FY 2016 Planning and Design for Sauk summer Chinook and Sauk Chum Fish Propagation Programs

The information gathering objective was achieved through hatchery tours, courses, workshops, and professional contacts. The hatchery guiding document is not complete yet therefore being continued in the FY 2017 project.

Toured multiple hatcheries for design ideas. Facilities toured were the new state-of-the-art Tacoma Power hatcheries in the Skokomish River system, the two Stillaguamish Tribal hatcheries, WDFW hatcheries, and USFWS research hatchery.

Attended USFWS coldwater fish culture course and NW fish culture workshops to expand knowledge of operation designs.

The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe has secured land for the development of a future hatchery facility. The tribe intends to develop hatchery programs for Sauk summer Chinook and Sauk Chum. A recent regional geomorphology assessment of the Sauk River indicated increased peak flow events due to climate change resulting in a high probability of river channel movement (NSD 2014). Both these populations are impacted by sedimentation and mass wasting limiting factors. There has not been a river directed fishery in the Skagit for summer/fall Chinook and Chum in 5 plus years.

The purpose of the Sauk Chinook program is to increase seeding levels (spawning density), a limiting factor identified in the Skagit Chinook Recovery Plan (SRSC and WDFW 2005). The Sauk summer Chinook escapement abundance has fallen below NOAA’s designed low abundance threshold (LAT 400) 5 times in the last 10 years. This is the driver stock that determines terminal fishing opportunity.

A Sauk Chum fish propagation program for a fixed facility will also be planned and designed. In the Skagit River, there are three recognized stocks of chum salmon consisting of a lower Skagit, upper Skagit, and Sauk populations. The Sauk River population has spatial and temporal separation spawning in the Sauk River basin and spawning earlier than the other two populations. Since 2007, the Skagit chum populations have declined significantly. No extended directed freshwater chum commercial fishery has occurred in the Skagit since then. We presently operate a small remote-site incubator program (SSIT 2015).

The expected benefits of the hatchery programs planned and designed under this project are:

1. To increase seeding levels and overall abundance from new hatchery program operations so that directed in-river fishing opportunities can occur again.
2. To maintain population diversity in part to combat impacts of climate change.
3. To develop a well thought out hatchery design that will be able to support successful fish propagation programs under all future environmental conditions. Possible design elements to meet these challenges would be water recycling system, chiller, and captive brood stock capacity. Developing a hatchery design alternatives list is necessary before finalizing a conceptual design for facility.