Quinault River Sockeye Otolith Aging and Thermal Mark Identification

The Quinault Sockeye supplementation program is designed to augment fry recruitment into Lake Quinault and increase smolt production until long-term habitat restoration efforts improve the productivity and capacity of sockeye habitats in the upper Quinault River. The Quinault Department of Fisheries (QDFi) collects otoliths from adult sockeye sampled from commercial and subsistence catch, brood stock and spawning grounds each year. This project will fund laboratory technician wages, equipment and supplies for otolith collection, processing, ageing and mark identification. The Quinault Department of Fisheries (QDFi) uses otolith age data for cohort analysis and thermal mark data to estimate the contribution of hatchery and natural origin sockeye to terminal fisheries, hatchery broodstock and natural spawning escapement.

This project is essential for the Quinault Department of Fisheries (QDFi) to estimate fishery contribution and natural spawning escapement of the Quinault River sockeye supplementation program. The project is critical to developing brood stock goals, rearing strategies and release goals that maximize survival of hatchery-reared sockeye and ensure proper genetic integration with the natural population. It is critical that we adaptively manage supplementation efforts to maximize population fitness and achieve the full benefit from the large scale habitat improvements being implemented in the upper Quinault River floodplain. This project is critical to the continuation of the sockeye supplementation program.