Clearwater River Coho Monitoring and Evaluation 2014

The focus of the Clearwater River Monitoring and Evaluation project was to: 1) provide science-based recommendations for management and policy consideration; 2) demonstrate when the reintroduction program meets its restoration goals and 3) assist in the re-establishment of tribal and recreational fisheries.

A base level of hatchery-origin coho monitoring and evaluation has been started with Mitchell Act Grant funding. Five primary activities have been enabled by the Mitchell Act Grant:
1) CWT data collection, analysis and reporting
2) Juvenile migration and survival monitoring (PIT tag application, uploading, analysis, and reporting)
3) Adult return monitoring of abundance and distribution (adults, redds, broodstock, PIT tag array detections)
4) In-hatchery production survival and growth monitoring
5) Co-manager coordination and information transfer

The Nez Perce Tribe Coho Monitoring and Evaluation Project was strengthened with PCSRF by increasing seasonal staff. Increasing the number of technical staff allowed for more opportunities for data to be collected. A total of four seasonal full time employees were hired. These employees assisted with three of the five primary activities described in the base level hatchery-origin coho monitoring and evaluation. Activity 1) CWT data collection, analysis and reporting; Activity 3) Adult return monitoring of abundance and distribution (adults, redds, broodstock and PIT tag array detections) and Activity 4) In-hatchery production survival and growth monitoring. The additional employees worked with the current Coho Project Monitoring Biologist.

Activity 1: Coded wire tag (CWT) data collection, analysis and reporting
• All data was collected and recorded from returning adults.
• All detected CWT’s were collected from returning adults during spawning.
• All recovered CWT’S will be read and uploaded into RMIS during the summer of 2016.

Activity 3: Adult return monitoring of abundance and distribution (adults, redds, broodstock, PIT tag array detections)
• Four full time seasonal employees were hired to install operate a picket weir in Lapwai creek to collected returning adults. These staff members were also used to operate the Dworshak ladder and Kooskia trap to collect returning adults. They were also tasks with transporting trapped adults from Lower Granite Dam adult collection.
• All trapped adults were transported to Dworshak National Fish Hatchery for holding and spawning.
• Redd walks were very limited due to the low number of retuning adults. All adults trapped collected and used as broodstock and were not allowed to pass any of the traps or weirs. Redds and carcasses were counted by foot in spawning areas, including Lapwai Creek and Clear Creek. Redds were flagged and their locations are recroded. Carcasses were measured and assessed, and then returned to the river.
• PIT tag array detections were used for in season run updates throughout the hydro systems, staring at Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River and ending at Lower Granite Dam in the Sanke River.

Activity 4: In-hatchery production survival and growth monitoring.
• All in-hatchery data was collected and recorded.
• All in-hatchery survival and growth data will be consolidated after 2016 releases.

The work performed and paid for using FY 2014 PCSRF funds under this project at each worksite is as follows:

Worksite #1, Dworshak National Fish Hatchery (DNFH): Adult ladder operation (used other funds).

Worksite #2, Clear Creek: - Stream Miles Monitored: 8.8 (used PCSRF funds specifically).

Worksite #3, Lapwai Creek: Stream Miles Monitored: 6.8 (used PCSRF funds specifically).

The Nez Perce Tribe’s overall goal is to reintroduce and restore coho salmon to the Clearwater River Subbasin at levels of abundance and productivity sufficient to support sustainable runs and annual harvest. Consistent with the Clearwater Subbasin Plan and Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit: Spirit of the Salmon Tribal Recovery Plan, the Nez Perce Tribe envisions an annual escapement of 14,000 coho to the Clearwater River Subbasin. Based on results from the existing Clearwater River Subbasin coho production program and experience in managing anadromous fish populations in the Snake River Basin, the Nez Perce Tribe believes this program will require a substantial hatchery production component and the establishment of highly productive naturally spawning coho salmon aggregates.

The Nez Perce Tribe developed management objectives aimed at achieving the overall goal of the program. These include:

• Establish a localized Clearwater River coho salmon broodstock.
• Establish natural spawning populations of coho salmon in the Clearwater River Subbasin.
• Utilize hatchery production to achieve optimal production effectiveness while meeting priority management objectives for natural production enhancement, harvest, diversity and minimizing impacts to non-target populations.
• Restore and maintain treaty-reserved tribal and recreational fisheries.
• Monitor and evaluate program activities and communicate program findings to resource managers.
• This project specifically provides fish for tribal treaty rights. It gives the treaty tribes access to Mitchell Act fish that were previously released downstream of Bonneville Dam, it provides fish for harvest in the Columbia River from the mouth up through Zone 6, it provides fish for harvest in the tributaries of the Snake River, and it provides fish for natural spawning and reintroduction of an extirpated stock in the Clearwater River.
• Reintroduction and natural production of coho is succeeding in the Clearwater Basin. Because coho spawn in smaller tributaries in the fall, these fish have proven to be a critical source of nutrients in the streams and a source of food for our tables. There have been many coho redds counted in Clearwater tributaries since 2011 – most of those in Lapwai and Clear creeks where juveniles are released. The spawners are a highly visible testament in our local communities that we can have salmon, that restoration programs have a tangible benefit.