Gerald E. Monan, James H. MFR PAPER 1121 Johnson, and Gordon F. Ester­ berg are with the Northwest Sophisticated electronic devices Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, are providing new data on NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd. salmonid biology and migration. E. , Seattle, WA 98112. is a c ylinder, approximately 2.5 inches Electronic Tags and Related Tracking long by 0 .75 inch in di ameter and weighing about I oz in water. A Techniques Aid in Study of Migrating schematic diagram of the electronic Salmon and Steelhead Trout in components that make up the tag is shown in Figure 2 . Acoustic output the Basin of the tag is 60 db re I microbar at I yard in fresh water. The tags are pulsed and the pulse rate can be varied GERALD E. MONAN, JAMES H. JOHNSON, and GORDON F. ESTER BERG to provide a variety of tag codes. This tag configuration provides an effec­ ABSTRACT-Electronic tags for salmon have, since 1956, become tive tracking range of up to I mile and more compact, reliable, and versatile. They are facilitating the study of battery life of about 10 days. Battery migrating adult Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp., and steelhead trout, life can be increased by reducing the Salmo gairdneri, throughout the Columbia River Basin. By using sonic acoustic output, adding additional and radio tags and fixed and mobile monitoring devices, NMFS scientists batteries, or changing the pulse rate have been able to locate the mainstream spawning areas of the fish, tem­ and duration. Battery life up to several perature blocks, and migration routes through reservoirs. Sonic and radio weeks is possible within the restraints tags have also been used to study fish activities at and between in of a reasonable tag size . In addition to relation to modification of fishways, power-peaking operations, modified the simple location devices, there are spillway flows, and passage conditions. sonic tags that telemeter data about the fish's environment, such as tem­ Columbia River Basin. The tags pro­ perature (Fig. 3) . Sonic tags work INTRODUCTION gressed from rather bulky units at ­ effectively in fresh and salt water as In 1956, two biologists of the N a­ tached to the fish's back to compact, long as the water is not highly tur­ tional Marine Fisheries Service thumb-size capsules placed in the bulent and aerated. (NMFS)' released an adult coho sal­ fish's stomach (Fig. I) . Exact tag speci­ In recent years, a radiofrequency mon, Ol1c orhynchus ki.w/ch, carrying ficatio ns vary depending on intended fish tag was developed to be used in a bulky electronic backpack into the use . Our current standa rd 50 kHz tag areas where attenuation of sonic tag watery backyard of the Northwest Fisheries Center (NWFCl, Seattle, W ash. The pack was a 132 kHz, high­ frequency sound transmitter (Tre­ fethen , 1956). Homing-in on the transmitted signals with a directional hydrophone and receiver, the biolo­ gist planned to follow the movements of the tagged salmo n throughout Lake Union. This early attempt at sonic tracking of salmon resulted in a track of slight Iy over I h and covered only a few hundred yards, but the results were encouraging enough tha t devel­ opment continued on this technique for electronic surveillance of fish activ­ ities. From 1956 to 1970, the sonic fish tag was refined and improved until an extremely reliable and useful tool was developed for studying problems re­ lated to passage of adult fish in the

'Known in 1956 as the Bureau o f Comme r­ ci al Fisheries (BC F) , this age ncy was re­ named in 1970 when transferred into the Figure 1.-Eleclronlc lags: (1) first sonic 18g; (2, 3) early model exlernal sonic lags; (4) Iwin back­ newly established Na tional O ceanic and At­ pack sonic lag; (5) sonic lag (cryslal faslened on 'Ish's snoul); (6) lemperalure sensitive sonic tag; mospheric Administratio n (NOAA). (7) current model Internal sonic lag; (8) radio lag.

9 with a 167 milliwall input, it has an effective tracking range of 0.5 mile or more and an operational life of approximately 15 days. The tag is similar in size to a sonic tag and is carried in the stomach of the fish ex- SW cept for a small wire antenna that extends from the tag, through the fish 's esophagus, to the roof of its T, mouth where it is allached with a plastic barb (Fig. 4) . A schematic diagram of a typical radio tag is shown in Figure 5. The radio tag transmits efficiently through the turbulent waters below dams and can be tracked

Cl e 0.68 mfd. tantalum capacitor R3 ~ 3 . Jk ohms, 1/8 watt resistor with mobile or fixed radio direction C2 - 0.0082 mfd. polyester film capacitor R4 = 3.3k ohms, 1/8 watt resistor finders . Tags weigh about I oz in Rl a 3.6 Meg oluns, 1/8 watt resistor Ql m 2N2925 transistor R2 - 1. 2k oluns, 1/8 watt resistor Q2 ~ 2N3702 transistor water and can be pulse-rate coded or frequency coded. Currently, the Tl ~ 350 turns D 40 wire, center tapped, wound on a 3/16" form, and tuned with an 8-32 ferrite slug. use of the radio tag is restricted to fresh water. T2 D Primary - 40 turns 0 32 wire, Secondary - 700 turns 0 36 wire, wound on a 3/16" form and tuned with an 8-32 ferrite slug. SONIC TRACKING Xtal - .50 kHz piezo-ceraroic cylinder 0.695"OD x 0.485"ID x O.Y·H, material EC64. Sonic tracking is accomplished with SW - Magnetic reed switch. a directional hydrophone placed in the

B = 11.2V., 350 M.A.H . mercury battery. water 10 pick up the signal from the tag. A sonic receiver receives the Figure 2.-Schemallc lor a 50 kHz sonic tag. signal from the hydrophone and con­ verts it to an audible lOne. The opera­ tor then rotates the hydrophone and determines the direction of the loudest 8 signal which indicates the direction of the tagged fish . The sonic tracking system was first used in a full-scale biological study in 1957 at Bonneville (J ohnson, 1960). A total of 43 salmon and steel­ head trout , 5alll/0 Rairdneri, were tagged and tracked as they exited into the forebay from the Washi ngton­ L, shore fish way . Fish were kept under surveillance with sonic receiving equipment in a small boat for as long as 16.75 h and tracked upstrea m as far as 10 miles. The study produced Cl - .022 mfd . polyester film capacitor R3 ~ 2.2 k oluns, 1/8 watt resistor the first detailed information on indi­ C2 - .0047 mfd. polyester film capacitor Ql = 2N2925 transistor Rl = 220 ohm, 1/8 watt resistor Q2 = 2N3702 transis tor vidual fish behavior in the immediate K2 ~ 1 k ohm, 1/8 watt resistor T = Fenwal GA615M1 thermistor vicinity of a major Columbia River

300 turns f) 38 wire, CT, wound on a 3/8" length of soda straw and tuned with Dam and showed migration pallerns an 8-32 x 3/8" threaded slug. of adult salmon a nd trout exiting from

Primary - 3S turns # 36 wire, Secondary - 375 turns ~ 38 wire, wound on a a fishway. It also proved the worth 3/8" length of soda straw and tuned with an 8-32 x 3/8" threaded ferrite slug. of sonic tags and tracki ng for sur­

Xtal - 70kHz piezo-ceramic cylinder, O.S12"OD x O.4S211 1D x O.25"H, material EC64 . veillance of fish activities. Further studies and improvements in the sys­ B = 7V., 160 M.A.H. mercury battery. tem followed. Figure 3.-Schematic lor a 70 kHz sonic temperature lag (300 pps at tOO of, 50 pps at 32°F. Pulse Shore Monitors Used length. 350 microseconds). In 1961-62. adult salmon passage signals by entrained air and turbu­ ballery powered. high-frequency radio was studied in Brownlee Reservo ir lence in the wa ter made sonic track­ transmiller that operates on a carrier (57.5 miles long) on the ing impossible. This radio tag is a frequency of approximately 30 kHz: (Trefethen and Sutherland, 1968).

10 Ftgure S.-Course of .. Imon tracked 77 h in Brownlee Reservoir. Drawing Is diagrammatic; width of reservoir Is not to scale. Fish traveled approximately 50 miles upstream before turning back. Figure 4.-Radlo teg Ineertlon Into atomach of adult chinook salmon. the spillgates detected sonic signals and fed them to receiver-amplifiers; the amplified tag signals were auto­ matically recorded on multichannel recorders to provide a record of fish that fell back through the spillway gates. Data from 223 tagged salmon indicated that 6.3 percent of the spring2 chinook salmon, O. Is!tawYI­ Ring seha, migrating past fell back over the spillway during the study period. About 50 percent of Cl ~ 0.27 mfd. tantalum capacitor ll{,a 150 k ohms, 1/8 watt resistor C2 a 0.001 mfd. polyester film capacitor R5 g 47 k ohms, 1/8 watt resistor the sonic tagged fish that fell back Rt,a resistor C3 - 0.01 mfd. polyester film capacitor 100 k ohms, 1/8 watt survi ved the experience and reascend­ C4 ~ 15-60 mmfd. ceramic trinner capacitor Dl = lN457 diode Rl a 1.8 Meg ohms, 1/8 watt resistor Ql - 2N2222 transistor ed the dam. R2 a 43 k ohms, 1/8 watt resistor Q2 ~ 2N2925 transistor Spawning activity of fall chinook R3 - 100 k ohms, 1/8 watt resistor Q3 = P13Tl transistor salmon in the area to be flooded by 11 I1 Ll Ie 12 turnS 024 wire, rectangular air wound 3/16 H x J/8"W x 9/32 L. LZ = 3 turns 032 wire wound on Ll ncar middle o f the coil. John Day Dam on the Columbia River Xeal a Quartz crystal, 3rd O.T.) series. Freq. [01-.0025% at 68°F, ESR-60 ohms max, was surveyed by a sonic tracki ng team SM-l holder. SW G MagnetiC reed switch. in 1965 as part of a joint study with Ring = Stainless steel band 1/8" wide x 0.003" thick, cemented to outside of capsule . the Fish Commission of Oregon. In B a 11.2V., 350 M.A.H. mercury battery. RFC = 75 turns 04 wire wound on a 22 Meg, 1/8 watt resistor. this study, 213 fall chinook salmon -judged by skin color to be at dif­ Figure S. -Schematic lor a 30 Mhz radio tag (pulse rate: 1 pps; pulse length: 25 milliseconds). ferent stages of maturation-were tagged with coded sonic tags and re­ Tracking of individual sonic-tagged Although some fish were delayed, leased at , 24 miles fish provided detailed information on they were able to pass through the downstream from the John Day Dam the movements of fi sh through this reservoir and on upstream to spawn­ site. Fixed monitors located on the long, deep reservoir where there is ing areas. river banks recorded turnoff of tagged little water current to provide orienta­ Sonic-tagged fish and fixed moni­ fish into two main tributaries- the tion (Fig. 6) . This study marked the tors were used in 1963 at Ice Harbor Deschutes and John Day Rivers. To first use of unmanned, fixed monitors Dam on the Snake River to determine identify mainstem spawning areas, placed at specific points along the the proportion of adult migrants that 2Seasonal races of chinook salmo n in Ihe shoreline to automatically record the fall back downstream over the spill­ C o lumbia River syslem are classified as date, time, and direction of travel of way after they exit from the fish ways spring, summer, o r fall chinook depending on Ihe lime o f year th at the adults enter the sonic-tagged fish on time-event charts. (Fig. 7). Hydrophones placed near rive r to spawn.

II Figure 7.-Chlnook salmon tagged with early model sonic tag.

weekly surveys of the study area were made and the locations and codes of sonic-tagged fish charted (Fig. 8) . - - - -:;,.- - -~ Temperature Block Located Dramatic evidence of a severe tem­ perature block at the mouth of the Snake River was obtained in 1967 from tracking 251 adult steelhead trout in McNary Reservoir (Snyder and Blahm. 197 I) during their up­ stream migration (Fig. 9). In late July when river temperatures in the Snake River were near 75°F and the Colum­ bia River was 9 degrees cooler, sonic­ tagged fish began to concentrate at the confluence of the two rivers. Figure e.-Sonic tracking crew In action. During the temperature block. sonic­ tagged fish remained in the cooler Columbia River water. In mid-Sep­ .. tember, when Snake and Columbia Priesl Rapids Dam River water temperatures were near 70° F, large numbers of fish began moving up the Snake River. At the time of the temperature block, it was obvious from comparing fish counts at McNary, Ice Harbor. and Priest Rapids Dams that a holdup in fish passage was occurring, but through the use of sonic tags, biologists were 1 able to pinpoint its location . Scientific Assist I To Angling MeN;, Dam In 1969, sonic tracking provided a Beginning of temp. block Wett developed lemp. block Breokup of temp. block scientific assist to recreational fisheries Mid- July Mid - August Mid -September in Ice Harbor Reservoir where steel­ Figure 9.-Temperalure block in the Snake River. head fishermen were concerned over

12 flooding of their accustomed fishing radio signal from the antenna, amplify kept to an absolute minimum; and areas by the large impoundments it. and convert it tQ an audi ble tone. (4) river flows in excess of 325,000 behind the dams in the Snake River:l. The primary tracking antenna that cfs impede upstream migration . A cooperative program was developed receives the signal from the tag is a by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers directional loop 18 inches in diameter. Mobile Tracking Unit Used and NMFS. Adult steel head trout Tracking is usually done from fixed were trapped at Ice Harbor Dam. tracking stations located throughout In 1972 a mobile radio-tracki ng tagged with sonic tags. released into the study area . By listening to the vehicle was developed for a study in the reservoir. and tracked as they tag signal. rotating the loop antenna which observations were made on fish moved upstream. Data indicated the until a null point is reached, and then behavior at Bonneville and The Dalles fish followed specific migration routes sighting along the geometric axis of Dams to compare behavior patterns through the reservoir and used certain the loop, the tracker can establish a of spring chinook salmon at the two areas for milling and resting. Infor­ bearing from the station to the tagged dams and to determine problem areas mation obtained by N M FS scientists fish . If a second tracker is taking same relating to loss of spring chinook was given to the Corps, which pub­ action simultaneously. the two bear­ salmon between the two dams4 . Radio lished maps showing migration and ings can be plotted and the location tags were placed on 40 adult spring milling areas. Tri-State Steelheaders. of the fish established by triangulation. chinook salmon which were released Inc. (TSI) and the Depart­ In 1971, radio tags and tracking at various locations above and below ment of Game (WDG) organized equipment were used in the first field . Tracking teams "Operation Slackwater"-a mass fish­ test of our system to study behavior of located at each dam monitored fish ing effort to develop fishing techniques adult spring chinook salmon as they behavior in the immediate vicinity to catch steel head in the large reservoir. approached Bonneville Dam. Radio­ of the dam and for the first time used Based upon the angling success of tagged fish were released approxi­ the mobile tracking vehicle equipped fishermen armed with data from the mately 5 miles downstream, and track­ with two-way radio communications tracking study. it was concluded that ing teams stationed along the shore­ and a radio direction finding unit a sport fishery for steel head in slack­ line monitored the activities of the along the highway between the dams water reservoirs is possible. The study fish approaching the dam. The results to monitor the progress of tagged fish is a good example of how cooperation showed that: (I) tracking radio-tagged up the river (Fig. 10). The mobile unit of Federal. State. and private organi­ fish in turbulent areas below a dam also traveled along tributary streams zations can work toward resolution of is a workable and useful approach to to record the presence of tagged fish. a problem. studying fish behavior-this solved Based on data from this study. it was the previously mentioned problem concluded that: (I) spring chinook Telemetry Tag Developed that we had with sonic tags in aerated salmon spend more time passing over water; (2) during periods of high Bonneville than The Dalles Dam; Temperature-sensitive sonic tags. river flow, fallback of salmon can (2) during certain river flows. fallback developed by NWFC staff members, contribute to inflation of fish counts were used in a field study for the first at Bonneville Dam-32 percent fall­ 'Monan. G. E. and K. L. Liscom. 1973. Final report-radio trac king of adult spring chi­ time in 1970. In a study made jointly back was estimated in spring of 1974; nook salmon below Bonneville and The with Battelle Northwest. eight fall (3) closure of counting station gates Dalles Dams. 1972. Northwest Fisheries Center. National Marine Fisheries Service, chinook salmon tagged with tempera­ causes excessi ve delay and should be NOAA. Seattle. Wash. 37 p. (Processed.) ture-sensitive sonic tags were tracked .-. in the Columbia River near the nuclear reactors of the Atomic Energy Com­ mission at Hanford, Wash. The study demonstrated the usefulness of the tag, but not enough fish were observed moving past a reactor outfall to pro- . vide significant data. RADIO TRACKING When a radio-tagged fish comes into the study area, its position is usually monitored by two or more trackers. The direction-finder receivers used by the trackers are self-contained. battery-operated units that receive the

3Monan, G . E. , K. L. Liscom. and 1. R. Smith. 1970. Final report-sonic tracking of adult steelhead in Ice Harbor Reservoir, 1969. Bio­ logical Laboratory, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. USFWS, Seallle. Wash. 12 p. (Processed.) Figure 10.-Mobile tracking unit.

13 can be more of a problem at Bonne­ cfs. Results of this study were instru­ ville than at The Dalles Da m; (3) a mental in the pl anning for additional substantial percentage (95 percent) of installation of spillway deflectors at spring chinook salmon that reach The and other Dalles area successfully pass over the dams within the Columbia River Basin. dam; (4) unaccountable losses between dams (I I percent) were more likely Peaking Studies to be associated with events at Bonne­ The year 1973 marked the first full­ ville Dam and in the river between scale use of a Fish Tracking Control dams than with events at The Dalles Center where the activities of nine Dam; and (5) mortalities from drop­ separately identifiable radio-tagged outs from gill nets fished between the fish were monitored at one time. Rea l­ dams are a possi ble causative factor time plots were maintained on each in the unaccountable losses. fish based on bearings radioed in from trackers located at stations through­ Effects of Spillway out the study area. The positions of Deflectors Studied the fish are recorded on large charts In 1973, radio tracking was used much as aircraft positions are plotted to study fish behavior in relation to by air traffic controllers at an airport flow from experi mental flow deflec­ (Fig. 12) . tors at dams" . The flow deflectors Radio tracking studies, begun in were installed by the Corps of Engi­ 1973, entail examination of the effects neers to control the levels of dissolved of daily fluctuations in river flow on atmospheric gas below spi Ilways by migration of adult salmonids. Changes Figure 11 .-Manned radio Iracking slation al changing the direction of spill from in the production pattern of electrical lower Monumental Dam. plunging to horizontal. Studies were energy in the will storing of water when the demand is centered at Lower Monumental Dam accelerate power peaking operations low. Fishery agencies are concerned on the Snake River. where two of the at mainstem da ms on the Columbia that resulting fluctuations in river flow eight spillbays were modified with and Snake Rivers; this will require could adversely affect the migration deflectors. Here 20 separately identi­ higher river discharges to produce and survival of adult salmon and trout fiable radio-tagged spring chinook large amounts of electrical energy at in the Columbia River System. In the salmon were released below the dam dams when the demand for power is initial tracking study, 51 adult fall and their behavior monitored as they high (normally in the morning and chinook salmon were tagged with approached a nd passed over the dam early evening) and lower flows and radio tags and their behavior was ob- (Fig. II). To assure tha t a maximum number of tagged fish frequented the critical areas below the deflectors, spilling was restricted, as much as possible, to the bays containing the flow deflectors. Approximately 50 percent of the tagged fish were tracked into the areas of concern and none showed any signs of abnormal be­ havior after their experience. All tagged fish passing over the dam were observed at the viewing windows of the counting stations and no serious injuries were apparent. It was con­ cluded that spring chinook salmon, swimming of their own volition into the area immediately below a spill­ way discharging water over a spillway deflector, do not suffer debilitating in­ juries when discharges through the bay a re in the range of 2,800-9,800

"Monan, G . E. and K. L. Liscom. 1974. Final report-radio tracking of spring chi­ nook salmo n to determine effect of spillway deflectors on passage at Lower Monumental Dam, t973. Northwest Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Seattle, Wash. 20 p. (Processed.) Figure 12.-Flah Tracking Control Cenler in operalion al Lower Monumenlal Dam .

14 served in the VICinity of Bonneville at hydroelectric plants), further con­ nile salmonids. Fortunately, the field Dam in August and September 1973. trol of river flow and temperature of bioelectronics is racing ahead and At the time, record low river fl ows regimes with corresponding new prob­ breakthroughs are frequent. resulted in a critical power shortage, lems for anadromous fish may be ex­ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS which forced some departure from pected. The effects of these manipula­ our original test plan of controlled tions on anadromous and resident fish In addition to the authors, the fol­ peaking operations. Nevertheless, will need to be determined in the very lowing scientists and technicians of baseline data were obtained on fall near future. the NWFC, NMFS, contributed to chinook behavior under varying flow Equipment and techniques for sonic the development of the electronic tag conditions. and radio tracking of adult salmon and its use in the Columbia River and steel head have improved markedly Basin: Charles J. Bartlett, Gerald B. WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE? since their inception in 1956. How­ Collins, Richard L. Foust, John R. Electronic surveillance of fish activi­ ever, today's technology cannot be Hughes, Kenneth L. Liscom, Anthony ties will continue to be an important relied upon to answer all of tomor­ J. Novotny, Jim R. Smith, Donald L. means for studying upstream migra­ row's questions, and scientists are alert Thorne, Parker S. Trefethen, John tions in the Columbia River Basin and to take advantage of all ways to im­ C. VanDerwalker, and C harles D. elsewhere. Tracking of sonic and prove tools and techniques that can Volz. radio tagged adult Pacific salmon and provide many needed answers. On the steelhead trout has already provided horizon is a pressure sensiti ve tag to LITERATURE CITED considerable insight into problems provide eagerly awaited information Johnson, J. H. 1960. Sonic tracking of adult salmon at Bonneville Dam, 1957. associated with passage conditions about migration depths for salmon U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Fish. Bull. 60:471- at and between dams, increased river and trout. Also under investigation 485. Snyder, G. R., and T. H. Blahm. 1971. water temperatures, and loss of fish is the possibility of automating the Effects of increased temperature on cold­ and fishing due to dam construction tracking process to obtain more and water organisms. J. Water Pollut. Control Fed. 43:890-899. throughout the Columbia River Basin. better data with less manpower. A Trefethen, P. S. 1956. Sonic equipment for As additional demands are placed on major advance in battery design is tracking individual fish. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Spec. Sci. Rep. Fish. 179, II p. use of our water resources (e.g., irriga­ needed to further miniaturize the Trefethen, P. S., and D. F. Sutherland. tion withdrawals and pumping of 1968. Passage of adult chinook salmon tags to make them suitable for smaller Ihrough Brownlee Reservoir. 1960-62. water for storage and use when needed species of fish and perhaps even juve- U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Fish. Bull. 67:35-45.

MFR Paper 1121 . From Marine Fisheries Review. Vol. 37, No. 2, February 1975. Copies of this paper, in limited numbers, are avail­ able from 083, Technical Information Division, Environmental Science Information Center, NOAA, Washington, DC 20235.

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