Spring Chinook in the Sandy Basin 2012

Todd Alsbury District Fish Biologist (Cascade Unit)

Presentation Outline

! Marmot/Little Sandy Dam removal ! Spring Chinook 2013

– Spawner surveys – Weir/traps – Acclimation

! Sandy Hatchery Fish Passage

Marmot Dam

• Marmot Dam removed during the summer of 2007 (complete in October)

• Little Sandy Dam removed in 2008

Little Sandy Dam

Pre-dam removal 10-19-07

Post-dam removal 10-21-07

Post-dam removal 12-11-07

View upstream of footbridge

Pre-dam removal 10-19-07

Post-dam removal 10-21-07

Post-dam removal 12-11-07

View downstream of footbridge (old angling deadline)

Marmot Dam ! The former Marmot Dam caused delay of upstream

migrants (stress) and diversion of juveniles (fry) ! Dam diverted water (and fish) out of mainstem and

reduced flow from dam to mouth of Bull Run ! Retained 1+ million cubic yards of sand, gravel, cobble,

and boulders in the reservoir ! The dam provided the ability to count, sort, and remove

hatchery fish ! The removal of Marmot reduced the ability to effectively

manage hatchery fish that “stray” from their point of release

Spring Chinook in the Sandy ! Past program utilized Willamette stock for brood ! Transition to integrated program in 2002 in advance of

Marmot Dam removal –  100% wild fish used from 2002-2006 –  30% wild 2007-2010 –  No wild fish collected for brood in 2011-2012

! Reduced release from 460,000 to 300,000 in 1999 ! Reduced from 300k to 200k in 2013 ! High stray rate exceeds criteria established under Native

Fish Conservation Policy, LCR Recovery Plan, Sandy ChS HGMP –  Criteria: <10% stray rate in the natural spawning habitat of spring

Chinook –  Current stray rate ranges from 30-80%

Figure 2. Percentage of hatchery-origin spring Chinook salmon in the spawning population of Sandy River basin upstream of the Marmot Dam site, 2002–2012. The percentage in 2012 was estimated from the percentage of fin-clipped carcasses recovered (21%) and the average percentage of unclipped fish that were of hatchery origin in 2008–2010 (8%).

Figure 3. Number of spring Chinook salmon in the Sandy River basin upstream of Marmot Dam site (hatchery and wild), and in the Clackamas Basin upstream of North Fork Dam (wild), 2002–2012. Number of fish in the Sandy River basin in 2008–2012 was estimated from redd counts and the relationship of dam counts to redd counts in 1996–1998 and 2002–2006. The proportion of wild and hatchery fish was estimated from recovery of carcasses. Wild fish in the Clackamas in 2012 was estimated from count of unclipped fish at the dam.

Figure 6. Percentage of spring Chinook salmon redds in four sections of the Salmon River, 2002–2007 and 2012. The 2002–2007 data did not include 2004 and 2006 because redd counts were combined for the lower two sections. The estimated redd distribution of unclipped fish in 2012 was based on the proportion of unclipped carcasses in each section.

Figure 8. Location of redds in the Salmon River watershed, 2012. Redd locations were marked with GPS units synchronized with field data collectors (PDAs). Numbers in yellow are peak counts of redds for survey sections indicated by red markers.

Figure 7. Percentage of spring Chinook salmon redds in four sections of the Zigzag River watershed, 2002–2007 and 2012. The estimated redd distribution of unclipped fish for 2012 is based on the proportion of unclipped carcasses recovered in each section.

Figure 9. Location of redds in the Zigzag River watershed, 2012. Redd locations were marked with GPS units synchronized with field data collectors (PDAs). Numbers in yellow and green are peak counts of redds for survey sections (indicated by red markers) where redd location data are available. Numbers in black are peak counts of redds in other sections or streams where redd location data were not collected.

Watershed 2003–2007a

2008–2009a

2011 2012

Salmon 11.1 (75) 8.2 (113) 4.0 (281) 7.4 (285) Zigzag 1.5 (20) 2.9 (122) 5.5 ( 91) 5.0 (201) Upper Sandy

9.2 (97) 5.8 (242) 4.7 (406) 5.6 (550)

Table 6. Percentage of spring Chinook salmon females that died prior to spawning as determined by presence of eggs that died prior to spawning (sample size in parentheses) for the Salmon and Zigzag watersheds, and for the upper Sandy River basin. Fin-clipped fish were removed at Marmot Dam in 2003–2007, no weirs were operated in 2008–2009, and weirs were operated in the lower Salmon and Zigzag rivers in 2012 to trap and remove fin-clipped fish.

Sandy River spring Chinook stray reduction program 2013

Salmon River weir

River Mile 2.03

! Dates of operation: June 18 – Oct 14 – 119 days

! Trap checked 2+ times/day (AM and PM) Sept 11-Sept 27

Salmon River weir

§  Passed 1,108 unmarked spring Chinook §  Passed 3 unmarked coho §  Passed 2 unmarked summer steelhead

§ Removed 247 ad-clipped spring Chinook

= 1,355 total spring Chinook / 18.23% of hatchery-origin

Total fish handled – Salmon R.

**First redd below weir on 09/09

Zigzag River weir

River Mile 1.66

! Dates of operation: July 4 – Oct 14 – 103 days

! Trap checked 2+ times/day (AM and PM) Sept 11-Sept 27

Zigzag River weir

Total fish handled – Zigzag R. §  Passed 432 unmarked spring Chinook §  Passed 5 unmarked coho § Removed 188 ad-clipped spring Chinook

= 620 total spring Chinook / 30.32% of hatchery-origin

Zig Zag River ChS Counts

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

7/4/2012

7/11/2012

7/18/2012

7/25/2012

8/1/2012

8/8/2012

8/15/2012

8/22/2012

8/29/2012

9/5/2012

9/12/2012

9/19/2012

9/26/2012

10/3/2012

10/10/2012

Unmarked Ad-clipped

Spring Chinook Acclimation in the Sandy Basin

! Several sites considered –  Gordon Creek (< fishery, smaller than Cedar Cr, steep

lower reach) –  Beaver Creek (< fishery, small stream , very low in

basin) –  Upper basin tributary (> fishery, stray more of an issue

w/out active trapping…labor intensive) –  Bull Run River (former Bull Run Powerhouse)

! Largest tributary to the Sandy River ! Suitable flows year-round (minimum flow established under

Bull Run Habitat Conservation Plan) ! Gated site w/individual landowner (PowerHouse ReGen, LLC)

Spring Chinook Acclimation in the Sandy Basin

! Bull Run River –  Acclimated 50,000 smolts in 2011 (Age 4 adults return

in 2013) –  Acclimated ½ (150,000 smolts) of total release in Bull

Run in 2012, other ½ at Sandy Hatchery –  Propose to acclimate & release 200,000 smolts in 2013 –  Estimate ~2,000 adults returning to Bull Run –  Reduce number of fish available at mouth of Cedar

Creek

Bull Run Acclimation Pond

Bull Run Acclimation Pond

Bull Run Acclimation Pond

Sandy Hatchery

Wooden picket weir blocks passage at most flows

Adult trap and holding pens

Adult diversion weir (Obermeyer)

Intake dam and fish ladder

Sandy Hatchery Management -Fish Passage into upper Cedar Creek

! Passage blocked since hatchery constructed in 1956 (over 12 miles of anadromous habitat above hatchery)

! Blocked to prevent possible pathogen introduction into hatchery fish

! Identified as one of the top priorities for passage restoration in the Sandy Basin

! Replaced picket weir with inflatable Obermeyer weir ! Completely rebuilt intake with fish ladder and NMFS

compliant screen

Sandy Hatchery Management -Fish Passage into upper Cedar Creek

! Fish Passed to date 2010 – 237 wild coho (97 female/135 male/5 jacks) 2011 – 198 wild coho (73 female/121 male/4 jacks) 2012 - 34 wild steelhead (16 female/18 male) and 334

hatchery steelhead (182 female/152 male)

Thank you! Todd Alsbury

971-673-6011

503-781-8286