Coho Salmon Life History Patterns in the Pacific Northwest and California
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Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Life History Patterns in the Pacific Northwest and California Final Report March 2007 Prepared for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Area Office Prepared by Lawrence C. Lestelle 17791 Fjord Drive NE Suite AA Poulsbo, WA 98370 360-697-6702 ACKNOWLDGEMENTS This project was funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). Ron Costello, Richard Piaskowski, and Cindy Williams of the Klamath Area Office were particularly helpful in securing funding and coordinating field visits to Klamath area streams. Steve Cramer, Nick Ackerman, and Tom Nickelson of Cramer Fish Sciences provided insightful reviews of early drafts and shared information sources. Josh Strange with the Yurok Fisheries Program of the Yurok Tribe provided helpful comments on the review draft, as did Jim Simondet of the Arcata Area Office of NOAA Fisheries. Special thanks are due to the five scientists who kindly responded to an invitation from USBR to give technical peer review of the report. Each of these individuals are experts on coho life history and have first-hand experience in researching this species in different geographic areas. These are Walt Duffy, Humboldt State University, James Hall, Oregon State University (retired), Gordon Hartman, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (retired), Peter Moyle, University of California at Davis, and Tom Quinn, University of Washington. Tom Nickelson, previously mentioned for his review, deserves to be ranked with this distinguished group for his expertise on coho life history. Coho Salmon Life History Patterns i Table of Contents ACKNOWLDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. i Table of Contents.......................................................................................................... ii List of Figures .............................................................................................................. iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................ ix Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... xi 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 2.0 Life History Overview.............................................................................................. 3 2.1 Distribution Patterns ............................................................................................................ 3 2.2 Life Cycle Overview and Unique Characteristics................................................................ 7 3.0 Freshwater Habitat Utilization.............................................................................. 28 3.1 Description of Channel and Habitat Types ........................................................................ 28 3.2 Life Stage-Specific Habitat Utilization and Survival......................................................... 36 3.2.1 Spawning Migration................................................................................................... 36 3.2.2 Spawning.................................................................................................................... 38 3.2.3 Egg and Alevin Incubation......................................................................................... 39 3.2.4 Fry Colonization......................................................................................................... 46 3.2.5 Subyearling Summer Rearing .................................................................................... 49 3.2.6 Fall Redistribution and Overwintering....................................................................... 65 3.2.7 Smolt Migration ......................................................................................................... 83 4.0 Discussion and Conclusions ............................................................................... 93 Literature Cited.......................................................................................................... 100 Coho Salmon Life History Patterns ii List of Figures Figure 1. The spawning distribution of Pacific salmon in a hypothetical watershed. Typical distribution of chum (a), pink (b), coho (c), Chinook (d), and sockeye (e). From Lichatowich (1999)............................................................................................................. 5 Figure 2. Salmonid usage zones in the Clearwater River (Olympic Peninsula, Washington) delineated by predominate species. From Edie (1975). Distribution patterns in this river reflect those that commonly occur for these species in the Pacific Northwest and California. ........................................................................................................................... 6 Figure 3. Oceanic distribution patterns of coho salmon originating in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. From Wright (1968). ................................................. 7 Figure 4. Utilization pattern by coho salmon of different areas of the Clearwater River (Olympic Peninsula, Washington) by life stage. Circle size reflects the relative amounts of production attributed to each area. Dashed lines show movements of fish from one area (dot) to another area (arrow). From Lestelle et al. (1993a). The chart illustrates the extent that coho juveniles can move during freshwater life to locate suitable habitats................................................................................................................... 9 Figure 5. Representative pattern of movement and migration of juvenile coho salmon seen in many streams across the species’ geographic range. Created from data in Au (1972) for Deer Creek, Alsea River system (Oregon Coast)........................................................ 10 Figure 6. Movement of juvenile coho salmon past trap site in the South Fork Umpqua River (Oregon Coast) during spring and summer. Pattern is stylized from data in Kruzic (1998). Movement of juveniles during summer is believed due to high water temperatures...................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 7. Marine survival from smolt to 3-year old ocean recruitment for wild coho originating in rivers of the Puget Sound and Washington outer coastal regions. Populations representing the two regions are Big Beef Creek and Bingham Creek for Puget Sound and WA coast, respectively. Data from Volkhardt et al. (2007). ................ 13 Figure 8. Juvenile coho salmon (top), Chinook salmon (middle), and steelhead trout (bottom) illustrating differences in fin size and body morphology. Photos courtesy of Roger Tabor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lacey, Washington. Note that the dorsal and anal fins of the coho are easily recognized by their white leading edges......................... 17 Figure 9. Diagrammatic sketches of the dorsal and anal fins of recently emerged and 2-week old coho and fall Chinook salmon in Sixes River (Oregon Coast). From Stein et al. (1972). Note that differences in size of fins between species increase as fish grow (see Figure 10) and appear to be greatest at lengths of about 60 mm, which for coho would typically occur between mid to late summer. ................................................................... 18 Figure 10. Differences in dorsal and anal fin sizes between juvenile coho and Chinook salmon. From Stein et al. (1972)....................................................................................... 19 Figure 11. Water depth and velocity preferences of coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead trout fry (<50 mm) and parr (>50 mm), as observed in the Trinity River in the Klamath River basin (Northern California). Water velocities are mean column values. Adapted from Hampton (1988). ........................................................................... 20 Coho Salmon Life History Patterns iii Figure 12. Water depth and velocity preferences of subyearling coho salmon found in rivers of Western Washington. From Beecher et al. (2002). Water velocities are measured at 0.6 depth (approximately equal to mean water column values). Note: 30.5 cm = 1 ft..... 21 Figure 13. Coastal coho foraging phenotypes, showing unique growth rate cycles and movement from fresh water to the stream mouth estuary, as documented in Northern California streams. Presence within the stream mouth estuary is shown as shaded. Adapted from Nielsen (1992a).......................................................................................... 25 Figure 14. Riverine habitat types utilized by salmonid species. From Lestelle et al. (2005) with revision to use of the term “alcove” – see text. In channel mesohabitats occur in the main channel, side channels, and braids. .................................................................... 29 Figure 15. Illustration from Beechie et al. (2005) showing example of locations of habitat units delineated on the Skagit River (Washington). Note the very large backwater unit. Backwater units were most commonly located where off-channels or side channels joined the main river. See Figure 16 for photograph of the backwater shown in this figure................................................................................................................................. 30 Figure 16. Backwater habitat unit on the Skagit