Objective: Implement restoration projects using “low tech” techniques such as beaver dam analogs (BDA) or post assisted log structures (PAWS) as a tool to increase habitat connectivity to floodplain and off channel ponds and increase volume of cold water refuges.
Background: The Karuk Tribe has conducted juvenile salmonid out-migrant monitoring in the mainstem Klamath River since 1997 and in the mainstem Salmon River since 2001. The Karuk Fisheries Program has worked in collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Salmon River Restoration Council (SRRC) with trapping operations since 2002 by providing labor for trap operations. In 2024, four mainstem dams were removed from the Klamath River increasing the amount of spawning and rearing habitat available for salmon and potential for changes in life history tactics to shift or diversify. There is an increased need to understand how fish respond to this dramatic change therefor tissue samples for genotyping will be collected and processed to better understand population structure and source parentage of juvenile out-migrating salmon. Other tissue samples will be collected and archived for future studies.
Project Description: The Karuk Tribe will operate outmigrant traps in the lower Salmon River and Klamath River near Big Bar and Kinsman Creek. The Karuk Tribe will work in cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service at trapping sites located in the upper Klamath River near Kinsman Creek. This river reach is the primary rearing reach for juvenile chinook and coho salmon spawning below the former Iron Gate Dam site and will be critical for understanding salmon populations after dam removal. The Kinsman site also monitors a large population of juvenile fish emigrating from the Shasta River. Kinsman creek is located above the Scott River and just downstream of Horse Creek and Beaver Creek where an exceptional amount of effort is underway to restore the Upper mid Klamath population of Coho Salmon. In recent years, droughts, low flows and fish disease are major limiting factors for juvenile salmonid production and while changes are expected it’s important that we increase our Other work includes beach seining, fish health sample collection and weekly trap catch efficiencies. The Tribe will actively coordinate efforts with US Fish and Wildlife Service and Salmon River Restoration Council including input of data and upgrade the current Microsoft Access database managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
