Lake Koocanusa and Kootenai River Basin Bull Trout Monitoring Report

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Lake Koocanusa and Kootenai River Basin Bull Trout Monitoring Report LAKE KOOCANUSA AND KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN BULL TROUT MONITORING REPORT Prepared by: Mike Hensler Jim Dunnigan Neil Benson DJ Report No Element SBAS Project No. 3140 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY………………………………………………………………………..iii LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………..…...iv LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………….…...vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………………vii INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………..……1 DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA..……………………………..…..……………….…….…....2 Kootenai River Drainage………………………….…….………………………………………….2 Libby Dam and Lake Koocanusa……………………………………………………….……4 Fish Species………………………………………………………………………………….5 STREAM ELECTROFISHING/JUVENILE BULL TROUT ABUNDANCE ESTIMATES………………………………………………………………………………..………6 Grave Creek………………………………………………………………………………….9 West Fork Quartz Creek……………………………………………………………………10 Pipe Creek………………………………………………………………………………….11 West Fisher Creek………………………………………………………………………….11 Bear Creek………………………………………………………………………………….12 O’Brien Creek……………………………………………………………………..…………13 Keeler Creek………………………………………………………………………………..14 Callahan Creek……………………………………………………………………………..15 Keeler Creek………………………………………………………………………………..15 STREAMBED CORING…………………………………………………………………………….16 Findings….………………………………………………………………………………..19 SUBSTRATE SCORING……………………………………………………………………………20 Findings….………………………………………………………………………………..22 i BULL TROUT REDD COUNTS…………………………………………………………………..23 Grave Creek……………………………………………………………………………….25 Wigwam Drainage……………………………………………………………….………...27 Quartz Creek……………………………………………………………………….………28 Pipe Creek………………………………………………………………………….……….29 Bear Creek…………………………………………………….……………………………30 O’Brien Creek………………………………………………….…………………………..31 West Fisher Creek…………………………………………….…………………………....32 Keeler Creek…………………………………………………….………………………….33 KOOTENAI RIVER ADULT BULL TROUT POPULATION ESTIMATE..……………………34 Findings……………….………………………………………..…………………………35 LAKE KOOCANUSA GILLNET MONITORING…………………………………………..…….38 Bull Trout………………………………………………………………..………………….39 Kokanee……………………………………………………………………………………..42 LITERATURE CITED………………………………………………………………..…………..44 ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY We conducted juvenile bull trout population estimates within reference reaches on index creeks. O’Brien Creek and West Fisher Creek have decreased dramatically since survey began. Substrate scores and substrate coring data are presented. Bull trout redd counts in Grave Creek and the Wigwam River have significantly increased since 1995. However, bull trout redds in Grave Creek in 2004 were lower (48%) than the previous year. Bull trout redd counts in tributaries downstream of Libby Dam including Quartz, Pipe, Bear, and O’Brien creeks, and the West Fisher River have been variable over the past several years, and have not increased in proportion to bull trout redd counts upstream of Libby Dam in recent years. MFWP conducted four adult bull trout population estimates below Libby Dam during the period April 2004 to April 2005. The four population estimates ranged from 906 – 1,068 adult fish. One estimate was made in August 2004, when mature bull trout would be expected to be in spawning tributaries. We recaptured 14 bull trout in April 2005 that were individually marked approximately one year earlier, which enabled us to calculate growth rates over the period. On average the bull trout grew 86.4 mm (total length) and gained 2,093.9 g. We continued monitoring fish populations within the reservoir using spring and fall gill netting and present the results for bull trout and kokanee. The spring gill net catch of bull trout significantly increased since 1990. We attempted to account for differing reservoir levels during the gillnetting activities between years by multiplying the mean bull trout catch per net by reservoir volume at the time the nets were fished each year. This adjustment substantially improved the regression model’s fit to the data in previous years, but did not improve the fit with the addition of the 2004 data. Bull trout redd counts in both the Wigwam River and Grave Creek are both significantly and positively correlated to the spring gill net catch rates for bull trout adjusted for reservoir elevation. The average fall catch, length and weight of kokanee was lower for the fifth straight year than the 17-year average. iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Morphometric data presented for Lake Koocanusa…………………………….………4 Table 2. Current relative abundance (A=abundant, C=common, R=rare, N = Not Found) and abundance trend from1975 to 2002 (I=increasing, S = stable, D = decreasing, U = unknown) of fish species present in Lake Koocanusa and the Kootenai River drainage…………………………………………..………………………...…………..5 Table 3. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of Grave Creek, 1997 - 2005…………………..9 Table 4. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of West Fork Quartz Creek, 1997 - 2005…….10 Table 5. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of Pipe Creek, 1999 - 2005…………………..11 Table 6. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of West Fisher Creek, 2005………………….11 Table 7. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of Bear Creek, 1999 - 2005…………………..12 Table 8. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of O’Brien Creek, 1998 - 2005……………....13 Table 9. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of Keeler Creek, 1998 - 2005…………..…...14 Table 10. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of iv first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of Callahan Creek, 2003 – 2005…….….…..15 Table 11. Population estimates (N), 95 percent confidence intervals (95% C.I.), probability of first pass capture (p) and densities for Age 1 and older bull trout calculated from electrofishing in the permanent section of Libby Creek, 2003 and 2005……..….…..15 Table 12. Mesh size of sieves used to gravimetrically analyze hollow core streambed substrate samples collected from Kootenai River basin tributaries………………………….....18 Table 13. Median percentage of streambed material smaller than 6.35 mm in McNeil core samples collected from bull trout spawning areas in tributary streams to the Kootenai River basin, 1994 – 2004…………………………………………………....….…….19 Table 14. Characteristics and ranks for computing substrate scores (modified by Leathe and Enk 1985 from Crouse et al. 1981)………………………..……………….…..……..21 Table 15. Summary of Kootenai Drainage substrate scores the stream sections monitored at juvenile population estimate sites in Kootenai River basin stream, 1998 – 2005……………………………………………..………………….……...…22 Table 16. Summary of Kootenai Drainage bull trout spawning site inventories from 1993 - 2004 in the stream sections monitored annually……………………………....26 Table 17. The sampling dates for adult bull trout marked, recaptured, and the estimated total population and fish per mile in the Kootenai River from Libby Dam downstream to the Fisher River confluence. The 95 percent confidence intervals are in parentheses……….………………………………..……………..………........35 Table 18. Recapture summary information for bull trout recaptured below Libby Dam on April 20 and 21, 2005. Information includes the date each fish was originally captured, recaptured, and length and weight for each encounter…………………….....36 Table 19. Spring sinking gill net summary of bull trout catch per net in Lake Koocanusa 1975 - 2002..…………………….………………………………………...……...…….39 Table 20. Average length and weight of kokanee salmon captured in fall floating gillnets (Tenmile and Rexford) in Lake Koocanusa, 1988 – 2004……………………...…….43 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Kootenai River Basin (Montana, Idaho and British Columbia, Canada)……………..3 Figure 2. Bull trout redd counts, and trend analysis for Grave Creek, 1993 through 2004……....25 Figure 3. Bull trout redd counts and trend analysis for the Wigwam River (including Bighorn, Desolation and Lodgepole Creeks) 1995 – 2004……………………………………….27 Figure 4. Bull trout redd counts and trend analysis for Quartz Creek (including West Fork Quartz) 1990-2004.……………………….……………….....……………28 Figure 5. Bull trout redd counts and trend analysis for Pipe Creek 1990- 2004.……….…….…29 Figure 6. Bull trout redd counts and trend analysis for Bear Creek, a tributary to Libby Creek, 1995-2004. The mean number of bull trout redds was 15.1……....…..30 Figure 7. Bull trout redd counts and trend line for O’Brien Creek 1991- 2004….….…...…..…31 Figure 8. Bull trout redd counts in West Fisher
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