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Looking for Pieces of the Puzzle:LIFE HISTORY OF SPRING CHINOOK IN THE
WILLAMETTE BASIN
Kirk Schroeder
Brian Cannon
Luke Whitman
Paul Olmsted
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Corvallis Research Lab
Primary funding from US Fish & Wildlife Service (Sport Fish Restoration)
Additional support from US Army Corps of Engineers
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Will
amet
te R
iver
Columbia River
South Santiam River
North Santiam River
McKenzie River
Middle Fork Willamette River
Eugene
Corvallis
Salem
Portland
70% of Oregonians
live within 20 mi of
Willamette
Flows through
several large cities
Dams block access to
upper reaches of Spring Chinook
rivers
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Perception = Willamette as Migration Corridor
Strategy = Flushing Flows (volume of water at peak migration for single life history)
“Spring chinook salmon are native to the Willamette River, with the mainstem river primarily a migration corridor for adults and smolts.” BPA Provincial Project Review, 2003
“…for salmon and steelhead recovery. The criteria are increased flows in the [Willamette] river…[for] downstream migration of juvenile steelhead during April and May and upstream migration of adult Chinook salmon in June.”
Willamette Basin Reservoir Study, 1999
Conceptual Model
Spawning Area
Willamette River
Reservoir releases
Columbia River
Willamette River & Columbia Estuary =
Bad Neighborhoods
Underlying Assumption
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Willamette River and Juvenile Spring Chinook Salmon
Example: Restore habitat complexity, connectivity for fish
* spatial (lateral, longitudinal)
* temporal (seasonal, flood cycles)
* biological (diverse life histories & species)
Alternative Perception = River is dynamic (spatial & temporal) and provides important rearing habitat
Juvenile life history
Alternative Strategies
Linkages between fish & habitat
Willamette = Migration Corridor Strategy = Target Flows (for smolts)
Fish
River
Changing the Perception
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APPROACH
• JUVENILE LIFE HISTORIES• MIGRATION TIMING• HABITAT USE OF WILLAMETTE
• STUDY TOOLS– PIT TAGS– DETECTION (MIGRATION & GROWTH)
• In-river Recaptures • PGE Sullivan Plant Willamette Falls• Lower Columbia Trawl
– TRAPS– SEINING– FIELD OBSERVATIONS
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Spawning DistributionAbove Leaburg Dam = 84% of redds (2005-09)
McKenzie River as Template for Juvenile Chinook Migration
32% wild67% wild
91% wild
Migration Timing Past Leaburg Dam Using Bypass Trap
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Catch of Wild Spring Chinook in the Leaburg Bypass TrapMigration from Spawning Areas
Seine Downriver & Tag late Spring & Summer
Tag & Release
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0
1000
2000
3000
Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Fry
Ca
tch
0
100
200
300
Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Fry
Ca
tch
0
100
200
300
400
500
Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Fry
Ca
tch
FRY MIGRATION from MCKENZIE RIVER
1999-2001
56 km
89 km
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Spring and Summer Rearing & Migration
Lower McKenzie Willamette Santiam
Fry too small to tag when migrating in first winter
Seine downstream of spawning areas after fry have grown
Outmigration timing: PIT tag & Detect at Willamette Falls and Lower Columbia trawl
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Willamette Falls Locks
PGE Sullivan Hydroelectric
Plant
Fish Bypass with PIT tag interrogators
Willamette Falls at Oregon City
Changing Infrastructure• Antenna System• Bypass System• Fish Guidance over
Falls
Detection ChallengesChanging Flow & Proportion of Fish to Plant
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Detection (Expansion) Factors
Turbine 13 Bypass +
North Full Flow Bypass
• Large antenna 2007
1. Operational Time (%) - recorded
Downtime during high debris periods
Turbine 13 Bypass
• Single antenna, screened evaluator 1999 – 2005
• Second antenna, within bypass route 2005
2. Fish Guidance Efficiency to
Bypass Route - tested
3. Antenna Efficiency - tested
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Flow Control (Notch) Guide Fish to Apex of Falls
at lower flows
4. FLOW - estimated
Detection Factors
Detections Expanded by Proportion of Flow through Sullivan (about 6,000 cfs to Plant regardless of river flow)
Developing additional flow factors through PIT releases above Falls at various flows
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Emigration of Juvenile Spring Chinook past Willamette FallsTagged as Subyearlings in Lower McKenzie & Upper Willamette
Detected at Willamette Falls (years with > 30 detections)
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Subyearlings tagged in mid Willamette (downstream of Santiam confluence)
Subyearlings tagged in Santiam Basin
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Detection of Spring Chinook Migrants Tagged at Leaburg Trap
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0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Pa
ssa
ge
tim
ing
Fry (Leaburg)
Subyearlings
Fall migrants
Spring migrants
Generalized Migration of Juvenile Spring Chinook
Relative seasonal use of Willamette River
Leaburg Dam
past Willamette Falls
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Juvenile Chinook Growth – Willamette River Spring & Summer Rearing
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Spring–Summer Migration of Juvenile Willamette Spring Chinook Catch in Lower Columbia Trawl (Km 61 - 83) Apr – Jun, limited sampling into July
Recaptures expanded by efficiency of Trawl sampler estimated from detections at Sullivan Plant and Trawl
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Juvenile Chinook Life Histories
Willamette Winter-Spring
Lower Willamette
Columbia
Ocean
Willamette Spring-Summer
Willamette Winter
Fall Migrants(Oct-Dec)
Spring Migrants(Feb-Apr)
Nov-Dec
From spawning
areas
? unknown timing
documented
hypothesized or unknown
Jun-Jul
(Aug)
May-Jun Willamette
Summer
Parr Migrants
Fry Migrants(Jan-May)
Willamette Spring
Feb- May
May-Jul ? ?
Mar- Jun
Apr- May Apr- Jun
Sep-Dec
? Mar-May
Feb-Apr
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Age 0 (Subyearling) Life History in Wild Adult Spring Chinookby brood year (hatchery fish all adipose-clipped & otolith marked)
Life History Diversity Matters – Different Life Histories Contribute
Provides Resilience to Populations
Colder ColderColder Warmer Warmer
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Antennas in Willamette Falls FishwayLimited Data to Date
One Lesson Learned: ALWAYS CHECK THOSE BOLTS!!!
Acknowledgements
ODFWBob Lindsay, Project Leader (retired)Ken Kenaston, Project Asst (retired)Region, District, Hatchery staffMany hard-working seasonal employees
PSMFCDave MarvinJohn Tenney
PGETim ShibaharaDan Domina (former)
Eugene Water & Electric Board