Initiation of an Integrated Spring Chinook Hatchery Program in the Klickitat River Basin

This project contributed to the Yakama Nations plans to initiate actions directed at the conversion of the segregated harvest program (current program) at the Klickitat Salmon Hatchery (KH), to an integrated conservation/harvest program by incorporating an increasing proportion of natural origin recruits (NOR) Klickitat River spring Chinook into the broodstock over time.

Project funds were successfully to advance key elements needed for the conversion of the Klickitat Hatchery (KH) spring Chinook program from the current segregated program to an integrated hatchery program. Detailed information regarding the scientific rationale and required steps to build the integrated hatchery program can be found in the Spring Chinook Hatchery Genetic Management Plan, 2019). To advance progress these Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) grant were used outright or as costshare with other funding sources. Specifically, this PCSRF grant funded hatchery culturist staff time to transport, spawn, and rear to release spring Chinook at the KH. Additionally, these PCSRF funds were used to obtain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) certifications for hatchery staff in order to transport captured adult spring Chinook using a large transportation truck, from Lyle Adult Trap (LAT) located in the lower Klickitat River (RM 2.2) upriver to the Klickitat Hatchery (Figure 2, attached final report). This large transport truck is also used by a CDL driver on hatchery property to move fry from raceway banks to final rearing ponds. When adult collection numbers did not necessitate use of our large fish truck to transport fish from the LAT, a smaller 500 gallon transportation tank and truck were used. This grant allowed FRM to complete outfitting this smaller fish transport truck with mounting brackets, air supplies, and transport tank. Operation of this smaller transport truck does not require CDL certification.

A significant portion of this awarded funds was used to complete the final design set (Attachment A- Design Set. Klickitat Hatchery Incubation Chiller), complete building permitting, and advance installation of key components of the chilled water delivery system to the hatchery incubation water supply (Photos 1 and 2). The KH has an abundant supply of high quality pathogen free spring water which is desirable for incubation and early rearing. The chilled water supply during egg incubation is key to hatchery reform efforts at the KH and our efforts to phase out the existing segregated program and transition to an integrated program. The water temperature profile to be emulated during the seven month (September – March) incubation period in described in Table 1 (attached final report). Final rearing and acclimation of spring Chinook production will occur after egg incubation at the fry to smolt stage and incorporate a blend OF river water with spring water in large circular rearing tanks to be constructed in a future phase of this project. The Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) identifies rearing spring Chinook using natural water temperatures profiles and river water as a key element to increasing smolt-to-adult survival rates. Since project inception in 1996, our sister project, the Cle Elum Supplementation and Research Facility (CESRF) has incorporated the use of chilled water in their spring Chinook program. This practice coupled with other hatchery reform measures has been shown to increase smolt-to-adult return rates of Yakima spring Chinook.

Specific worksite activities:

At Worksite #1, Lyle Adult Trap, **% of broodstock (** total) were collected and used as the primary spring Chinook brood collection source. The LAT is not a full channel spanning collection facility.

At Worksite #2, Klickitat Salmon Hatchery (KH), project funds provided manpower and operational costs to transport the NOR spring Chinook collected from the Lyle Adult Trap to the Klickitat Hatchery to develop an i

The NMFS priority addressed by this project is Priority (1) Projects that address those populations necessary for the exercise of tribal treaty fishing rights or native subsistence fishing in the Klickitat River and Columbia River basins, in maintaining populations of salmonids while working to restore depressed populations of spring Chinook salmon and ESA listed steelhead in the Klickitat River Basin. Over the last several years on average only 400 spring Chinook naturally spawn in the Klickitat River. The overarching goal is to provide harvest to tribal, sport fisheries, and commercial fisheries while preserving and protecting the indigenous spring Chinook population; to provide fish production to sustain tribal Zone 6 fisheries, sport and tribal fisheries at the mouth of the Klickitat River, in-river sport fisheries, and mixed stock ocean fisheries. (Harvest Goals in Master plan are 1,000 for combined mainstem fisheries (Zones 1-6: treaty (600), sport & commercial (400)) and 3,000 for combined terminal fisheries (1,800 treaty, 1,200 sport); and to produce spring Chinook salmon to help mitigate for fish losses resulting from development activities within the Columbia River Basin that have decreased salmonid populations.