Acoustic Tag Monitoring for Napa River Steelhead at the Napa Plant Site

Year One Preliminary Results

Presented to Napa Sonoma Marsh Restoration GroupNovember 17, 2010

Presented by Thomas Keegan, Principal Investigator ECORP Consulting, Inc.

in association withDucks UnlimitedNOAA

Study PartnersDucks UnlimitedNOAA Fisheries UC Davis Biotelemetry LabNapa County Resource Conservation DistrictBrezina and Associates

Study Interests Contribute to the innovative collection of sound, scientifically based information

NOAA Fisheries is a study participant and has indicated that fish distribution data are necessary for our understanding of how these fish species use restored tidal marsh habitatEnable NOAA Fisheries and other regulatory agencies to make well-informed decisions regarding potential impacts that proposed restoration activities and other maritime construction activities, may or may not have on special-status species and habitats

BackgroundOverarching LTMS and UC Davis/NOAA StudyIn 2007, focused on hatchery late fall run Chinook salmon and steelhead (Juvenile Salmonid Outmigration and Distribution Study Design for the San Francisco Estuary)In 2009, green sturgeon added as a target speciesInception of the California Fish Tagging Consortium (CFTC)Extensive receiver array (VEMCO equipment)large influx of tagged fish through systemCentralized databaseMore recently, tagging of wild fish populationssalmonids and green sturgeon

LTMS and UC Davis/NOAA Overarching Study: Initial Receiver Locations

Introduction A Story of PartnershipNOAA, funding through ARRA, requires monitoring of special-status fish species in restored tidal marsh habitat

Ducks Unlimited, as grantee, interested in innovative way to track wild Napa River steelhead, and determine use of habitats

Wild Napa River Steelhead Available from Napa County Resource Conservation District

Study Objectivesto assess the utilization of restored tidal marsh habitats by special-status salmonids and green sturgeon

to determine the regional effectiveness of tidal restoration efforts on these species

to partner with other study investigators (i.e., participate with the CFTC Central Database maintained by the NOAA Santa Cruz Laboratory)

Methods

VEMCO Receiver Deployment10 VR2W receivers installed for NPS Project2 in Napa River (gate) above NPS1 Fagan Slough1 North Unit Breach1 Center Unit Breach (Barge Canal)2 South Unit Breaches1 Dutchman Slough2 below Tennessee Bridge (gate)4 VR2W receivers installed for USAR, Mare Island 2 at Mare Island piers 22 and 232 at San Pablo Dredge Disposal site (SF9)

Receiver Deployment on PiersSchedule 80 PVC deployment bracketAttached to pier pilings with large cable tiesSafety lines through PVC and tied to pier pilingsStudy identification placard

Receiver Deployment Bracket

Acoustic Release Device and Setup for Open-water Receiver Deployment

Acoustic Tag for Testing Signal Reception

Collection of Juvenile Steelhead (actually by NCRCD staff!) for Tag and release with VEMCO V7 Tags

Acoustic Tags in Antiseptic

Implantation of Acoustic Tag into Body Cavity of Juvenile Napa River Steelhead

After Recovery from Surgery, Fish is Released at Point of Capture

Napa River Steelhead collected from the RST and tagged

Fish IDWeight (g)FL (mm)Release TimeRelease DateNWSTH_001281.530514:00:004/8/2010NWSTH_00299.221214:00:004/8/2010NWSTH_00368.319014:25:004/8/2010NWSTH_0044616414:25:004/8/2010NWSTH_005*133.823614:25:004/8/2010NWSTH_00681.320514:25:004/8/2010NWSTH_00767.619314:00:004/8/2010NWSTH_00847.816814:40:004/8/2010NWSTH_00912423310:12:504/20/2010NWSTH_01065.619710:12:504/20/2010NWSTH_01189.820410:12:504/20/2010NWSTH_01253.517310:12:504/20/2010NWSTH_01359.217910:42:004/20/2010NWSTH_01462.618210:42:004/20/2010NWSTH_015103.621310:42:004/20/2010NWSTH_01681.320310:42:004/20/2010NWSTH_01779.820011:10:004/20/2010NWSTH_01886.820611:10:004/20/2010NWSTH_0195417311:10:004/20/2010NWSTH_02067.518411:10:004/20/2010NWSTH_021*96.2208N/A5/7/2010

Preliminary NPS Project Results

Tracked 14 of 20 tagged fish through Napa River, into and through SF BayOff-channel habitat usage documentedTracked 10 Napa River steelhead (50%) through GG Bridge arrayTracked 6 of those fish on Pt. Reyes Array Numerous tag IDs from Sacto River/Delta release (CFTC) documented in vicinity of NPS; including CV steelhead, Chinook salmon, and green sturgeon

Napa Plant Site Project Receiver Locations

Mare Island and SF9 LocationsPier 22 & 23SF9 Dredge Material Placement Area

Tracking of Napa River Steelhead through Project Area

Fish IDRelease Date Upper Napa 1 & 2Fagan Slough 3North Unit 4Central Unit 5South Unit 6 & 7Dutchman Slough 8Tennessee Bridge 9 & 10 Mare Island 22 & 23San Pablo SF9Golden Gate ArrayPt. Reyes ArraySmall (70g and 200mm)NWSTH_0014/8/20104/11-124/184/15-164/15-184/18NWSTH_0024/8/20104/11-124/144/134/13-145/5NWSTH_0064/8/20104/12-134/134/134/134/13NWSTH_0094/20/20104/23-244/244/254/265/8NWSTH_0114/20/20104/244/264/264/28NWSTH_0154/20/20104/24-254/26NWSTH_0164/20/20104/22-234/244/245/2NWSTH_0174/20/20104/22-23-24 4/244/254/27Add'tl Tagged Fish (LTMS)103200920nana nana

Travel Days from Date of Release through Project Area

Fish IDRelease DateUpper Napa 1 & 2Fagan Slough 3North Unit 4Central Unit 5South Unit 6 & 7Dutchman Slough 8Tennessee Bridge 9 & 10 Mare Island 22 & 23San Pablo SF9Golden Gate ArrayPt. Reyes ArraySmall (70g and 200mm)NWSTH_0014/8/20103107710NWSTH_0024/8/2010365527NWSTH_0064/8/201045555NWSTH_0094/20/2010345718NWSTH_0114/20/20104668NWSTH_0154/20/201046NWSTH_0164/20/201024412NWSTH_0174/20/20102 457

Emigration and Habitat UseRate of Emigration can affect utilization of tidal marsh habitats by fish, and is largely affected by:Volume of Napa River outflow (storm events)Tidal regime (large vs. small fluctuations)Size at emigrationMaturity of tidal marsh habitatTo the extent possible, we will take into account the above factors in planning our tagging and release strategy during the next two years of the study.

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