Adult Salmonid Monitoring on the Grays River Through the Use of an Instream Weir
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STATE OF WASHINGTON November 2018 Monitoring of Grays River Fall Chinook Salmon using an Instream Weir, 2008-2010 by Jeremy Wilson, Bryce Glaser, Dan Rawding, and Thomas Buehrens Photo credit: Monitoring of Grays River Fall Chinook Salmon using an Instream Weir, 2008-2010 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 5525 S 11th Street, Ridgefield, WA 98642 Jeremy Wilson Region 5 Fish Management Bryce Glaser Region 5 Fish Management Dan Rawding Fish Science Division Thomas Buehrens Fish Science Division November 2018 Page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following people who assisted with this project and made it a success. The fieldwork conducted by Greg Queener, Jeff VanDusen, Pete Riley, Talbert Looking Elk, Kellie Brennan, Scott Breslin, Bryce Kilponen, and Claire Landry was exceptional and allowed for project goals to be achieved. The WDFW construction shop, Mike Queener, Todd Hillson, and Josh Holowatz assisted with installation and removal of the weir. The Grays River Hatchery and staff provided tools, shop space, and valuable craftsmanship to the weir design. Pat Frazier, Pat Hulett, and Todd Hillson provided project oversight. Pat Hulett, Elise Olk, and Todd Hillson for providing comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper. Jon Sneva and Lance Campbell conducted all scale analyses. The WDFW coded wire tag recovery lab dug all snouts, verified coded wire tag codes, and uploaded the results to the statewide database. Steve VanderPloeg provided extensive GIS assistance. A special thanks to The Wahkiakum Community Foundation and the Sorenson family who provided river access through their properties. Funding was provided by Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) in 2008 and Mitchell Act Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reform (MA MER) in 2009 and 2010. Recommended citation: Wilson, J. B. Glaser, D. Rawding, and T. Buehrens. 2018. Monitoring of Grays River Fall Chinook Salmon using an Instream Weir, 2008-2010. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ridgefield, Washington. i Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ ii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 1 Forward ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Lower Columbia River Chinook Salmon ESU .......................................................................... 4 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Study Site ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 9 Fish Capture ............................................................................................................................... 9 Weir Operation and Sampling Protocols.................................................................................. 10 Spawning Ground Surveys ....................................................................................................... 11 Monitoring Design ............................................................................................................ 12 Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 13 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 14 Spawner Abundance Estimation ....................................................................................... 15 Peak Count Expansion Factor Estimator .......................................................................... 17 Proportion Marked, Timing, Spatial Structure, and other VSP parameters...................... 17 Weir Effectiveness ............................................................................................................ 18 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 19 Weir Installation/Removal ....................................................................................................... 19 Weir Operation and Sampling .................................................................................................. 21 Spawning Ground Surveys ....................................................................................................... 24 Model Convergence and Diagnostics ............................................................................... 24 Assumption Testing of Spawner Abundance Estimates ................................................... 24 Spawner Abundance Estimates ......................................................................................... 25 Peak Count Expansion Factor Estimator .......................................................................... 26 Proportion Marked, Timing, Spatial Structure, and other VSP parameters...................... 27 ii Weir Effectiveness ................................................................................................................... 31 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 35 Weir Operation and Sampling .................................................................................................. 35 Weir Effects ...................................................................................................................... 35 Spawning Ground Surveys ....................................................................................................... 38 2008-2010 Chinook Salmon Estimates ............................................................................. 38 Peak Count Expansion Factor Estimator .......................................................................... 39 Proportion Marked, Timing, Spatial Structure, and other VSP parameters...................... 39 Weir Effectiveness ................................................................................................................... 41 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 46 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................. 49 Appendix A: Grays River Weir Chinook Biodata ........................................................................ 55 iii List of Tables Table 1. Tule fall Chinook salmon mass marking implementation schedule. ............................... 7 Table 2. Sampling protocols by species and origin at the Grays River Weir, 2008-2010. .......... 11 Table 3. Summary statistics used in the mark-recapture binomial Lincoln-Petersen model. ...... 15 Table 4. The fundamental parameters and likelihoods for the binomial Lincoln-Petersen model. ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 Table 5. Summary statistics used in a double tagging experiment to estimate tag loss. ............. 15 Table 6. Fundamental and derived parameters in a double tagging experiment to estimate tag loss ................................................................................................................................................ 15 Table 7. Summary statistics used to estimate spawners above weirs. .......................................... 16 Table 8. Likelihoods and derived parameters to estimate spawner abundance above weirs. ....... 16 Table 9. Summary statistics used from spawning ground surveys. .............................................. 17 Table 10. Derived parameters for spawning ground abundance methods. .................................. 17 Table 11. Derived parameters for peak count expansion factor. ................................................. 17 Table 12. Summary statistics and derived parameters from spawning ground surveys to estimate proportions. ................................................................................................................................... 18 Table 13. The likelihoods for sex, origin, and age proportions. .................................................. 18 Table 14. Summary statistics and derived parameters used for weir effectiveness. .................... 19 Table 15. Derived parameters for weir effectiveness. ................................................................. 19 Table 16. Numbers of salmonids handled at the Grays River Weir by mark type and disposition, 2008-2010. ...................................................................................................................................