TThe InHternationEal Jou rnaOl of SalSmon aPnd SteRelhead EConserYvation Issue No. 95 January 2020 Lower Columbia River Pound Nets Adapting fish traps to reduce bycatch mortality

ALS•O IN THIS ISSUE: • GREAT LAKES WILD STEELHEAD RESEARCH NORTH UMPQUA RIVE•R : GUARDING STEELHEAD AND A PROBLEMATIC DAM LETHAL COLUMBIA AND SNAKE RIVER WATER TEMPERATURES Contents THE OChSair PREY Pete Soverel Columns & News Editor 3 From the Perch — Editor’s Message Jim Yuskavitch Editorial Committee 4 Hits and Misses — Chair’s Corner Pete Soverel • Ryan Smith Greg Knox • Ralf Kroning Letters to the Editor Rich Simms • Guido Rahr 5 Scientific Advisors Watch: Wild Fish News, Issues and Initiatives Rick Williams • Jack Stanford 22 Jim Lichatowich • Bill McMillan Bill Bakke • Michael Price

Design & Layout Features Jim Yuskavitch Commercial Fish Traps for Bycatch Mortality 6 Letters To The Editor Reduction in Salmon The Osprey welcomes letters to the editor. Article submissions are welcome By Adrian Tuohy but queries in advance are preferred . The Osprey 10 Response of a Heavily Exploited Great Lakes 69278 Lariat Steelhead Population to Reduced Harvest Sisters, OR 97759 [email protected] By Brian Morrison (541) 549-8914

The Osprey is a joint publication of not-for-profit or - ganizations concerned with the conservation and sus - Diversity of a Small Lake Ontario Wild Steelhead tainable management of wild Pacific salmon and 13 steelhead and their habitat throughout their native Population and introduced ranges. This unique partnership in - cludes The Conservation Angler, Fly Fishers Interna - By Brian Morrison tional, Steelhead Society of British Columbia, Skeena Wild, Wild Salmon Center, and Wild Steelhead Coalition . Financial support is provided by partner organizations, individuals, clubs The Steelhead Guardian and corporations. The Osprey is published three times 14 a year in January, May and September. All materials are copyrighted and require permission prior to By Lee Spencer reprinting or other use.

17 Bringing the Rule of Law to Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River

By Jim McCarthy

20 Columbia and Snake River Water Temperatures Becoming Increasingly Lethal for Salmon

By 55 Fisheries and Natural Resource Scientists

The Osprey © 2020 Cover Photo Courtesy NASA ISSN 2334-4075 2 The Osprey FROM THE PERCH — EDITOR’S MESSAGE Solving the Wild Fish Bycatch Problem

by Jim Yuskavitch

he cover story for this issue of The Osprey , “Com - and commercial — are largely driven by the incidental catch mercial Fish Traps for Bycatch Mortality Reduc - of protected wild fish. tion in Salmon Fisheries” by Adrian Tuohy of the Each run of wild fish has a maximum incidental catch mor - Wild Fish Conservancy puts forward a potential tality quota, so when a hatchery run is mixed with a wild fish solution for addressing the challenge of maintain - run, the season is shut down when that incidental take quota iTng commercial salmon in mixed stock fisheries while is reached. protecting wild fish — especially stocks typically has a listed under the Endangered Species higher rate of incidental bycatch mor - Act. Reduced wild fish tality and reaches the quota faster than The idea is to adapt traditional Native . Developing practi - American fish traps to commercial fish - bycatch mortality cal and cost effective ways to commer - eries by using them in place of gill nets. cially catch fish with a lower wild The fish are captured live in these means longer salmon and steelhead bycatch mortality “pound nets” that refer to the trap or rate not only allows more wild fish to “pound” in which they are caught. Then, recreational and reach their upriver spawning grounds the wild salmon and steelhead can be but also permits longer seasons for both separated and released unharmed while commercial fishing commercial and recreational fishers hatchery salmon are retained for har - along with a greater harvest of hatchery vest. seasons and greater fish. It’s a win-win situation all around. The traditional commercial gill net harvest of Finding ways to reduce bycatch mor - on the lower Columbia River, tality and overall waste of fish will help where the experimental was hatchery fish. other river systems besides the Colum - operated, has long been controversial bia. since they are non-selective and result On the Fraser River system in British in high bycatch mortality. Resentment, especially from Columbia, for example, First Nations chum salmon gill net recreational Columbia River salmon anglers, has often run fisheries that focus on the harvest of females for roe results high against the gill netters. Over the decades there have in the waste of large numbers of male chum. In addition, by - been a number of unsuccessful attempts to ban commercial catch mortality is also a key factor in the decline of wild gill nets on the lower Columbia River either legislatively or steelhead in the Fraser River basin, and on the Thompson through ballot measures. A more recent strategy is to de - River in particular. velop hatchery-based terminal fisheries specifically in - Eventually developing better commercial fishing methods tended for gill net harvest. and putting them into widespread use will go a long ways to In the Columbia River, which includes mixed-species runs protect wild salmon and steelhead in mixed stock fisheries. that are often made up of both hatchery and ESA-listed wild salmon and steelhead, fishing seasons — both recreational How The Osprey Helps Wild Fish

The Osprey has been bringing the lat - So when you subscribe/donate to The est science, policy, opinion and news Osprey , you not only receive a subscrip - stories to its readers supporting wild Sending The Osprey to tion yourself, but you also help us put Pacific salmon and steelhead conserva - The Osprey into the hands of the people tion and management for 31 years. But decision makers is we need bring to our side to save our we are much more than a publication wild fish. that you subscribe to because of your key to our wild fish Please go to the subscription/donation own interest in wild fish conservation. form on page 23 or on-line at The funds we receive from our sub - conservation advocacy. http://www.theconservationangler.com scribers allows us send The Osprey to and donate whatever you are able. wild fish conservation decision-makers Your support makes Thank you. and influencers including scientists, fisheries managers, politicians and wild that possible. Jim Yuskavitch fish advocates. Editor, The Osprey

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 3 HITS & MISSES — CHAIR’S CORNER Major Misses in BC and Alaska

By Pete Soverel

hen deciding on a regu - Not content to trust the fish to sort out coinciding with the big spring tides. lar column to be part of how to best utilized newly opened habi - Hatchery fish know nothing about all future issues of The tat, massive hatchery interventions changing water flows associated with Osprey , we settled on were incorporated into “recovery” these big spring tides. As a conse - Hits & Misses with the plans for both river systems quence, many thousands are stranded uWnderstanding that “Hits” would ad - Before implementing a similar, hatch - when the tide goes out. Not surpris - dress developments favorable for wild ery-based plan for the billion-dollar ingly, thousands of marine creatures salmon and steelhead, and “Misses” to Klamath project, it seems reasonable to such as eagles, seagulls, grebes, mur - identify policies, actions and outcomes consider how that model has worked relets, cormorants, seals, sea lions, ot - calamitous to continued persistence of out on the Elwha. In short: not so hot. ters, raccoons, minks, crabs, and wild salmon and steelhead. Over the Hatchery “assisted” Chinook salmon predatory fish have also figured out two years since the re-launch of The Os - and winter steelhead populations have that the Elwha estuary is a cheap dining prey we have sought good news to in - not colonized the pristine habitat up - spot for a few days each spring. I am clude in this column. It has been hard to stream of the removed dams, which skeptical that many of these hatchery sustain. Excepting isolated glimmers of comprise 97% of the watershed, or releases make it to their high seas nurs - hope, the rare good news is often coun - have shown any significant increased eries so it should come as no surprise terbalanced by bad news, unwise poli - abundance. Natural origin summer that a vanishingly small percentage cies, circumvention of the law and so on steelhead — all wild with no hatchery ever return as adults. that often accompanies the good news overlay — on the other hand, have re - just cited — a process assaulting our sponded most dramatically, increasing Snake River B-Run hopes for a brighter future and confi - from a zero baseline to current, and still dence in the integrity of persons and in - expanding, population of at least 500 to Steelhead Fisheries stitutions. Almost without exception 600 annual returning fish — all natu - hopeful policies are subverted from the rally adapted to their environment and Hit get go by the very agencies entrusted all for free! and charged with the responsibility for The simple explanation is that senior Under threat of a lawsuit and in the husbanding our natural resources and fisheries managers at the federal, state, face of disastrously low wild steelhead heritage. Consider these examples for local and tribal levels don’t trust the returns, Idaho Fish & Game closed flavor: fish to know with whom they should amost all wild steelhead fisheries. With breed, how to utilize newly opened habi - dam counts at or near all time lows, the Elwha and Klamath tat and so on. The Klamath recovery agency appeared to act in a responsible plan is a rerun of the unsuccessful manner. Dam Removals hatchery based Elwha recovery plan on a spectacularly expanded scale. Not Misses Hit only will the Klamath continue to be flooded with maladapted hatchery It turns out the IDF&G action was a Fish blocking dams have or will be steelhead and Chinook, unlike the ruse. Once sufficient numbers of hatch - torn down. Elwha dam removal it won’t even re - ery fish had been captured for brood - move all the dams. So we are going to stock, the fisheries were reopened, Misses spend a billion plus dollars to tear down including fisheries that would intercept the dams while agencies continue to wild B-run steelhead whose total es - Fish recovery plans are hatchery contaminate the river with hatchery capement to thousands of miles of ex - based and doomed to failure, thus stocks that will impede recovery of cellent to pristine habitat probably squandering billions of dollars in public wild populations. In other words, it is a totaled less than 500 fish. It is past time funding for programs that demonstra - recipe for certain failure of the recov - to upgrade the Endangered Species Act bly hinder fish recovery. With much ery plan, which is doomed to biological listing of Idaho steelhead from threat - ballyhooing the actual or promised ap - failure. Does it make sense to spend bil - ened to endangered, especially B-runs, propriation sums of public money for lions and then implement a recovery which are teetering on extinction and removal of mainstem are staggering — strategy that has already failed on exposed to intense recreational fish - $350 million for the two dams on the Elwha? eries in their natal waters. Washington Elwha River and $1 billion-plus for the For example, each spring the Wash - and Oregon conservation closures re - planned removal of three dams on the ington Department of Fish and Wildlife main in effect even though virtually all Klamath. These removals were to re - releases about five million Chinook Idaho steelhead have already swum sult in the restoration of wild steelhead salmon smolts, typically in two pulses past. Go figure. and salmon runs to these storied rivers. over a day or two each in May and June Continued on next page

4 The Osprey Continued from previous page LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Fraser River Interior Another Side to the Story? Steelhead Dear Editor, Unmitigated Miss (An Insult Re - Found a copy of your May 2019, Issue #93, of The Osprey. In “Hits and Misses— ally) Chair’s Corner, BC Misses Big Time, 2018-2019 Ecstall River, British Columbia Fi - asco” you roast both fishermen and DFO over limited fishing allowed for Ecstall As all steelheaders know, Thompson River Chinook. You refer to the fishermen involved as being “illegal fishers” and and Chilcoltin steelhead populations are being “apprehended” and rounded up in a “helicopter raid” after stating they were teetering on the brink of extinction, now using “ permits” and had received “ DFO authorization” to survey Ecstall numbering less than 200 altogether Chinook. Seems to me there might be another side to the story. In late July, 2000- down from around 30,000 or so in the 2010, I, along with several fishing buddies, drove with my sled to Terrace, BC to 1950s. In spite of incredibly low re - fish the Skeena river system for the world class Chinook fishing available there turns, which have diminished rapidly (1,248 miles, one way). On two different occasions, during our fishing trips to the towards extirpation, Canadian authori - area, we took the opportunity to make the 40+ mile trip across the Skeena estuary ties refuse to list the stocks as threat - and up the Ecstall estuary and river for memorable two day fishing adventures. ened. Instead of listing and providing The area is extremely remote and both times we were there the fishing was open legal protections. The Department of to only. There was an upper deadline with only several miles of Fisheries and Oceans substituted a pie river open to fishing. Just below the fishing deadline there were several very basic in the sky recovery plan without any one room structures on one side of the river and a fishing tent camp on the other legal teeth. The outcome is predictable side (I believe it belonged to Komoham Lodge). The fishing was good and the fish –— near term extinction. were gorgeous. On one of the trips we were the only fishermen on the river. There was a DFO employee staying in one of the structures taking samples from Chinook Pebble Mine, Alaska for what he explained were for DNA analysis. He gave us a type of punch that would punch out a small sample of the dorsal fin and deposit the sample in the Galactically Stupid Miss hollow handle. Before releasing a fish we would take a sample as he instructed us and before we left we returned the punch containing the samples to him. We In the redo of the Environmental Im - thought it was great to have a role in the research on these special fish. Isn’t it pact Statement for the Pebble Mine at possible that DFO actually wanted some limited research or survey done on the Alaska’s Bristol Bay, (recall that the fish in this remote, hard to reach river and Komoham Lodge had the logistics and first EIS came back concluding that the knowledge to accomplish it with no expense to DFO. I’m guessing the “rich Amer - mine could not safely be built), the US icans” leave a fair amount of their dollars in the local economy and with DFO for Army Corps of Engineers confirmed all their non-resident licenses and permits. I know we always did. that the environmental review process would not address potential collapse of Bob Spelbrink the retention dams that include 2,800- Siletz, OR acre storage lakes despite recent in - stances of retention dam failures in Pete Soverel, Chair, The Osprey Management Committee, replies: Brazil and British Columbia. A five- year-old can predict the consequences Dear Mr. Spelbrink, of such a failure in the headwaters of Bristol Bay salmon streams. Thank you for your comments on my report ( The Osprey , “Hits & Misses”) of il - It is mystifying how agencies respon - legal Chinook fishing on the Ecstall River by high profile, wealthy American an - sible for safeguarding the public and glers hosted by Komoham Lodge. Let’s be clear: your angling on the Ecstall public interest can simply refuse to do occurred during an open season for Chinook. The operation I reported on occurred what is right and sensible. This action during a closed season (emergency closure due to low Chinook returns). The pro - reminds me of Major General Julian gram was conducted in secret. DFO stonewalled/dissembled when queried on this Schley of the US Army Corps of Engi - highly unusual program: refused to provide copies of permits; justifications, names neers testimony before Congress that of officials who purportedly authorized the program; data collected; supervision he was not paid to be a nursemaid to by DFO and so on. Local reaction was outrage with the Skeena and tributaries fish in response to public objections to closed to recreational angling while a group of rich Americans, arriving in a the planned construction of Bonneville squadron of private jets, fished the closed Ecstall while Canadians sat on the shore. Dam at the head of tide on the Columbia Local DFO officials kept the program secret. When locals raised pointed questions River. about the program, DFO dispatched an enforcement team which closed the pro - Wouldn’t it be nice if the Pebble Mine gram down. DFO has refused to provide any response/justification for the program, permit the Environmental Protection identification of officials who purportedly authorized the program, provide copies Agency is certain to issue would require of any data collected/analyzed, made no effort to enlist support from local Cana - its owners to relocate their headquar - dian conservation organizations (Steelhead Society of BC, Skeena Wild, Sport Fish - ters and housing just down stream of ing Advisory Group, local tribal groups, etc.). the retaining dams?

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 5 Commercial Fish Traps for Bycatch Mortality Reduction in Salmon Fisheries

By Adrian Tuohy

ild Pacific salmonid de - of hatchery-origin salmon (or other ro - stone in rivers and streams, harvesting cline south of Alaska bust wild stocks) and reduction of by - salmon sustainably for thousands of has been driven in catch mortality. Through paired years. Europeans adapted the First Na - large part by poor har - mark-recapture, we estimated the post- tion salmon trapping technique, incor - vest and hatchery man - release survival effect from an experi - porating innovations from other Wagement since the late 1800s, which has mental fish trap over a 400-km regions including the Great Lakes and mostly failed to recognize the ecologi - migration in the lower Columbia River, Scandinavia. Demonstrating consider - cal (or ‘place-based’) needs of unique WA. Relative survival ranged from able efficiency in lower Columbia River salmonid populations (read more from 0.944 ((SE) = 0.046) for steelhead ( On - salmon fisheries in the 1880s, commer - Gayeski et al. 2018 at corhynchuŝ mykiss ) to 0.995 ((SE) = cial fish trapping rapidly expanded to https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10062 ). Prior 0.078) for Chinook salmon (̂ O. salmon fisheries on the Washington to the arrival of Europeans to the region tshawytscha ). These published results coast, Puget Sound, and Alaska where and the industrial revolution, First Na - and findings from our most recent re - the tool became favored by large tion cultures effectively managed wild search season on the lower Columbia salmon canning corporations. The fish - salmon harvest by waiting for the fish River (currently in-preparation for ing method was eventually banned in to return to natal rivers and streams peer-review) support use of fish traps Washington State and Oregon in 1934 and harvesting in moderation, thereby for selective harvest and a return to the and 1948 respectively, primarily due to ensuring appropriate escapement of ge - placed-based management approach political reasons and the gear’s per - netically distinct populations. Salmon ceived contribution to salmon decline in were often harvested in or near rivers unregulated fisheries. Contrary to the of origin with passive gears such as fish Use of passive fishing specified intent of the ban, resource traps, weirs, or reef nets, enabling se - management agencies (putting their lective harvest of robust populations techniques and faith in the unproven potential of hatch - and successful release of non-target placed-based ery production) failed to reduce total stocks. Since the 20th century, salmon mixed-stock fishing effort and meet bi - management has become increasingly management strategies ologically acceptable escapement goals. reliant on hatchery production and has Shortly after the elimination of fish allowed for intensive harvest farther may be a win-win for traps, Columbia River and Puget Sound from rivers origin with non-selective salmon fisheries collapsed. gear-types. Consequently, this has re - fishers, threatened Consisting of a series of pilings, duced genetic diversity and enhanced stakes, or anchors and attached web mixed-stock harvest and bycatch mor - salmonid stocks, fences that extend from the high-water tality to indiscriminate wild popula - mark to the riverbed, fish traps pas - tions—many of which are now listed management, and the sively funnel returning adult salmon under the U.S. Endangered Species Act from the shoreline ‘lead’ (positioned (ESA). environment. perpendicular to shore) to a maze of As climate change accelerates and walls and compartments. Adult other anthropogenic threats (such as salmonids swim against the current, en - habitat loss and dams) continue to historically exemplified by Pacific tering progressively smaller compart - threaten the diversity and abundance of Northwest First Nation cultures. Ulti - ments of a fish trap (‘heart’, ‘spiller’, wild Pacific salmonids, there is a grow - mately, use of passive fishing tech - and ‘live well’ respectively). The final ing need to reconsider the conventional niques and placed-based management compartment has dimensions appropri - paradigm of strategies may prove to be a win-win ate for operators to sort the catch for hatchery production and non-selective situation for fishers, threatened harvest or passive release with little to mixed-stock harvest if wild populations salmonid stocks, management, and the no air exposure and handling. and constrained coastal fisheries are to environment. Salmonids remain free-swimming be restored. Our recent paper titled within a fish trap and selected mesh di - “Survival of Salmonids from an Exper - What is a Fish Trap? mensions minimize or prevent entan - imental Commercial Fish Trap” (avail - glement altogether. able for download at: The fish trap was a historically effec - https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10292 ) tive indigenous and commercial gear demonstrates the viability of modified used in Pacific salmon fisheries. First fish traps for in-river selective harvest Nations constructed traps of wood and Continued on next page

6 The Osprey Continued from previous page the Wild Fish Conservancy constructed minum marine mammal deterrent gate Washington State’s first commercial was installed at the entrance to the Objectives fish trap since 1934 in the Cathlamet heart to prevent entry of large mam - Channel of the lower Columbia River, mals to the trap while enabling fish pas - The purpose of our research was to WA (rkm 67). The trap consisted of a sage. design, construct, and evaluate the per - lead (~90 m), jigger, heart, tunnel, and The spiller and tunnel were engi - formance of a modified commercial spiller; the dimensions and designs neered for deployment and retrieval to fish trap for selective in-river harvest were inspired by blueprints contained and from the riverbed with line and pul - and reduction of wild salmonid bycatch within the legal deeds of traps that had ley. Weights at each corner of the com - mortality (for more information, see been constructed in the same location a partment enabled gravity to draw the the full-length publication at century ago. Mesh dimensions and ma - mesh flush to the riverbed during each soak period. A solar-powered electric winch was designed, built, and installed to haul the bottom mesh of the spiller upward through the water column to the shallows at the completion of a set, allowing captured to be accessed swiftly from the depths of the river with minimal stress. We constructed a pontoon dock equipped with a live well adjacent to the spiller, enabling fish transferred from the spiller compart - ment with line and pulley to be sorted by fishers or biologists. Within the live well, all fish remained free-swimming and submerged within continuously cir - culating river water. With the comple - tion of a set, a door to the live well was opened, allowing captured fishes to be released with minimal handling (view a short video on the fish trapping process at https://vimeo.com/310697782 ). WFC operated the gear daily from August 26 through September 27, 2017. We counted, measured, and identified Columbia River fishermen harvesting salmon from a trap in the early 20th Cen - all fish by species and origin (hatchery tury. Photo courtesy Wild Fish Conservancy or wild, as determined by the absence or presence of the adipose fin). All Chi - https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10292 ). terials were carefully selected to mini - nook salmon and steelhead were Specifically, objectives were to esti - mize entanglement of fish and drag scanned for Passive Integrated mate and compare immediate and post- within the water column. All fine-mesh Transponder tags. If PIT tags were de - release mortality of wild Chinook tected, codes were recorded. In the ab - salmon and steelhead from an experi - sence of an existing PIT tag, adult mental fish trap relative to commercial Along with hatchery Chinook salmon and steelhead were PIT gears that were previously evaluated in tagged in the peritoneal cavity. In addi - the lower Columbia River through reform and habitat tion, non-lethal genetic samples were paired mark–recapture. Given precise taken from Chinook salmon and steel - and unbiased estimates of catch compo - protection/restoration, head to analyze stock-composition. All sition and bycatch mortality for a fish fish were then passively released from trap, it is our hope that resource man - we believe responsible the live-well, and the next set was initi - agement agencies may consider imple - ated. menting alternative commercial gear harvest reform will We used the statistical approach of and returning to a placed-based man - paired mark–release–recapture to esti - agement approach for wild salmonids. contribute to wild mate relative post-release survival of Along with hatchery reform and habitat Chinook salmon and steelhead from the protection/restoration, we believe re - salmon recovery and fish trap to upriver detection points. sponsible harvest reform will con - revitalization of coastal Similar to prior alternative gear studies tribute to wild salmon recovery and in the lower Columbia River, control revitalization of coastal fisheries. and treatment groups of Chinook fisheries. salmon and steelhead were PIT-tagged Methods and released for detection at mainstem dam PIT tag arrays. This was done to Partnered with a long-time lower Co - nets were secured to untreated wood control for handling and PIT-tagging ef - lumbia River commercial , pilings from the riverbed to roughly 1 m above the high-water mark. An alu - Continued on next page

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 7 Continued from previous page fects on adult salmonid survival, thereby isolating the commercial treat - ment effect in analysis. The treatment group consisted of Chinook salmon and steelhead that were lifted through the water en masse by the winch and spilled from the pound-net spiller to the live well. This process of capture mir - rored how the gear would be operated in a commercial setting (as designed in 2017). The control group was unex - posed to potentially damaging commer - cial capture procedures, and free-swimming fish were sourced one at a time with a rubberized dip net at the project site. This control sourcing technique was likely less stressful than procedures used in previous Columbia River commercial gear studies, during which control group fish were trapped at the Bonneville Dam adult fish pas - sage facility, dip netted, PIT-tagged, Experimental commercial fish trap in the lower Columbia River, WA in 2019. trucked downriver to the test fishing lo - Photo courtesy Wild Fish Conservancy cation (rkm 225), and transferred from a truck into the water to repeat the up - coho salmon ( O. kisutch ) while dramat - alyzing Chinook salmon survival to Mc - river migration for a second time. Con - ically reducing bycatch mortality rates Nary Dam (400 km upriver migration; sequently, survival in our study is likely relative to conventional commercial 13 day median travel duration), the fish biased lower relative to prior studies. fishing gears. During the 2017 study, trap outperformed all other gears A pair of Cormack (1964) single re - 7,129 salmonids were captured, includ - tested on the lower Columbia River, lease–recapture models was used to es - ing 2,670 Chinook salmon (47.9% adi - with relative survival estimated at timate post-release survival of pose fin-clipped; 16.3% jack salmon), 0.995 (CI (0.924 ( cumulative ) treatment Chinook salmon and steel - ≤ ≤ 3,501 coho salmon (52.4% adipose fin- 1.071) = 0.95) (Table τ1). For steelhead̂ , head relative to controls between the clipped; 16.4% jack salmon), 921 sum - relative survival from the fish trap to capture and release site (rkm 67) and mer steelhead (80.9% adipose McNary Dam was estimated at 0.944 various upriver detection points to Mc - fin-clipped), 29 resident/residualized (CI (0.880 ( cumulative ) 1.012) = Nary Dam (rkm 470). Essentially, this ≤ ≤ rainbow trout ( O. mykiss ) (77.8% were 0.95). These rτesults were acĥ ieved de - survival estimation technique (in its adipose fin-clipped), and eight uniden - spite a significant tagging location dis - most simplistic form) compared detec - tified salmonids Oncorhynchus spp . An - tion rates of the treatment group to the Continued on next page control group (i.e., Relative Survival = Streat/Scontrol; see the full-length pub - Chinook Steelhead lication at Gear https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10292 for fur - Survival Survival ther detail). This mark-recapture methodology was similar to that of Gill Net 0.520 0.522 prior commercial gear studies con - ducted in the lower Columbia River; however, it must be noted that Tangle Net 0.764 0.764 capture/release sites differed between studies. The tag-and-release locations for seine and tangle-net studies were Beach Seine 0.750 (0.710-0.790) 0.920 (0.820-1.000 between rkm 209 and 233 of the Colum - bia River. Our experimental trap was located at rkm 67. As a result, survival Purse Seine 0.780 (0.720-0.850) 0.980 (0.930-1.000) in our study was measured over a greater distance and duration. Fish Trap 0.995 (0.924-1.071) 0.944 (0.880-1.012) Results and Discussion Table 1. Relative survival estimates from five commercial gears studied in the Analyzing bycatch survival and catch lower Columbia River and associated 95% profile (if available, in parenthesis). composition, our study demonstrated Table adapted from Tuohy et al. (2019), available at that the experimental trap effectively https:/doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10292. targeted hatchery-origin Chinook and

8 The Osprey Continued from previous page ture and net-pen holding), the modified If regulated and managed appropri - trap demonstrated no detectable effect ately to meet the biological needs of advantage relative to prior Columbia on sockeye ( O. nerka ) and coho salmon unique salmonid populations, a transi - River gear studies (operations at the release survival and a significant im - tion from conventional gill nets to mod - trap occurred nearly 150 km downriver provement over the 2017 prototype de - ified fish traps (and other selective of seine and tangle net evaluations). sign. These preliminary results provide gears including reef nets, fish wheels, Although results from our 2017 study and shallow seines) has potential to ben - were a dramatic improvement over efit wild salmonid recovery, orca whale conventional commercial gears, the If regulated and recovery, and First Nation, commercial, fish trap (unlike most other existing and recreational fisheries. Use of pas - gears) has great potential to be further managed sive, selective gear in or near rivers of modified to improve bycatch survival origin can help to reduce wild salmonid and capture efficiency. Since the 2017 appropriately, a bycatch mortality in mixed-stock fish - study, we have made design changes transition from eries, maintain age and size structure that have achieved 100% survival of re - of harvested fish populations, alleviate leased salmonid bycatch. Today, the line conventional gill nets fishery constraints, and improve the and pulley electric winch system from quality and marketability of 2017 is no longer necessary for hauling to modified fish traps products. Commercial fishing opera - the mesh bottom of the spiller/tunnel tions could be paired with low-impact complex to the shallows for sorting of has the potential to data collection by resource manage - the catch. A passive capture design was ment agencies using fish traps to better implemented in 2019 by adding a new benefit wild salmon, understand fish run timing, abundance, upstream tunnel to the existing spiller behavior, and ecology. Although further compartment. This upstream tunnel orcas, and fisheries. research is necessary for the gear (i.e., passively funnels migrating fishes indi - new river locations, new designs, ma - vidually from the spiller to the shallows rine mammal interactions), results of of an attached upstream live well, elim - further evidence that the gear may be our work show that modified fish traps inating minor air exposure, handling, effective in addressing wild salmonid have potential to nearly eliminate crowding, and net contact associated bycatch mortality and existing com - salmonid bycatch mortality for the ben - with the prototype commercial process. mercial fishery constraints. Further re - efit of the environment, fisheries man - Evaluating potential benefits from the search investigations with the modified agement, and coastal fishing modified passive capture design passive trap design are now tentatively communities. through two separate survival estima - scheduled in new fluvial locations in tion techniques in 2019 (mark-recap - Oregon and British Columbia for 2020- 2021.

Adrian Tuohy is a biologist and project manager at Duvall, Washington-based Wild Fish Conservancy. To learn more about selective gear research for salmonid recovery, please visit Wild Fish Conservancy’s website at www.wildfishconservancy.org and read the full-length publication in the journal of Fisheries:

Tuohy, A.M., Skalski, J.R., and N.J. Gayeski. 2019. Survival of salmonids from an experimental commercial fish trap. Fisheries. 44(6): https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10292 .

Fish traps allow hatchery fish to be retained while wild fish can be released un - harmed. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 9 Response of a Heavily Exploited Great Lakes Steelhead Population to Reduced Harvest

By Brian Morrison

teelhead ( Oncorhynchus 1997). Males tend to have higher natu - to angler harvest. Prior to 1995, a daily mykiss ) display a broad range ral mortality and therefore lower re - bag limit of five steelhead/rainbow of life history strategies, peat spawning, probably due to trout of any size was in place for Lake which enable the species to multiple spawning events within one Superior and its tributaries (MNRF Un - tolerate transfer into unoccu - season and the period of time spent in published data). Reduction of bag lim - pSied but suitable habitats (O’Connell et spawning streams (George 2001). Males its to a single steelhead occurred in al. 1997). Although steelhead are an im - are capable of spawning three or four 1995 on most tributaries with additional portant species for recreational angling times in successive years while females size restrictions imposed on urban fish - in the Laurentian Great Lakes, rela - commonly have four to six spawning eries located in the city of Thunder Bay, tively little ecological or evolutionary migrations in healthy populations, a Ontario. research has been done on this species trait also exhibited only in wild Kam - The overall goal of this project is to in Ontario. Since this species has been chatka steelhead populations describe the response (population dy - present in Lake Superior for over a cen - (Kuzishchin et al. 2002). Low repeat namics and life history diversity) of a tury, it provides an excellent system in spawning rates suggests high rates of heavily exploited steelhead populations which to study responses to transplan - angler exploitation (Clarkson and Jones when angler harvest is removed or sig - tation. The initial stocking program in 1997). Additionally, life history diver - nificantly reduced. This includes ex - Lake Superior commenced in 1883 and amining what dynamics drive likely utilized California’s McCloud unexploited or reference naturalized River stock (Sacramento River Along much of the steelhead populations in the Great Drainage) (MacCrimmon and Gots Lakes, and the underlying importance 1972). Subsequent stocking events con - Canadian shoreline of of life history diversity and repeat sisted of stocks originating from Red - spawning levels. wood Creek (California), the Willamette Lake Superior, Portage Creek is a 7,600 ha (60km2) and Rouge drainages in Oregon as well watershed that lies on the Sibley Penin - as drainages from the Olympic Penin - steelhead were allowed sula located on the north shore of Lake sula and the Columbia River in Wash - Superior draining into Black Bay, ap - ington (Krueger et al. 1994; Crawford to thrive and adapt proximately 50 km east of the City of 2001). By 1905, it was believed that Thunder Bay. Portage Creek is consid - nearly all tributary streams flowing with little human ered a moderate-sized stream, with a into the North Shore of Lake Superior length of 16 kilometers and an average had spawning populations of steelhead interference. gradient of 4.5 meters/kilometer. (Crawford 2001). Along much of the Starting in the spring of 1994, public Canadian shoreline of Lake Superior, access was controlled when the land ex - steelhead populations were allowed to sity is believed to increase the likeli - changed between landowners, which thrive and adapt with relatively little hood of population persistence by meant that angling pressure was nonex - disturbance. This is virtually the only spreading risk across life histories istent and therefore minimal exploita - large area in the Great Lakes where (Schindler et al. 2010). Increased pop - tion was occurring. This newly steelhead have been allowed to adapt to ulation stability via high life history has restricted access created a tremendous local environmental conditions free been demonstrated for steelhead opportunity to study in detail the popu - from any anthropogenic impacts (e.g. (Moore et al. 2014), along with various lation dynamics of a steelhead stock in supplemental stocking) (George 2001) populations of Pacific Salmon one of the most northerly (and extreme) as highlighted in the May 2001 (Number (Schindler et al. 2010, Braun et al. 2016). locations in the Great Lakes. Monitor - 39) issue of The Osprey ( http://os - In the late 1980s, north shore Lake Su - ing is done in partnership with the On - preysteelhead.org/archives/TheOsprey perior anglers expressed concern that tario Ministry of Natural Resources Issue39.pdf ). increased angling pressure was causing and Forestry (OMNRF) and the North Lake Superior steelhead have the abil - declining steelhead numbers and that Shore Steelhead Association. ity to spawn multiple times, a charac - the average size of angler caught fish Data was collected by anglers who teristic that appears to be a was smaller (George and Bozak 2007). worked with OMNRF biologists prerequisite for optimal recruitment The steelhead fishery in Lake Superior through a scientific collectors permit, (George 2001). Most healthy popula - is primarily focused on the annual with all angled fish having length, sex, tions have repeat spawning levels be - spring migration of mature adults to scale sample, fin clip (unique fin each tween 50 and 70 percent for both sexes their natal streams for spawning, sampling season to validate for tag (Swanson 1985; Clarkson and Jones where adults become more vulnerable Continued on next page

10 The Osprey Continued from previous page ally high adult survival rates could this increase in walleye population crash, while an adjacent population that’s either predating upon steelhead loss), and tagged. A repeat spawning could be growing. smolts as they leave Portage Creek and index is used to determine population It was realized that Black Bay is a other tributaries draining into Black health for Great Lakes steelhead, with warmer water bay within Lake Supe - Bay, or out-competing for food re - a target of at least 50% of the popula - rior that originally contained an exten - sources as post-smolts. Additionally, tion being a repeat spawner for the pop - sive population of Percid species — there has been a shift in smolt age that ulation to be considered healthy walleye ( Sander vitreus ) and yellow does survive to adulthood, with age-1 (Swanson 1985, Clarkson and Jones perch ( Perca flavescens ). Following ex - smolt age comprising approximately 1997). The purpose of this tool is to as - tensive commercial exploitation, a 80% of first time (maiden) spawners sess total mortality/survival rates on moratorium was placed on commercial until 2008, when age-2 smolts increased the adult component of the population. harvest of walleye within the bay in in proportion, with 100% of the maiden Additionally, this program also demon - strates the value of angler-gathered data and partnerships in fisheries man - agement. Following the removal of angler har - vest from the population, the population rose from an estimated 855 individuals in 1995 to a peak of 2,059 by 2004 (Fig - ure 1). Population size prior to 1995 was estimated based on life history (re - peat spawning rates), while the popula - tion after 1995 was estimated using Peterson mark-recapture information. It took about one steelhead generation (5 years) before the population really started to grow. From 2002-2008 the population remained above 1,500 indi - viduals. In addition to the increased population size, the repeat spawning Figure 1. Estimated Population size for Portage Creek steelhead, 1994-2008. rate also increased over time, and re - mained above 50% all years except two since 2002 (Figure 2). This delay of a generation before the population began to grow suggests that repeat spawners are an important component to help steelhead populations increase in size. Total adult survival in a given year has been documented to be as high as 88% , and individuals spawning up to 10 times in their life, and living up to 12 years old! Based on erosion patterns on the scales, the life history of older fish can generally only be validated through the use of concurrent tagging information. The repeat spawning levels observed are similar or exceeding those docu - mented for wild healthy populations in western Kamchatka. Starting in 2008, the population size started to decline, and this did not correlate with the adult survival rates as expressed in the re - peat spawning index. A similar moni - Figure 2. Repeat spawning rate for Portage Creek steelhead, 1994-2018. toring program on the McIntyre River, which flows into Lake Superior in the city of Thunder Bay showed population 1969 and yellow perch in 2003. This spawning population being age-2 smolts increases over the same time period. moratorium was extended to recre - in 2018. Sampling was with an electronic ational anglers in 2008 in the northern The Portage Creek study shows the counter 1999-2004, and angling (mark- waters of Black Bay and tributaries. importance of long-term datasets for recapture) since 2005 Concurrently, walleye were stocked monitoring population health. As the (https://northshoresteelhead.com/pro - into the bay starting in 2003, with index population recovered following the re - ject) . This introduced a problem to bi - netting showing increases in walleye moval of angling exploitation, many ologists trying to figure out how an abundance starting in 2008 and remain - agencies may have stopped monitoring unexploited population with exception - ing high. The prevailing thought is it’s Continued on next page

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 11 Continued from previous page assuming the population was healthy. This shows that unexpected changes within the ecosystem, or with other species can have effects on wild steel - head populations within Lake Superior, and long-term monitoring is critical to be able to determine these changes. Additionally, this study also demon - strates the value of having multiple lines of evidence beyond just popula - tion size to help elucidate what changes are occurring, or what life stage they may be occurring at. Anglers overseen by OMNRF biolo - gists collect all of the data for this study. This form of data collection helps anglers understand the science that is being collected, and they can help understand and champion forward more restrictive regulations to protect populations when required. Further - more, when anglers are catching tagged steelhead, they also understand Figure 3. Estimated Population size for Portage Creek steelhead, 1994-2018 how vulnerable they are to angling, both in a single day, in a season, and across seasons. One instance, which is not unique, was when an individual was caught for the first time, sampled (length, scale sample, tagged, and a fin cut off), released, and then caught on the very next cast. Based on data across the dataset, approximately 31% of the population is caught by anglers any given year, and upwards of 50% of the population on high years (Figure 4). This is based on approximately two an - glers fishing each day during the spawning migration (~30 days). It’s not hard to believe on rivers with high an - gler effort, much of a steelhead popula - tion may be hooked or caught by anglers.

Brian Morrison is a free-lance fisheries biologist previously working at several Figure 4. Estimated proportion of population caught by anglers 1995-2017. Conservation Authorities in Ontario since 2001 in a range of roles and capac - ities, and has had the fortune to study naturalized and wild salmonids across the Great Lakes.

12 The Osprey Diversity of a Small Lake Ontario Wild Steelhead Population

By Brian Morrison

he overall goal of this proj - age, lake age, total age and number of this watershed highlighting the diver - ect was to gather quantita - times the individual has spawned. The sity that can develop even within small tive information on the majority of smolts left after two years populations. population dynamics and in the stream, while most adults re - There is no angling within this water - life history strategies of turned after two years in Lake Ontario shed due to private ownership, however rTainbow trout within Wesleyville Creek. to spawn for the first time, which is a approximately 10% of returning adults This information will be used to help common pattern for wild steelhead in showed indications of being caught or serve as a reference for describing an the Great Lakes. A maximum of three encountered by anglers, likely the unexploited small stream rainbow trout spawning events have been docu - /downrigger fishery in Lake On - population in the Lake Ontario basin. mented within this watershed. The tario with torn or missing maxillary. Wesleyville Creek is a 9.5 km 2 water - highest sample size for any year be - Life history information also indicate shed located west of the Municipality of tween 2010 and 2017 was 80 individuals, poor adult survival, with approximately Port Hope. It is considered a coldwater and averaged 39 individuals, while the 56% average mortality across the 2010 watercourse, draining from the Lake highest estimated population size – 2017 monitoring period, likely largely Iroquois Shoreline physiographic re - the result of this fishery in Lake On - gion. It is also considered one of the tario (this contrasts to Portage Creek, healthiest small watersheds on the which averages 70-80% adult survival). northshore of Lake Ontario, a unique This highlights that even if spawning feature in southern Ontario. Wes - streams are protected, anglers can still leyville Creek historically contained a have impacts on adult populations when diverse fish assemblage, dominated by there is high angling pressure outside brook trout. Brook trout are still pres - spawning/rearing watersheds. ent within the watershed, and have There is evidence that size at first been prioritized for maintaining the na - maturation within Lake Ontario tribu - tive gene pool within this population. taries is dictated by watershed size. For Wesleyville Creek also has a lake run example, Wesleyville Creek is the population of rainbow trout ( On - smallest watershed with life history in - corhynchus mykiss ), coho salmon ( On - A shingle beach cuts off steelhead ac - formation, and it has the smallest size corhynchus kisutch ) as well as a lake cess to Lake Ontario. Photo by Brian adults maturing (age-4, -5), in contrast, run population of white sucker Morrison the Credit River is the largest, and had (Catostomus commersonii ). The entire the largest fish maturing at the same watershed is in private ownership, through the study period was in 2013, ages. Other watersheds are intermedi - which precludes access to anglers. Its with 520 ± 235 individuals. The run tim - ate in size and steelhead matured at small size is also a deterrent for an - ing is predominantly during the spring, sizes in between these two watersheds glers. The stream is frequently cut off although the odd individual migrates as (Figure 2). Mean summer discharge from Lake Ontario due to natural early as the fall or winter. was used as a proxy for watershed size processes at the shingle beach at the Through this monitoring program, in this figure. The presence of larger mouth of the watershed, and is usually several interesting anecdotes were ob - fish at older ages in Wesleyville Creek only accessible following larger rain served while working this steelhead indicate that these large fish (which events that allows the watercourse to population. This watershed is not tend to be repeat spawning individuals) punch through the rocky beach and cre - stocked, with hatchery plantings occur - are able to access the watershed, but ate fish access (through 10 years of ring in other Lake Ontario watersheds, there are selective forces that promote monitoring, I have yet to see a fish ac - but the same adult male with an adipose smaller age at first maturity. Much of tually swim across this shingle beach) clip was captured within the stream two this adaptation across all these water - Adult rainbow trout were captured by consecutive years. This is the first time sheds would have occurred largely electrofishing and dip netting. Cap - I had observed non-stocking site fi - since the 1970s (approximately 45 tured rainbow trout were sampled for delity, but fidelity to a non-natal stream. years, or 9 steelhead generations) when fork length, and checked for existing Through all years of sampling, one res - naturalized steelhead in Lake Ontario tags/fin clips, sex. Scale samples (N=10) ident male was captured during this would have colonized most watersheds. and tissue sample (5 mm circle of fin study, and was captured the same day a tissue, dry preserved) were taken from mature male parr was also captured, all fish for age and genetic analysis. while both were courting a migratory Various life history traits can be deter - female. It was the only time either life mined from scales, including stream history pathway was observed within

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 13 The Steelhead Guardian Protecting wild North Umpqua summer steelhead from poachers

By Lee Spencer

This is a brief and generalized history of argued that the Mount Mazama erup - gather wild steelhead that collected in the Fish Watch Program and the Steam - tion undermined no fish population’s Big Bend Pool every year. boat Creek Basin, a subdrainage of the evolutionary relations, though some The use of the internal combustion en - North Umpqua River in southern Ore - may have become attenuated for a gine also helped to kill Steamboat gon. My dog, Maggie, and I are camped while. Hatchery fish introductions on Creek’s ancient forests along with open - next to a pool located some miles up the other hand, have had disastrous ing them up to poaching on an industrial this creek and as I write this, I am very evolutionary affects on every wild pop - scale. This industrial poaching earned close to being done with the 2019 eight- ulation they have interbred with. the pool the name The Dynamite Hole month season protecting the wild sum - It was the discovery of the Bohemia because poachers would toss dynamite mer steelhead that make use of a pool Gold Strike in 1858, and later perhaps into the pool to kill steelhead that that serves them as a thermal refuge. the manning of local fire lookouts, that sought the thermal refuge of its cool We are protecting the steelhead that are responsible for the first significant waters in large numbers. Over the last hold here from human poaching and ha - use by European-Americans of the mid - few seasons, hatchery steelhead have rassment. I do not protect the fish from dle and the upper parts of the Steam - made up less the 1% of the fish holding otters or other undomesticated crea - boat Creek Basin. A historic but now in the pool. This is still too many, but it tures. defunct trail joins Steamboat Falls—lo - allows me to say that the fish being pro - cated around forty-six miles from the tected are for the most part wild and he prehistory of the thermal also to point out if poachers took only refuge Big Bend Pool on hatchery fish I, for one, would thank Steamboat Creek — a criti - them. cally important tributary of The value of Fish It was still called the Dynamite Hole the North Umpqua River when I began my solitary seasons at the Tfor wild salmon and steelhead — goes Watch is that it pool. For now, I believe the name of the back for at least four thousand years protects the wild pool has become Big Bend Pool. Some based on two obsidian projectile points folks do continue to call the pool by its found at the site. A Clovis style point summer steelhead of previous name, which—if nothing that has been dated to approximately else—is a good reminder of the big 15,000 years ago, was recovered within Steamboat Creek. trees which are pretty much gone along thirty miles of the pool. Except in the with the original large numbers of wild most generalized of terms, the prehis - This is of paramount steelhead. toric period is mostly a mystery. Coeval with the removal of the ancient Undoubtedly, the event of greatest importance. forests and the not-at-all-as-ancient significance during the time cited road systems in the upper basin, the above — when European-Americans Oregon Department of Fish and were unknown on this continent — was Wildlife constructed a ladder at Steam - the creation of Crater Lake when the town of Roseburg—with the Bohemia boat Creek Falls. These falls are lo - top of the volcano Mount Mazama blew, mines. I have been told that the people cated four miles down creek from he resulting in the now water-filled who brought supplies to the fire look - pool. caldera that forms the lake. There are outs now and then caught steelhead It is only fair to say here that the layers of volcanic tephra from this from Big Bend Pool on Steamboat ODFW and I do not see eye to eye on event that are more than fifty feet thick Creek and smoked them for the persons anything at all. I have been lied to so in the Umpqua Basin. With the excep - manning the lookouts. many times and with such vigor by this tion of one other thing, this eruption In the late 1950s, decisions were made agency that I would not give a single must have been the most disastrous on local, state, and federal levels to dec - pinch of volcanic tephra for their belief event to occur to wild Pacific salmon imate all the Steamboat Creek old or opinion about anything. When this populations during the last 10,000 growth timber they could get at by hook state agency is mentioned in this article years. or by crook. This decision led directly it is so that I can discount them, not to The exception, of course, is the hatch - to the construction of a system of dirt cite them as an information source. I ery-caused disruption to wild Pacific and gravel roads in the middle and the believe that this to be one of the most salmon and steelhead populations, upper portions of the Steamboat Creek fundamental truths contained in this ar - which has undermined their evolution - Basin. This road system brought dyna - ticle. ary relationships from southern Cali - mite into the picture both to assist in To show how stupidly awry the plans fornia to Alaska and beyond. It may be building the roads and, now and then, to Continued on next page

14 The Osprey Continued from previous page cluding various state and local agen - tumn of 1999. I did this because it cies, corporations, and great-hearted in - seemed to me that staying a full season of the local state hatchery fish agency dividuals got together and proposed a at Big Bend Pool was the right thing to can be, here is a history of this ladder. reward of $15,000.00. No one has col - do . . . it still does. My friend, Jim Van In 1957, at approximately the same time lected this reward yet. Loan — long-time North Umpqua wild as the construction of the road system Also at this time, piecemeal, individu - steelhead conservationist and former in the Steamboat Creek Basin, ODFW als began to hide out at the pool with the owner of the famous Steamboat Inn — had the main falls on Steamboat Creek idea of catching some the poachers and was the person who specifically asked laddered to mitigate for damage that blasting in the are did to the natural fish passage route. Prior to that, the wild steelhead were able to surmount the falls. The jump that was necessary to get past the falls was a leap of ten feet that originally had a wonderful plunge pool below it to as - sist the leaper. To show how well thought out this ladder at Steamboat Creek Falls was, it has broken down and had to be reconstructed at least five times during the now seven decades of its existence. It is also unclear how long the ladder blocked fish passage each time it failed due to debris block - ing it. Each blockage could have lasted longer than a year given how poorly the wild Pacific salmon are managed now and to all intents and purposes have been since management commenced in the basin of the Umpqua River. At nearly the same time, spring Chi - nook and summer steelhead began to become that terrible entity, hatchery fish. As we become more aware, it is Critical spawning habitat, about 100,000 acres of the Steamboat Creek basin was now a well-known fact that hatcheries recently designated a Wild Steelhead Special Management Area. Photo by Jim may be the gravest danger by far to Yuskavitch sustaining wild fish populations. For what it is worth, I believe the evidence some poachers were caught. I was not me if I could stay at Big Bend Pool for is now incontrovertible that there is no involved in these initial adventurous a full eight-month season. upside to either hatchery fish or hatch - days at Big Bend Pool, not becoming By the end of that first year, not too ery people. one of the volunteers until 1996. My much to my surprise, I had a very inter - Other factors that were coming into own involvement with Fish Watch oc - esting time protecting the summer play at about this time where the con - curred because of an outreach by Dave steelhead populations that use the pool. struction of main-stem dams on the Hall, Joe Ferguson, and Steve Evens of I was, as well, fascinated watching the North Umpqua, spinning reels, single- the Steamboaters , the local advocacy Western Cascades portion of the Pacific egg hooks, and designation of the fly- organization for North Umpqua wild Northwest’s season cycle around me. fishing only zone on thirty miles of the steelhead. By the end of that first season, I was river that is the primary rearing area I believe it was around 1996 that The quite ready volunteer for another . . . as for juvenile salmonids. North Umpqua Foundation began to I am doing as I write this. Complexities have mounted more and offer a per diem of $30.00 to be given to The Fish Watch Program is straight - more since we—yes, us—began to give anyone who spent twelve of twenty- forward: a person spends at least thought to improving the circum - four hours at the pool and this time was twelve of every twenty-four hours—in - stances of wild Pacific salmon and, as to incorporate the night time. The per cluding the night—keeping an ear out near as I can tell, we have failed in our diem has now been increased to $45.00 and an eye on the refuge pool and the every effort to do so. a day. fish. I am hazy about how the Fish Watch It shortly became apparent that it was Mostly, I am in plain view down at the Program got started other than to say very difficult to get volunteers for pool reading a book, talking to Maggie, that it did and it was a protective re - given twelve-hour periods and an effort documenting natural history observa - sponse to poaching. It is worth noting was made to find someone who could tions, and answering the questions of here that the entire Steamboat Creek spend more or all of the time at the pool visitors. During my first ten seasons, basin was closed to all angling in the when the adult—but still-maturing— my good dog, Sis, was with me and now 1930s. I think the Fish Watch Program summer steelhead were using it as a my good dog, Maggie, is my companion. began in 1992 when what is thought to refuge from summer temperatures. I That said, it is important to keep dogs be the last dynamiting of the pool oc - became aware of this search and volun - and people out of the water within at curred. At this time, many people, in - teered for the spring, summer, and au - Continued on next page

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 15 Continued from previous page tects the wild summer steelhead of the happen. The next best thing that could upper and middle part of the Steamboat happen is that all the interpretive sig - least a quarter mile upstream from the Creek Basin. This is of paramount im - nage should be removed from the flat refuge. Even contact for brief seconds, portance. A very much secondary above the pool. Yes, there is an seriously spooks the fish once the scent value is that of seeing the summer Airstream trailer, commodes, and a 125- has entered the pool and been captured steelhead and answering questions gallon propane tank. My twenty years by one of the pool’s eddies. about them. I say secondary because at the pool suggests strongly that, in the As I mentioned above, a large and the wild summer steelhead are aware of absence of informational signs and very interesting part of my time at the kiosks, nearly a third of the visitors pool is documenting the behavior of would not visit the pool—thinking it was wild steelhead and other creatures. I By the end of that first a strange private camp of some kind. keep a notebook next to me for this pur - I was off the pool all of last year as I pose when down at my perch. Truth be year, I had a very looked after my Mom and so was unable told, I watch the vegetation, the to argue against a huge and very, very weather, and I document stories people interesting time heavy and bright and colorful metal tell me, and jokes too if they make me kiosk that has been placed less than a laugh. Right now, these notes amount protecting the stone’s throw from the pool and in plain to more than six million words. view from the road along Steamboat I call these notebooks my natural his - summer steelhead. By Creek. Just because something is pos - tory notes. These notes are archived by the end of the first sible does not mean that it should hap - The North Umpqua Foundation and are pen. available free to the public at: season I was ready to My observations over the course of http://northumpqua.org/lees-steelhead- this past season clearly show that this notes/ . The actual natural history notes volunteer for another. kiosk attracts attention and, necessarily make up the first 20% of a season’s therefore, increases the number of vis - notes. The remainder of the notes are itors to the pool and, also necessarily, comparisons with the notes from previ - everyone and potentially spooked by increases the spooking of the wild sum - ous seasons. As an example of what can everyone who visits the pool. It took mer steelhead seeking refuge to the be found in these natural history notes, me years to learn about this awareness pool. Appendix 4 of the most recent notes by the steelhead. Were it possible, I The poacher memory in the case of documents 2,800-plus approaches — or would try to keep even myself away the Dynamite Hole will be long. No pool rises if you prefer — by the pool steel - from these fish, however, the watcher that holds hundreds of wild summer head to leaves, twigs, lichens, some in - does need to maintain a modicum of steelhead will be easily forgotten. Actu - sects, and a variety of other things. The awareness about what is going on in the ally, I am reasonably sure that, even if discussion of each approach includes place they protect. there is no more poaching or harass - the text as documented in the relevant It sounds brutal I know, but people ment here, this refuge pool will be re - volume of natural history notes. should stay away from the pool, as membered as a locus of poaching for The value of Fish Watch is that it pro - stated above. This, however, will never human generations. And, sorry, but these things will be especially true if in - formational signage remains plainly visible at this poaching site.

Lee Spencer has been guarding the wild summer steelhead in the Steamboat Creek basin for more than two decades. His book about his experiences, A Tem - porary Refuge: Fourteen Seasons with Wild Steelhead was published by Patag - onia Books in 2017. It was reviewed in the September 2017 issue of The Os - prey .

Lee also publishes his Steelhead Notes on the North Umpqua Foundation web - site detailing his many observations over the years. You can read them at: http://northumpqua.org/lees-steelhead- notes/

Within the Umpqua River watershed, the North Umpqua offers world famous summer steelhead fishing, and includes a 32-mile fly-fishing only reach. Map by Shannon1. Published under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License . Converted to black and white.

16 The Osprey Bringing the Rule of Law to Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River

By Jim McCarthy

coalition of twenty fishing, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. tory include: conservation, and whitewa - Serious problems at this dam extend Dating back to the turn of the previ - ter groups has formed to beyond the slipshod 2018 repair ous century, Winchester Dam is an ob - push state and federal au - process, pollution spill, and fish kill. solete and deteriorating structure thorities to enforce state The troubling history of Winchester providing no flood control, hydropower, Aand federal laws at Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River near Rose - burg, Oregon to protect fish runs, water quality, and public safety. One of the coalition’s priorities is to ensure the dam’s owner, Winchester Water Control District, is held responsible for viola - tions resulting from a recent unpermit - ted major repair effort at the dam in October 2018, which included a pollu - tion spill and fish kill in the North Umpqua River that was extensively documented by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as the Ore - gon Water Resources Department. Dur - ing an attempted repair of the south abutment, Winchester Water Control District did not seek required permits, did not hire a qualified engineer expe - rienced with dams or in-water work, and did not follow ODFW’s written rec - ommendations to protect aquatic re - sources during the repair. This resulted in a pollution plume and fish kill when green concrete contaminated the river Winchester Dam has a history of poor maintenance and repair that impacts the during the adult migration of federally- river’s salmon and steelhead runs. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch listed Oregon Coast coho salmon. Ac - cording to ODFW, the pollution plume extended a third of a mile downstream or water supply function. It inflicts sig - and killed juvenile Chinook salmon and The troubling history nificant harm on salmon, steelhead, and steelhead, as well as Pacific Lamprey water quality in one of Oregon’s most ammocoetes and mussels. of Winchester Dam famed and valuable rivers. Due to these Fortunately, in the wake of this need - fisheries impacts, this dam is listed by less damage to the North Umpqua, the demonstrates the ODFW as among the state’s highest pri - coalition has seen some welcome need to protect the orities for improving fish passage. The progress. On August 12 th , 2019, the Ore - dam also lies entirely within state des - gon Department of Environmental North Umpqua from ignated Essential Salmonid Habitat and Quality issued a Pre-Enforcement No - impounds waters listed by Oregon as tice regarding violations of state law its longstanding impaired under Clean Water Act Sec - during these repairs. On October 16 th , tion 303(d). 2019, OWRD downgraded the dam’s problems. Winchester Dam is categorized as a condition rating from “fair” to “poor” “high hazard” dam by the Oregon De - with a warning that it could be down - partment of Water Resources (OWRD), graded further if the dam’s known Dam further demonstrates the pressing primarily due to potential loss of life in safety issues are not addressed in a need for authorities to step up and pro - the case of dam failure among the large timely manner. Unfortunately, going on tect the incredible North Umpqua number of boaters, swimmers, fisher - one year after a spill and fish kill there River from the longstanding problems men, and other river recreationists who still has not been substantive action by at this dam. The facts of the dam’s his - Continued on next page

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 17 Continued from previous page to WWCD in 1969, after the then-hy - do they contain records of fines or dropower dam was heavily damaged by other consequences for WWCD. frequent the banks, waters, public park, the infamous 1964 Flood. Public records Records do show that the extensive un - and boat ramp immediately down - indicate that Winchester Dam has been permitted in-water work noted above stream of the dam. Besides potential repaired at least 17 times since 1964 – involved fish salvage, removal-fill, loss of life, other documented OWRD or an average of once every 3 years – blockage of fish migration, and signifi - concerns include potential damage to but the coalition has been unable to dis - cant sediment releases in one of Ore - the water intake structure owned by the cover any instances of enforcement of gon’s finest salmon and steelhead City of Roseburg and possible damage permitting requirements to protect streams. to two highway bridges and one rail - Umpqua Basin fisheries, water quality, Drawdown for dam repair releases road bridge, also immediately down - and public safety. It is reasonable to ex - significant volumes of sediment accu - stream. Despite these risks, the dam pect the dam’s well-documented dy - mulated within the reservoir pool, de - owners have rebuffed repeated written positing it onto Essential Salmonid requests by OWRD to update their Habitat and into the water intake of the emergency action plan, which dates to Disregard for permits City of Roseburg immediately down - 1987. stream. A newspaper account of the Past concerns regarding this struc - and lack of 1991 repair drawdown states “silt ture have been so significant that gushed” after the raising of the dam’s OWRD issued a Dam Safety Order on accountability from roller gates. Flow through these two March 13, 1986 finding the dam “struc - gates is forceful enough to stop all up - turally unsound and in danger of fail - Winchester Dam stream fish migration. It is reasonable ure” with “structural deficiencies” of to assume this flow velocity scours out “dynamic and long-standing nature” owners regarding and mobilizes large volumes of sedi - and ordered professional engineering ment and turbidity. plans drawn up for its replacement or repairs seemingly has According to ODFW and press ac - removal. This order was modified on been the rule. counts, the temporary drawdown of the March 3, 1988 after extensive inspec - reservoir pool behind Winchester Dam tion — including testing of steel tie rods to allow structure repair, which directs and underwater inspection — and re - all river flow through the dam’s two pairs overseen by a qualified engineer. namic and long-standing structural roller gates, results in a total upstream The modified order allowed for contin - deficiencies will require even more fre - passage barrier for migratory fish due ued dam operation on the condition that quent repairs in the future. We have to flow velocity. Judging from public a certified engineer hired by the dam found records of several extended records, in recent decades Winchester owners undertake a state-approved drawdowns and repair efforts in recent Dam repairs completely stopped the oversight regime of regular inspec - decades, including years 1991, 1997, upstream migration of fish for a mini - tions, monitoring, testing, and repair, 1999, 2006, 2009, and 2013. But just as mum of 16 days in 1991, 13 days in 1997, and to periodically submit “safe life ex - in 2018, relevant agency files do not 12 days in 1999, 12 days in 2006, and 17 pectancy evaluations” to OWRD. show permits for these activities, nor Continued on next page OWRD files contain little evidence that the dam owners have attempted to com - ply with this order. The coalition has found no evidence that WWCD has ben - efitted from the services of a qualified engineer since 2006, when files show a WWCD-hired engineer submitted a cur - sory 2-page “Winchester Dam Repair Narrative” which briefly outlines a 12- day-long drawdown and repair effort but lacks substantive plans, data, methodology, and analysis. OWRD files indicate WWCD has not submitted re - pair narratives of any kind since 2006. For in-water repairs of a designated high hazard dam since 2006, WWCD has apparently been relying almost com - pletely on Basco Logging, and more re - cently, on a building foundation contractor who has attempted to patch the dam face and fish ladder with con - veyor belt material. Disregard for permits and lack of ac - countability for the Winchester Dam owners has seemingly been the rule in Winchester Dam is listed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as a regards to dam repairs since Pacific high priority for improving fish passage. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch Power & Light gave away the structure

18 The Osprey Continued from previous page as encompassing up to half of the flowing directly into the fish ladder, river’s flow in summer. The record creating a false attraction flow inside days in 2013. Some of these repair peri - shows that these long-standing struc - the ladder itself. The record shows this ods overlap the adult migration period tural deficiencies necessitate regular, problem persists for years between of the North Umpqua’s ESA-listed Ore - natural resources-impactful repairs to dam repairs. gon Coast coho and likely resulted in temporarily reduce significant public Because the problems at the outlaw the delay of their migration. Reservoir safety risks and/or fish passage prob - Winchester Dam are so acute, long - drawdown causes mass mortality of lems. Judging from public records, re - standing, and costly to address, re-es - designated Species of Concern Pacific pairs to these problem areas have been tablishing the rule of law to lamprey ammocoetes in reservoir pool undertaken since the late 1980s without satisfactorily protect the North sediments. A 2013 press account with the benefit of prior professional engi - Umpqua’s resources will likely require ODFW staff commentary describes neering surveys, written engineering dam removal. If so, the coalition will thousands of reservoir pool area ammo - plans, permitting, or meaningful evalu - work to support a removal solution coetes dying or being consumed by ation of repair effectiveness. Instead, which benefits the North Umpqua’s ir - birds during repairs, despite appar - the record of repair as a whole shows replaceable natural resources as well ently ad-hoc mitigation and salvage ef - these repeated efforts produce as the people, communities, and ephemeral im - economies dependent upon the health provements be - of this remarkable river. fore reversion to the harmful and/or hazardous status quo ante. Jim McCarthy is Southern Oregon Pro - Allowing re - gram Director for WaterWatch of Ore - peated, unpermit - gon. To learn more about their work ted, and visit them at: www.waterwatch.org essentially futile repairs to Win - chester Dam has compounded the Basco Logging Fined for considerable harm this struc - Violating Water Quality Standards ture has inflicted In late January, the Oregon Depart - upon the North ment of Environmental Quality fined Umpqua River’s Basco Logging $53,378 for violating resources. The fish counting station at Winchester Dam. Photo by Jim state water quality standards that Given this history Yuskavitch caused pollution killing fish during of significant and repairs on Winchester Dam in fall repeated natural 2018. The state concluded that it is - forts. Roughly half of the 2,000 resources impacts during dam repairs, sued the penalty “because the North ODFW-salvaged ammocoetes were esti - as well as longstanding public safety Umpqua River is important habitat mated to have died in the process. In concerns, to allow further repairs to for threatened Oregon Coast coho addition, a November 4, 2013 ODFW this structure without the benefit of salmon and several other sensitive memorandum of a post-repair intera - agency required permitting and over - species, and your activities resulted gency meeting indicates drawdown sight from a certified engineer would in the discharge of sediment and wet may impact ammocoetes in sediments represent a reckless disregard for the ( or "green") concrete to the river, de - as much as 2 miles upstream of the dam fisheries, water quality, and people of grading aquatic habitat and killing and that some gasoline-powered pumps the Umpqua Basin. numerous fish. These incidents also used in the reservoir area during the re - Unfortunately, there has not been as negatively affected the quality of the pairs “were refueled without any kind much progress on other priority areas primary drinking water source for of spill containment.” A February 4, of concern at the dam. For example, two community water systems - City 2014 ODFW memo characterized the ODFW currently lacks a substantive of Roseburg and Umpqua Basin 2013 manual ammocoete salvage ef - written system or analysis for maximiz - Water Association, serving approxi - forts at the dam as “futile.” ing fish passage efficiency at Winches - mately 37,700 people (28,800 and Winchester Dam’s concrete south ter Dam at different flows. ODFW 8,900, respectively). abutment lies partially on sediment and maintains and operates the fish ladder “Your dam repair activities were debris, not bedrock, and therefore is through an easement providing access, conducted without following all es - perpetually undermined by flowing but recently declined the coalition’s tablished in-water work best man - water, at times creating cave-like holes written offer to provide an aquatic en - agement practices, despite receiving large enough for human divers to ex - gineer at no cost to ODFW to independ - information in advance from state plore. The dam’s aged, 367-foot-wide, ently analyze the ladder and create a and federal agencies on how to pro - cobble-filled wooden crib structure also comprehensive system for maximizing tect water quality and resident regularly produces large holes across ladder efficiency at different flows. To aquatic species.” its face, creating entrainment/false at - make matters worse, one of Winchester traction flows consistently described in Dam’s most obvious and chronic prob - engineering reports over the decades lems is a hole in the dam’s crib face

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 19 Columbia and Snake River Water Temperatures Becoming Increasingly Lethal for Salmon

By a coalition of 55 fisheries and natural resource scientists

Last October a group of 55 fisheries and lower Snake River increasingly warm slackwater surface area and decreased natural resources scientists signed and the river above critical levels from July water velocity compared to a free-flow - sent a letter to Pacific Northwest poli - to mid- September, significantly reduc - ing river; increased slackwater surface cymakers, governors and members of ing salmon reproduction and survival. area now serves as a collector of solar Congress describing increasingly lethal This problem was first recognized in energy, and the slow-moving water al - water temperatures for salmon and the 1990s, and still remains largely un - lows more time for heat to accumulate, steelhead on the Columbia and Snake mitigated today. All available informa - compared to free- flowing conditions rivers due to the hydroelectric dams tion to date about the court-ordered (Yearsley et al. 2001, EPA 2003, FPC and climate change. They emphasized National Environmental Policy Act 2015). that science-based solutions will need (NEPA) review now being conducted in - The U.S. Environmental Protection to be applied to correct this serious sit - dicates that federal agencies will pro - Agency (EPA) has modeled impacts of uation. Signers of the letter included pose no plan to adequately address this the presence of dams and reservoirs on scientific advisors to The Osprey Rick critical issue. water temperature to develop a Total Williams, Jack Stanford and Jim Licha - Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for tem - towich. Here is the complete letter: perature in the Columbia and Snake Breaching the four Rivers. Based on this modeling, EPA n recent decades, adult salmon stated that an un-impounded river and steelhead migrating upriver lower Snake River could, on average, be 3.5°C/6.3°F cooler to spawning grounds in the Co - in late summer and early fall when lumbia Basin have suffered de - dams is the only measured at the site- potential for John creased survival. This is in part Day Dam. EPA modeling also showed dIue to dangerously warm water in the that, when considered collectively, the action available to mainstem Snake and Columbia Rivers, four lower Snake Dams could affect caused by hydro-electric development substantially cool temperatures up to a potential maxi - that created slackwater reservoirs and mum of 6.8°C/12.2°F (EPA, 2003). The a changing climate. Excessively high mainstem water impact of additional heating in lower water temperatures, above 20°C/68°F, Snake River reservoirs is clear, and it are now normal for extended periods in temperatures. can drive water temperatures above July, August, and September. 68°F for extended periods in late sum - The four lower Snake River reser - mer and early fall – dangerous for voirs have a significant impact on these Cold-water resources to protect mi - salmon and steelhead. in-river temperatures. Based on model - grating salmonids in the existing hy - In summer 2015, 96% of endangered ing, EPA states that an un-impounded drosystem are extremely limited; there adult Snake River sockeye salmon died river could, on average, be 3.5°C/6.3°F are no additional resources available during their upriver migration through cooler in late summer and early fall that can significantly cool the river. the lower Columbia and Snake Rivers, when measured at the site-potential for Restoring the lower Snake River by re - due to the combined effects of very hot John Day Dam. EPA modeling also moving its four federal dams will sig - air and water temperatures, low flows, shows that, when considered collec - nificantly reduce mainstem water and the presence of mainstem dams tively, the four lower Snake Dams can temperatures on a long-term basis, and and their associated reservoirs (FPC affect temperatures up to a potential is likely the only action that can do so, 2015). The extreme conditions faced by maximum of 6.8°C/12.2°F (EPA, 2003). substantially lowering the risk of ex - migrating adult salmon in 2015 will be - This water temperature issue remains tinction for salmon and steelhead here. come more frequent as the climate con - unmitigated and will worsen as the cli - tinues to warm. mate continues to warm. With limited The Details Although the poor success of the adult resources in the existing hydrosystem migration documented in 2015 for to cool the river, the restoration of the Late summer and early fall water tem - Snake River sockeye is an extreme ex - lower Snake River by breaching its four peratures in the mainstem lower Snake ample, reduced migration success due dams is the only action available that and lower Columbia Rivers have risen to high water temperatures has been can substantially cool mainstem water to critical levels in recent years, due in observed for sockeye in other years, temperatures on a long-term basis. large part to the presence of Federal and for other Snake River salmon Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) species generally (Crozier et al. 2014, Key Findings dams and reservoirs. Reservoir heating McCann et al. 2018). These studies indi - is exacerbated today by a warming cli - cate that all Snake River salmon The Federal Columbia River Power mate. Historically, construction of species (sockeye, spring/summer Chi - System (FCRPS) reservoirs on the FCRPS dams and reservoirs increased Continued on next page

20 The Osprey Continued from previous page temperature water quality standard of tinue. Their simulations indicated that 20°C (68°F) in summer and the issue of a free-flowing lower Snake River would nook, fall Chinook and steelhead) expe - elevated fish ladder temperatures are have remained cool enough for salmon rience reduced survival at elevated long-standing problems, both recog - to migrate successfully in 2015 (i.e., water temperatures above 18°C (64°F), nized in the 1995 FCRPS Biological met the 20°C standard, except for brief which is, notably, 2°C cooler than the es - Opinion (NMFS 1995). In general, the periods after which temperatures tablished water quality standard of temperature exceedance problem has quickly returned to a safe level), de - 20°C (68°F). The proportion of adults of been more severe in the Snake River spite that summer’s record-breaking each species or run-type that experi - than in the Columbia River (FPC 2015). air/water temperatures and low flows. ence temperatures in excess of 18°C de - In 2015, temperatures exceeded the For comparison, most parts of the im - pends on the timing of their upriver 20°C standard for 35% to 46% of the pounded lower Snake River during July migration; steelhead, fall Chinook and April-August passage season at all and August of 2015 were dangerously sockeye have a greater exposure to FCRPS projects except Lower Granite warm, becoming lethal for salmon and high temperatures than adult Dam (LGR; FPC 2015). steelhead. Although not evaluated spring/summer Chinook (McCann et al. Current FCRPS strategies to cool specifically, the modeled temperatures 2018), because they migrate later in the overheated mainstem water in the at Ice Harbor Dam suggest that the summer, when temperatures are Snake River rely primarily on the re - cooling effect of dam removal (with hottest. In addition, adults that were lease of cold water from Dworshak cold water releases from Dworshak) transported (barged) as juveniles ex - Reservoir (on the North Fork Clearwa - would have extended downstream at hibit impaired homing ability, which re - ter River) to help cool a portion of the least to the confluence of the lower sults in slower migration speed, lower lower Snake River from July into Sep - Snake and Columbia rivers. Shultz and upstream survival, and higher stray tember, to protect migrating juvenile Johnson (2017) concluded that “a free- rates. and adult salmonids. Dworshak’s cold flowing Lower Snake River could re - Temperature tolerance or intolerance water releases have generally kept main viable salmon habitat—at least in salmon and steelhead (and fish gen - temperatures from exceeding the 20°C from a water temperature perspec - erally) has been well documented in the standard to Lower Granite Dam’s tail - tive—despite some degree of climate scientific literature, and local adapta - water, but the 20°C standard is rou - change.” tion can play a role in thermal limits for tinely exceeded downstream In the current NEPA review process, different populations of the same (http://www.fpc.org) . Cold water vol - in which FCRPS alternatives are being species. Effects of high temperature on umes from Dworshak are limited and studied by federal Action Agencies to adult salmon migration include direct must be used judiciously during the restore ESA-listed salmon populations, mortality, migration delay, and may July-September period. Efforts to cool strategies to reduce overall mainstem also include depletion of energy re - the adult fish ladders with auxiliary water temperatures do not appear to be serves through delay and increased res - pumps at Lower Granite and Little sufficiently addressed. This serious piration, reduced gamete viability, and Goose Dams have shown some potential flaw, if uncorrected, will mean that hot increased rates of disease (e.g., to reduce migration delay at those dams mainstem water will remain unmiti - McCullough et al. 2001). It is well estab - (FPC 2015), but do not mitigate the gated and salmon and steelhead losses lished that water at higher temperature larger problem of warm summer water will continue and worsen over time, es - carries less dissolved oxygen, while temperatures in the entire lower Snake pecially for Snake River stocks. cooler water carries more and benefits River and in the lower Columbia. The option of breaching lower Snake all salmon species. Climate change is exacerbating exist - River dams, combined with existing or In the Snake/Columbia mainstem, im - ing elevated temperature problems, modified cold water releases, has enor - pounded by FCRPS dams, fish ladders and the severe problems faced in 2015 mous potential to alleviate the very se - often expose adult salmon to elevated will increase in frequency. Snake River rious problem of elevated summer temperatures due to the warm surface sockeye have been identified as ex - temperatures in the lower Snake River, water used to provide ladder flows tremely vulnerable to climate change and increase the survival rate from out- (Keefer and Caudill 2015). High water due in part to their long migration migrating smolts to returning adults temperatures can result in fish repeat - through exceptionally warm reaches of (smolt-to-adult return; SAR) for all edly entering and exiting these ladders, the Snake River (Crozier et al. 2019). salmon species (Marmorek et al. 1998, reducing survival rates. Ladders that Data from recent years confirm that Peters and Marmorek 2001, McCann et have a high temperature gradient from current strategies to cool the mainstem al. 2017). It would also significantly in - warm surface waters in the forebay to are insufficient, and the alternatives crease available spawning and rearing cooler tailwaters can also delay migra - currently under evaluation by the Fed - habitat for imperiled Snake River Fall tion of adult salmon through the lad - eral Action Agencies in the NEPA re - Chinook. ders, reducing survival. The migration view process appear to inadequately No other action or actions can signif - delays typically result in delayed mi - address this problem. ( http://crso.info ). icantly lower summer water tempera - gration to spawning grounds, increased Schultz and Johnson (2017) used the tures in the lower Snake River on a total thermal exposure, and decreased EPA temperature model (RBM-10) to long-term basis, while also providing migration success (Caudill et al. 2013, simulate water temperatures in the additional cooling in the lower Colum - Keefer and Caudill 2015). lower Snake River throughout the sum - bia. Elevated water temperature in the Co - mer of 2015, assuming that its four lumbia and Snake Rivers is a long-rec - dams and reservoirs in eastern Wash - ognized problem that to date remains ington did not exist; the simulations largely unmitigated (NMFS 1995; EPA also assumed that cold water releases 2001, FPC 2015). The inability to meet a as in 2015 from Dworshak would con -

January 2020 • Issue No. 95 21 FISH WATCH — WILD FISH NEWS, ISSuES AND INITIATIVES

Cooke agreed to settle for $2.75 million. The Cryptobia Parasite Kills Hundreds of Fall funds will go to the Rose Foundation for Communities and Chinook on Oregon North Coast Rivers the Environment in a series of annual payments and will be dedicated for environmental projects that protect wild salmon and orcas in Puget Sound. Funds will also be used to In response to a fall Chinook salmon die-off due to an out - reimburse the Wild Fish Conservancy’s litigation expenses. break of the parasite cryptobia made worse by low water In August 2017, a net pen off Cypress Island operated by conditions, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Cooke Aquaculture collapsed, releasing 300,000 disease-in - closed salmon angling in more than a dozen North Coast wa - fected Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound. A previous court ters to protect the spawning run. ruling found that the company failed to conduct required in - In early December, ODFW counted about 200 dead Chinook spections of nets and anchors, and accurately monitor and in the Wilson river, although because many of the carcasses report the number of Atlantic salmon escaping from its pens. had been scavenged the actual mortality was probably con - The court also found that the company did not develop plans siderably higher. The River was then closed to salmon fish - that included procedures for inspecting cages, storing chem - ing from December 7 through December 31. icals, disposing of harvest blood and tracking the number of However, later in the month excessive pre-spawner fall fish it was holding in the pens. Chinook mortality was documented in other North Coast Cooke Aquaculture was eventually fined $332,000 for the rivers. In response the Necanicum River basin, Nehalem Bay escape. Since then, the Washington State Legislature passed and River, North Fork Nehalem, Tillamook Bay, Tillamook legislation phasing out Atlantic salmon net pen operations River, Trask River, Kilchis River and Miami River, Nestucca off the Washington coast. Bay and River, Three Rivers and Liittle Nestucca River and were also closed to salmon fishing for the remainder of the month. No cryptobia-caused salmon mortalities were found outside the North Coast river systems. WDFW Grants Cooke Aquaculture Cryptobia is a naturally-occurring parasite and is not nor - mally considered a major threat to fish. However, during low Permit to Farm Steelhead in Puget Sound water periods salmon will tend to congregate in larger num - bers in search of cold water refugia and may become more Despite the company’s disasterous net pen breach in 2017, susceptible to mass infection and die-offs. and that Washington State is in the process of phasing out At - lantic salmon farming in Puget Sound, in January the Wash - ington Department of Fish and Wildlife granted Cooke Aquaculture a five-year permit to farm steelhead in its ex - isting facilities. Key to receiving the permit is that it is for steelhead, which will be mostly females and sterile. While the Washington State legislature voted to phase out in its waters as current permits expire, it only targets farming non-native fish. Since steelhead are a native fish, switching to that species may allow fish farms to continue operating in Puget Sound. However, there are still a number of steps Cooke Aquacul - ture needs to complete before it can begin its steelhead farm - ing operation. The company still needs to be granted a water quality permit from the Washington Department of Ecology. And WDFW is requiring a number of conditions that the com - pany must meet. These include allowing net inspections two times each year, developing a fish escape prevention and re - sponse plan, testing for disease and genetic analysis. The North Fork Nehalem was one of the streams on Ore - It will also be required to go through a public review and gon’s North Coast closed to salmon fishing last December comment process that will take a few months. due to a cryptobia outbreak. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch Orca Task Force Releases Second Report Cooke Aquaculture Will Pay $2.75 Million and Conservation Recommendations to Settle 2017 Net Pen Collapse Lawsuit The Southern Resident Orca Task Force released its second and final report and recommendations in November for the Last November, just days before having to go to court to conservation of Puget Sound orcas and Chinook salmon — defend itself against a Clean Water Act Violation lawsuit their primary food source. Some of the recommendations brought by the Wild Fish Conservancy resulting from a col - lapse of one of its Atlantic Salmon net pens in Puget Sound, Continued on next page

22 The Osprey Continued from previous page 10. Reduce populations of nonnative predatory fish species specific to Chinook salmon include: that prey upon or compete with Chinook.

1. Significantly increase investment in restoration and ac - 11. Monitor forage fish populations to inform decisions on quisition of habitat in areas where Chinook stocks most ben - harvest and management actions that provide for sufficient efit Southern Resident orcas. feedstocks to support increased abundance of Chinook.

2. Immediately fund acquisition and restoration of nearshore 12. Support the Puget Sound zooplankton sampling program habitat to increase abundance of forage fish for salmon sus - as a Chinook and forage fish management tool. tenance. The complete report can be found at: 3. Significantly increase hatchery production and programs to benefit Southern resident orcas consistent with sustain - https://www.governor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/OrcaTask - able fisheries and stock management, available habitat re - Force_FinalReportandRecommendations_11.07.19.pdf covery plans and the Endangered Species Act.

4. Prepare an implementation strategy to reestablish salmon umatilla Tribe Breaks Ground on New runs above existing dams, increasing prey availability for Chinook Salmon Spawning Facility Southern Resident orcas.

5. Increase spill to benefit Chinook for Southern Residents In January, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian by adjusting total dissolved gas allowances at the Snake and Reservation broke ground on a new spring Chinook salmon Columbia River dams. spawning facility near Milton-Freewater, Oregon. The facil - ity, which will be located at the existing South Fork Walla 6. Establish a stakeholder process to discuss potential Walla Chinook salmon spawning facility, is intended to re - breaching or removal of the lower Snake River Dams for the store spring Chinook salmon runs to Walla Walla basin benefit of Southern Resident orcas. streams including the South Fork Walla Walla River, Touchet River and Mill Creek, where they have been absent from the 7. Support full implementation and funding of the 2019-2028 basin for about a century. The goal is to return 2,000 spring Pacific Salmon Treaty. Chinook salmon back to the basin by 2025 and perhaps even - tually as many as 5,000 annually. 8. Reduce Chinook bycatch in West Coast commercial fish - The $20 million-plus project is funded through the Bon - eries. neville Power Administration’s hydropower mitigation pro - gram. The incubation and spawning facility is scheduled to 9. Support authorization and other actions to more effec - open in spring 2021. tively manage pinniped predation of salmon in the Columbia River.

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January 2020 • Issue No. 95 23 THE OSPREY

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