DISTRIBUTION OF ADFLUVIAL BULL TROUT PRODUCTION IN TRIBUTARIES OF THE ARROW LAKES RESERVOIR AND THE FEASIBILTY OF MONITORING JUVENILE AND ADULT ABUNDANCE Scott Decker1 and John Hagen2 Prepared for: Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, Nelson, BC BC Hydro and Power Authority, Columbia Basin Generation, Castlegar, BC June, 2007 ________________________________________________________________ 1 1034 Fraser Street, Kamloops, BC, V2C 3H7;
[email protected] 2 1663 5th Avenue, Prince George, BC, V2L 3M2;
[email protected] ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (CBFWCP) and BC Hydro Columbia Basin Generation are interested in developing a program to monitor adfluvial bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) populations in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir (ALR) in response to reservoir fertilization and other compensation initiatives. As a first step towards this goal, better information is needed about which tributaries support adfluvial bull trout populations in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir (ALR), and the relative contribution of these tributaries to reservoir recruitment. Over a three-year period from 2004-2006 we evaluated night snorkeler counts and redd surveys as tools for monitoring the abundance of juvenile and adult bull trout, respectively, in ALR tributaries, and attempted to identify tributary reaches in the ALR that contributed significantly to overall production. We also included rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in our evaluation of snorkeler counts, and as part of our distribution and abundance study. Mark-recapture data indicated that nighttime snorkeler counts, when calibrated, can provide accurate and reasonably precise estimates of bull trout and rainbow trout parr abundance in non-glacial tributaries. Snorkeling efficiency was relatively high for both bull trout (q = 49%; 95% confidence interval = 40%-57%) and rainbow trout (q = 72%; 95% CI = 61%-83%).