Elwha River Broodstock Development

This project supported ongoing efforts to conserve native Elwha River salmon stocks prior to and through dam removal, now scheduled for 2012. In the 2007 brood year, we successfully collected 55,000 chum salmon eggs from native Elwha River broodstock. The eggs were fertilized and raised in the LEKT hatchery until the eyed stage. They were then outplanted as eyed eggs in side-channels of the Elwha River. Efforts to preserve and enhance native Elwha River wild steelhead continued with the collection of brood stock in 2007 for the tribes captive brood program. 1000 eyed eggs from twenty-five redds were collected by redd pumping. This fish are being reared for captive breeding purposes.

This prject is desgned to conserve genetic integrity of native stocks of Elwha River salmonids prior to and following dam removal scheduled in 2009. These two populations are at very low levels (chum <1000 adults/steelhead <500 adults). Dam removal is expected to increase sediment levels greatly between 2009-2011. These conservation measures are designed to conserve chum and steelhead populations during the high sedimentation period.