Bear Valley Creek Chinook Salmon Abundance Monitoring Project 2018

Within the project period, staff coordinated with the USFS, IDFG, and NOAA-Fisheries to ensure all permits (SF-299, ESA Section 10, IDFG Scientific Collecting Permit, IDWR Stream Alteration Permit, and CORE 404 Permit) were valid to operate the project. The Tribes completed the 2019 BRCAMP Program – data collection, data analysis, and initiation of the Annual Report. The rotary screw trap was installed on 4 June and fished for 147 days until future removal on 29 October 2019 in response to freezing conditions. Outmigration estimates for juvenile Chinook salmon will be reported in the BRCAMP annual report. Chinook salmon juveniles have been PIT-tagged for evaluation of migration timing and survival to the ocean, but tagging will continue until the trap is removed. All other non-target species were immediately enumerated and released downstream at the trap. The adult videography weir and PIT-tag antennas were installed on 19 June and removed on 11 September. Tribal staff estimates a total return based on videography will be reported in the annual BRCAMP report. Final accurate and precise evaluations will be completed for the final BRCAMP report submitted to NOAA Fisheries by 15 March 2020.

Bear Valley Creek is an important traditional use Chinook fishery area for the Tribes. It is extremely important to manage this Chinook salmon fishery based on the requirements of the ESA and the TRMP. Current abundance estimates, generated from redd counts show Bear Valley Creek Chinook salmon are at risk of extinction. Developing accurate adult abundance and productivity information will allow the Tribes and other resource managers to assess the effectiveness of conservation actions for listed Chinook salmon. Adult abundance information provides the Tribes the ability to conduct in-season harvest management (e.g., adjusting forecasts, harvest guidelines), which ultimately improves our ability to control Tribal harvest impacts on an ESA listed Chinook salmon. Juvenile abundance and PIT tagging data will allow the Tribes to further examine the productivity of Bear Valley Creek and enumerate the survival of Chinook salmon and steelhead as they travel through the Columbia and Snake rivers hydrosystem.