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Chinook Salmon Yukon River Mainstem Outplant Program Spawning Success Evaluation

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Chinook Salmon Yukon River Mainstem Outplant Program Spawning Success Evaluation CHINOOK SALMON YUKON RIVER MAINSTEM OUTPLANT PROGRAM SPAWNING SUCCESS EVALUATION PROJECT: CRE-16-15 January-26-2016 Prepared for: Pacific Salmon Commission # 3 Calcite Business Centre, 151 Industrial Road Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 2V3 Phone (867) 668-6463 Fax (867) 667-6680 www.alexcoenv.com January 26, 2016 Pacific Salmon Commission 600-1155 Robson Street Vancouver, B.C. V6E 1B5 Dear Sir/Madam, Regarding: CRE-16-15 Chinook Salmon Yukon River Mainstem Outplant Program Spawning Success Evaluation On behalf of Alexco Environmental Group I would like to thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this technical report. Should you have any questions regarding this document, or if you require further information, please contact the undersigned at Alexco Environmental Group in Whitehorse, Yukon, at (867) 668-6363 extension 227. Sincerely, Alexco Environmental Group Andrew MacPhail Environmental Scientist PACIFIC SALMON COMISSION CHINOOK SALMON YUKON RIVER MAINSTEM OUTPLANT PROGRAM SPAWNING SUCCESS EVALUATION CRE-16-15 PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION JANUARY 2016 ALEXCO ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP SIGNATURES Report prepared by: Andrew MacPhail, B.Sc., BIT Environmental Scientist Report reviewed by: David Petkovich, B.Sc., P. Biol. Fisheries Specialist PACIFIC SALMON COMISSION I CHINOOK SALMON YUKON RIVER MAINSTEM OUTPLANT PROGRAM SPAWNING SUCCESS EVALUATION CRE-16-15 PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION JANUARY 2016 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With funding support from the Restoration and Enhancement Fund, Alexco Environmental Group (AEG) conducted surveys in the spring, summer, and fall of 2015 to determine chinook salmon spawning success from the hatchery juveniles outplanted into the mainstem of the Yukon River near Whitehorse, Yukon. The investigation in 2015 represents a second year of similar sampling that was initiated in 2014. Field studies in 2015 began in May and included minnow trapping upstream and downstream of the outplant location, electrofishing upstream and downstream of the outplant location, and habitat characterization. Due to its close proximity to the outplant location and its known value as chinook salmon habitat, trapping and habitat characterization also occurred on Wolf Creek. Wolf Creek is also a location where hatchery reared chinook salmon are outplanted on an annual basis. In August 2015, an aerial reconnaissance was conducted via helicopter to survey for spawning salmon in the area of the outplant location, as well as upstream and downstream of this site. During the survey in May 2015, five emergent (0+) juvenile chinook salmon (JCS) were captured in the Yukon River. No 1+ JCS were captured in the Yukon River but 12 were captured in Wolf Creek. One additional JCS was captured in Wolf creek but due to its fork-length (46 mm) it is not certain if it was a 0+ or 1+ individual. A recent study on the system involving temperature profiling by Etherton (2013) seems to suggest this may have been a stunted 1+ fish. Three of the five captured emergent salmon were captured in the Yukon River upstream of the confluence with Wolf Creek and the outplant location. No spawning salmon or carcasses were observed in the study area during aerial reconnaissance, although spawning salmon were observed on the same date outside of the study area adjacent to Robert Service Way road located in downtown Whitehorse, Yukon. The other two emergent fry were captured at the mouth of Wolf creek suggesting they may have originated from that system although they too may have been swept down from spawning sites further upstream. No suitable spawning habitat was observed during aerial reconnaissance surveys in 2014 and 2015 and during a float survey conducted in 2014 although visibility limited viewing bottom substrate in deeper waters. The low Catch-Per-Unit-Effort (CPUE) of emergent chinook fry during fisheries investigations in 2014 and 2015 indicate that chinook salmon spawning is likely not occurring in the mainstem of the Yukon River in the vicinity of the outplant location or if it is only at a very low level. Outplanting of chinook fry at the location investigated in this study has occurring for over a decade. Due to the lack of evidence of its success to establish a significant viable spawning group of chinook salmon and due to the apparent lack of suitable spawning habitat it is recommended that outplanting at this site be discontinued. Future studies should include surveying for spawning sites between the study area and Marsh Lake. PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION 2 CHINOOK SALMON YUKON RIVER MAINSTEM OUTPLANT PROGRAM SPAWNING SUCCESS EVALUATION CRE-16-15 PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION JANUARY 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE OF WORK .................................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 SCOPE OF WORK .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 2 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 FISHERIES INVESTIGATION ............................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 AERIAL SURVEY ............................................................................................................................................................ 9 3 RESULTS 12 3.1 HIGHLIGHT OF 2014 RESULTS ....................................................................................................................................... 12 3.2 2015 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................................... 12 WOLF CREEK .......................................................................................................................................................... 12 YUKON RIVER .......................................................................................................................................................... 13 AERIAL SURVEY ....................................................................................................................................................... 16 SNORKEL SURVEY ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 4 FISH HABITAT ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................................. 17 4.1 WOLF CREEK ............................................................................................................................................................. 17 4.2 YUKON RIVER ............................................................................................................................................................. 17 5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................................................. 18 6 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................................................... 19 7 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................................. 20 8 LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 21 PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION 3 CHINOOK SALMON YUKON RIVER MAINSTEM OUTPLANT PROGRAM SPAWNING SUCCESS EVALUATION CRE-16-15 PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION JANUARY 2016 LIST OF TABLES Table 3-1: Wolf Creek Fish Trapping Results 2015. .................................................................................................... 12 Table 3-2: Summary Statistics for Wolf Creek. ........................................................................................................... 13 Table 3-3: Yukon River Mainstem Fish Trapping Results, May 2015. ......................................................................... 13 Table 3-4: Yukon River Electrofishing Settings and Results, May 2015. ..................................................................... 15 Table 3-5: Summary Statistics for Yukon River Mainstem Fish Sampling Program, May 2015. .................................. 16 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1: General Project Location Map .................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 1-2: Release Site Locations ................................................................................................................................ 8 Figure 2-1: Trapping and Electrofishing Locations ...................................................................................................... 10 Figure 2-2: Aerial Survey ............................................................................................................................................. 11 LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A PHOTOLOG PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION 4 CHINOOK
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