2018 Out-migrant Monitoring Trapping Support on the Upper Middle Klamath River

The Karuk Fisheries Program assited the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with out-migrant salmonid monitoring efforts on the mainstem Klamath River at the Kinsman Creek site. This river reach is the primary rearing reach for juvenile chinook and coho salmon spawning below Iron Gate Dam, but also the large population of juvenile fish emigrating from the Shasta River. The monitoring site was used for juvenile salmon out migration monitoring and a site to collect fish needed for fish disease monitoring. Juvenile out-migration monitoring occurred between March and May of 2019.

The project will benefit management of salmon populations through better understanding of annual fry and smolt outmigration in the Klamath River. In addition the project monitors fish health of out migrants and assists with the quantification of disease related mortality and understanding of how annual river flows and water quality affect fish disease levels.
Objective
• Provide assistance with operations of outmigrant traps on the mainstem Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam; determine annual fish production estimates, evaluate fish health conditions and further development of flow based fish production models. Determine peak migration timing useful for water management and disease control methods.