Ongoing Dungeness and Straits Streams Stock Assessments

The project continued to provide support for ongoing collection and assessment of data on critical stocks in the Dungeness River and selected streams by carrying out the tasks below, which are organized according to worktypes.
Note: there are two worksites for the Dungeness River: Dungeness River (a) and Dungeness River (b). These worksites do not overlap and are associated with different worktypes.
1) Salmonid smolt or fry monitoring: Continued to trap/release coho, steelhead and cutthroat smolts during downstream migration in Dungeness River (a), Matriotti Creek, Jimmycomelately Creek, Bell Creek, McDonald Creek, and Siebert Creek worksites to measure productivity of sampled streams. A draft smolt trap report/analysis of 2012 data was completed.
The Dungeness River and Matriotti Creek worksites also had additional juvenile monitoring consisting of utilizing temporary marks, using fin clips of the upper and lower caudal fin lobe applied on coho and steelhead smolts. These marks were recaptured in downstream traps to assist in the development of population estimates. Funding from FY2011 allocation was used in conjunction with FY2010 funds for this task.
2) Redd counts: Redd counts were conducted as part of our continuing analysis of the Chinook Supplementation Program, and to estimate spawning rates in the Dungeness River (a) worksite. This work occurred in cooperation with WDFW, and included flagging and recording count, timing, and GPS locations. Staff also attended a swift water rescue training course which is directly relevant to spawning/redd survey work.
Redd counts also occurred as part of spawning ground surveys and population estimates for Coho and Steelhead in the Dungeness River (a), including tributaries (Hurd Creek, Canyon Creek, Beebe Creek), and in conjunction with Tasks 3 (adult population monitoring) and 4 (carcass counts). Supplemental surveys were conducted at the height of the spawning season for the upper Dungeness River. All of this work is captured under the Dungeness (a) worksite.
Additionally, the Tribe assisted WDFW with Steelhead spawning surveys (redds) for the Siebert Creek worksite.
3) Adult population monitoring: Live adult counts were conducted for Chum in conjunction with spawning ground surveys (Task 2) and carcass counts (Task 4), in the Dungeness River (a) worksite, including tributaries (Beebe and Hurd Creek). The live and carcass counts help with estimating total spawners.
4) Carcass counts: Carcass counts of Coho and Chum occurred in conjunction with spawning ground surveys (Task 2) and live adult counts (Task 3) at the Dungeness River (a) worksite, including tributaries (Beebe, Hurd, Canyon, Greywolf).
5) Restoration effectiveness monitoring: Monitoring occurred in association with the Dungeness River(b) worksite involving a night-time snorkel survey of previously constructed ELJs in the Dungeness River. The work was was performed to help fill a seasonal data-gap by obtaining winter-time (February 2013) fish and habitat utilization information in the log-jam reach of the river, Dungeness River (b) worksite.

Stock assessments help co-managers and biologists better understand the status of salmonids in the Dungeness Watershed, and identify key riparian areas for protection, timing of out-migration related to other stocks, etc. The marking project (which makes use of temporary marks - fin clips of the upper or lower caudal fin lobe) allows for a highly accurate estimate of the total number of naturally produced coho and steelhead in the Dungeness River system, a key parameter in our efforts to properly manage these species locally and to assess key stock productivity questions. Data gathered by WDFW from sampled carcasses are used to determine appropriate Dungeness Chinook supplementation strategies such as age, size and location of juvenile release. With the latest addition of steelhead to the ESA list, further assessment is needed to understand recovery needs for this species. Redd surveys help assess number of spawners, as well as habitat conditions. The snorkel surveys will help fill a seasonal data-gap by obtaining winter-time fish and habitat information in the log-jam reach of the Dungeness River. It will also allow us to examine the effectiveness of the recently installed log-jams by observing, for example, the number and species of fish utilizing the habitat created by the jams.