Evaluation of In-River Adult Sockeye Fish Counting System on the Quinault River

The purpose of the project was to evaluate the effectiveness of managing Quinault sockeye (Blueback) escapement using real-time counts from an in-river hydroacoustic fish counter placed in the lower Quinault River (RM 7.0) as compared to the current method of using hydroacoustic surveys in Lake Quinault (RM 33.0).

Based on the results from the 2009 PCSRF study Evaluation of Quinault River Candidate Sites For Installation of an Automated Fish Counting System the preferred site was selected to implement this project. The project involved purchasing and installing the counting system infrastructure, improving an existing forest road to access the site, procurement of power to the site either permanent or portable, installation of hydroacoustic equipment (equipment purchase is in-kind by QDFi) and develop, install and test the Data Management system. Other work included technician support, maintenance and monitoring of equipment. Biologist gave in-kind support to analyze data and developed an in-season model. Hydroacoustic surveys in Lake Quinault were required as part of our annual escapement monitoring and were used to assess the in-river counter, this work was done as in-kind.

Once equipment wasinstalled and tested, escapement was monitored through the entire sockeye run and compared to Lake Quinault estimates of escapement from hydroacoustic surveys. A system to manage escapement and harvest was developed based on the real-time progression of escapement.

The Quinault Blueback fishery is currently managed in-season by using weekly estimates of escapement into Lake Quinault. The cumulative escapement is tracked and the number of fish projected to be above the escapement goal is used to manage the fishery for harvest. The escapement estimate is quite variable especially in the early part of the run since it is based on expanding hydroacoustic survey results from several transects to account for the total volume of the lake.
An in-river counter located in the lower river will provide real time escapement counts. The goal of the project is to develop an in-season model to manage escapement and harvest with a higher degree of confidence than could be obtained from hydroacoustic counts in Lake Quinault.
A more precise measurement of how escapement is progressing will allow for better management of the fishery and help assure that the escapement goal is met.