Upper Basin Pallid Sturgeon Workgroup Annual Report for Work Completed in 2018 Photo by Sam Stukel This report documents the work of the Upper Missouri River Basin Pallid Sturgeon Workgroup (Workgroup) during 2018. The report consists of minutes of the annual meeting of the Workgroup Governing Board, minutes of the annual Workgroup meeting held in Billings in March 2018, updates of on-going work and reports completed by members of the Workgroup and other contractors. In order to limit the size of this document, where available, executive summaries of project reports are used rather than entire reports. Also, where reports included large numbers of tables or multiple appendices, much of this data is not included in this report. Users of this Annual Report are encouraged to contact researchers, principal investigators or project leaders for more detailed information. The Governing Board of the Workgroup during this period consisted of the following individuals. Their work affiliation and the focus areas they represent are indicated. Zach Shattuck, Chair, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Luke Holmquist, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, RPMA 1 Mat Rugg, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, RPMA 2 Landon Pierce, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, RPMA 3 Tyler Haddix, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Habitat Pat Bratten, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Research Rob Holm, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Propagation Vacant, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Funding* Ken Staigmiller, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Fish Health Kevin Kappenman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Stocking and Tagging *The Governing Board decided to have Ryan Wilson occupy the vacant position on the Governing Board beginning in 2017. TABLE OF CONTENTS Annual Governing Board meeting minutes – September 5-6, 2018 ............................................... 1 Annual Workgroup meeting minutes – March 6-8, 2018 ............................................................... 9 Native Endangered Species Recovery (Pallid Sturgeon) RPMA 1 2018 ........................................ 20 Upper Missouri River Pallid Sturgeon Tagging and Telemetry Study II ........................................ 37 2018 Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment and Associated Fish Community Monitoring for the Missouri River: Segment 2 ...................................................................................................... 51 2018 Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment and Associated Fish Community Monitoring for the Missouri River: Segment 3 ............................................................................................................ 54 2018 Field-based Biotic Assessments of Migration and Spawning – Upper Missouri River and Milk River ...................................................................................................................................... 57 2018 Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment and Associated Fish Community Monitoring for the Missouri River: Segment 4 ............................................................................................................ 59 Examination of Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus Albus) Larval Drift, Development, And Swimming Abilities ................................................................................................................ 61 Density of Pallid Sturgeon and Food Web Dynamics in the Missouri River: Inferences Regarding Carrying Capacity and Density-Dependent Response of Pallid Sturgeon to the Contemporary Stocking Protocol ................................................................................................ 102 Genotypic Analyses and Parental Identifications of Juvenile and Sub-adult Pallid Sturgeon in the Missouri River ....................................................................................................................... 187 Gavins Point NFH) ....................................................................................................................... 199 Garrison Dam NFH ...................................................................................................................... 200 Steroid analysis ........................................................................................................................... 219 DRAFT Pallid Sturgeon Migration and Spawning in the Yellowstone River, 2018 ...................... 222 Meeting Notes from the UBPSWG Governing Board Meeting September 5-6, 2018 Billings, MT The following are the notes from the September, 2018, meeting of the Upper Basin Pallid Sturgeon Recovery Workgroup Governing Board. A summary of the action items assigned during the meeting appears at the end of the meeting notes. Zach Shattuck, Rob Holm, Ryan Wilson, Mat Rugg, Bill Rice, Luke Holmquist, Alyssa Fellow, Matt Marsh, Ken Staigmiller, Landon Pierce, Wayne Nelson-Stastny, Yvette Converse, Kevin Kappenman, Tyler Haddix, Pat Braaten and Bob Snyder were present at the meeting. Attending by phone was Brian Marotz. Wednesday, September 5 Opening Comments Zach opened the meeting thanking WAPA for its support. Mat Marsh requested that WAPA contractors submit their invoices in a timely manner, include as much project detail as possible, and provide annual reports. Wayne and Landon – MRRP process The MRRP flow chart was discussed. The Middle Basin submitted seven issue papers for transmittal to the fall Fish Team meeting. Four will move forward. There were no issue papers from the Lower Basin. Zach is currently finalizing Upper Basin issue papers. Zach commented that we need to better understand the Effects Analysis process and timeline. Prior to the fall Fish Science there will be a webinar and data-dump along with preliminary discussions on October 31-November 1. The Fish Science meeting will be on November 27 in conjunction with the fall MRRIC plenary meeting November 26-29. Joe Bonneau would like the information for the fall Fish Science meeting by mid-September. The flow for the fall Fish Science process is; Workgroup collection of issues and new information Fall webinar Fall Fish Science meeting Adaptive management meeting (March) 1 It was asked how others, besides USGS can bid on proposed projects. Zach and Brian presented the Upper Basin issue papers: Warmwater restoration below Ft. Peck Dam and selective withdrawal at Ft. Peck Dam. Survival of larvae drifting through Intake Dam at various flows. Larval drift duration, area of intersection, and habitat change at various Missouri River discharges. Wayne – Recovery Implementation Planning The USFWS has begun its Species Status Assessment process. It will include breaking down recovery strategies into actions. Partnerships are key to move forward. There is currently no timeline for completion of the process. Landon – RPMA 3 Stocking and leakage of fish downstream USFWS has asked the Middle Basin for guidance in stocking and organization of RPMA 3 (put in Middle Basin?). The Upper Basin’s role for RPMA 3 needs further discussion. RPMA 3 update The USACE has decided that population assessment in RPMA 3 will only occur every five years. 2019 will be the first year and consist of two days of trammel netting and two days of trotlining. USACE will do monitoring. Fish growth of later age classes is lower than earlier-stocked age classes. Action item – Landon suggests the Workgroup discusses growth rates observed and prepare an issue paper. Zach – Current events The Governing Board unanimously approved that Zach remain the Workgroup Chair. Action item – Zach will send out the latest draft of the operating procedures to the Governing Board and will collect the last round of comments. The Governing Board will vote on the final approval later this year. 2 Alyssa (WAPA’s funding agency representative) and Luke (RPMA 1 representative) were approved as members of the Governing Board. USACE and Bureau Reclamation signed the Workgroup MOU. Jodi Sunstedt (with WAPA) will work to get them to sign. Funding for the Workgroup Facilitator will run out at the end of the current contract (March 2019). The Upper Basin Workgroup will request through Don Skaar that MRNRC seek funding to continue the Workgroup Facilitator contract. Action item – Zach will find out remaining balance in MRNRC account for the facilitator contract. Final carrying capacity report should be done late September. Final approval of these reports by the Workgroup is needed for researchers to remain in good standing with the Workgroup. Action item – Zach will seek and assemble comments on the MSU carrying capacity reports. Action items - Bob needs to bring “goodies” to these meetings. Thursday, September 6 Luke – RPMA 1 update Luke started working for MTFWP in July. This year’s high flows caused no settling to occur, which is usually provides half of the Pallid Sturgeon sampled. Six reproductive Pallid Sturgeon moved into the Marias. At least some of the females went atretic. Luke is waiting for histology results to determine if a female spawned. Two females that were in their second reproductive cycle went atretic. There are eight wild Pallid Sturgeon that are telemetered in RPMA 1. Kevin – New tags needed There is a need for tag that detects the rapid movement that takes place during spawning to confirm spawning occurred. Bettel has developed such tags for other species. A letter of support from the Workgroup to Bettel would encourage them to develop a tag appropriate for Pallid Sturgeon. Action item – Zach will draft a letter to Bettel to encourage development of a tag that identifies spawning behavior. 3 Mat,