary of expected outcome
Improved information base for management of hydrosystem operations to improve protection and the passage survival of all Snake River anadromous stocks of salmon and steelhead through the FCRPS.

Dependencies/opportunities for cooperation
An ESA section 10 permit authorizing a take of listed Snake River salmon for scientific research and enhancement is required. The permit # 822 has been issued by NMFS and expires December 31, 1997

Risks
There is a small risk of mortality associated with trapping and/or pit-tagging fish. Annual mortality levels generally run about 1.0% for hatchery/wild chinook salmon and less than that for hatchery/wild steelhead trout.

Monitoring activity
All tasks are planned, scheduled and integrated as part of the annual coordinated Smolt Monitoring Program. Milestones are defined and delivery dates for reports are specified. Project progress toward milestones is monitored. The quality of the data collected is monitored within the project by staff training, testing and conducting spot accuracy checks. Progress will also be measured by determining whether or not we are obtaining the necessary data through peer reviews of the added value of the acquired information to: 1) improving the protection and the passage survival of all Columbia River anadromous stocks of salmon and steelhead through the FCRPS and 2) improving the management and conservation of Columbia River fisheries resources.

Section 3. Budget

* For most projects, Authorized is the amount recommended by CBFWA and the Council. Planned is amount currently allocated. Contracted is the amount obligated to date of printout.

Funding recommendations

CBFWA funding review group   Mainstem

Recommendation    Tier 1 - fund

Recommended funding level   $342,000

BPA 1997 authorized budget (approved start-of-year budget)   $341,000