Case Study:  Idaho Naturally Produced Chinook with Focus on Middle Fork

Salmon River

Sharon W. Kiefer

Idaho Dept. Fish and Game

October, 2012

Middle Fork Salmon River Attributes:

►Free-flowing river with many tributaries, flows about 104 miles,

►A tributary to the Salmon River,

►One of the original 8 Wild and Scenic Rivers (1968)

►Elevation ranges 7,000 feet to 3,900 feet

►Bear Valley and Marsh Creek converge to form the mainstem

►Located in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness (1980) - Frank Church Wilderness encompasses a total of 2,366,757 acres - Second largest unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System in the Lower 48

Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook ESUIdaho Idaho (cont.) Oregon &

Washington

South Fk Salmon MPG

Upper Salmon MPG Lower Snake MPG

South Fk Mainstem Upper Salmon Mainstem

Tucannon R.

*Secesh R. *Valley Cr. Asotin Cr. (ext)

East Fk./Johnson Cr. Yankee Fork Gr. Ronde/Imnaha MPG

Little Salmon R. East Fork Salmon R. Upper Gr. Ronde R.

*Middle Fk Salmon MPG

*Lower Mainstem Catherine Cr.

*Marsh Cr. Pahsimeroi R. Minam R.

*Bear Valley Cr. *Lemhi R. Lookingglass Cr. (ext.)

*Sulphur Cr. *North Fk. Salmon R. Lostine/Wallowa R.

*Upper Mainstem MF

Panther Cr. (ext.) Wenaha R.

*Loon Cr. Clearwater MPG not-listed

Imnaha R.

*Camas Cr. Big Sheep Cr. (ext.)

*Big Cr.

*Lower Mainstem MF

*Chamberlain Cr. * Unsupplemented

Sp/Su Chinook

Salmon River Sp/Su Chinook MPGs

SF Salmon, MF Salmon, Up. Salmon

WILD Fish: Middle Fork Salmon River Sp/Su Chinook Native, No hatchery history, naturally produced

NATURAL Fish: Clearwater Basin Sp/Su Chinook Native or non-native, hatchery history, naturally produced

IDFG Adopted MFSR Wild Fish Policy 1985

Monitoring Infrastructure

▪3 Smolt Traps: Marsh, Bear Valley, Big creeks▪Video Adult Weir: Bear Valley Creek▪Pit Tag Array: Big Creek▪Redd Counts and Carcass Recovery

▪Juvenile PIT Tagging ▪Genetic Sampling▪Snorkel Trend Surveys▪Genetic Stock ID at Lower Granite Dam

State, Tribal, Federal Contributors

Lower Granite Dam Runsize

Smolt to Adult Return Rate

Smolt to Adult Return Comparison of Snake and Mid-Col. Chinook

Augmenting MFSR Redds with Adult Abundance = Genetic Stock Identification (GSI)

Year

GSI-MFSR (95%CI)LGR-Total

Wild

2010 4,527 (3,184-5,708) 27,664

2011 3,948 (NA) 26,673

SUMMARY

•Run-size of W/N & H - correlated•Smolt-to-adult returns (SARs) of W/N & H – similar range & correlated•Mid-Columbia W/N SARs >> Snake W/N SARs •Salmon River redd count trends• Decline since 1950s & 1960s• W and N (hatchery influenced) trends similar

since hatchery programs began in 1980s• Middle Fork Salmon comprise large portion of

wild – similar trend•Natural origin spawner trends are similar in Wild and Hatchery influenced populations