Looking for Pieces of the Puzzle:LIFE HISTORY OF SPRING CHINOOK IN THE

WILLAMETTE BASIN

Kirk Schroeder

Brian Cannon

Luke Whitman

Paul Olmsted

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Corvallis Research Lab

Primary funding from US Fish & Wildlife Service (Sport Fish Restoration)

Additional support from US Army Corps of Engineers

Will

amet

te R

iver

Columbia River

South Santiam River

North Santiam River

McKenzie River

Middle Fork Willamette River

Eugene

Corvallis

Salem

Portland

70% of Oregonians

live within 20 mi of

Willamette

Flows through

several large cities

Dams block access to

upper reaches of Spring Chinook

rivers

Perception = Willamette as Migration Corridor

Strategy = Flushing Flows (volume of water at peak migration for single life history)

“Spring chinook salmon are native to the Willamette River, with the mainstem river primarily a migration corridor for adults and smolts.” BPA Provincial Project Review, 2003

“…for salmon and steelhead recovery. The criteria are increased flows in the [Willamette] river…[for] downstream migration of juvenile steelhead during April and May and upstream migration of adult Chinook salmon in June.”

Willamette Basin Reservoir Study, 1999

Conceptual Model

Spawning Area

Willamette River

Reservoir releases

Columbia River

Willamette River & Columbia Estuary =

Bad Neighborhoods

Underlying Assumption

Willamette River and Juvenile Spring Chinook Salmon

Example: Restore habitat complexity, connectivity for fish

* spatial (lateral, longitudinal)

* temporal (seasonal, flood cycles)

* biological (diverse life histories & species)

Alternative Perception = River is dynamic (spatial & temporal) and provides important rearing habitat

Juvenile life history

Alternative Strategies

Linkages between fish & habitat

Willamette = Migration Corridor Strategy = Target Flows (for smolts)

Fish

River

Changing the Perception

APPROACH

• JUVENILE LIFE HISTORIES• MIGRATION TIMING• HABITAT USE OF WILLAMETTE

• STUDY TOOLS– PIT TAGS– DETECTION (MIGRATION & GROWTH)

• In-river Recaptures • PGE Sullivan Plant Willamette Falls• Lower Columbia Trawl

– TRAPS– SEINING– FIELD OBSERVATIONS

Spawning DistributionAbove Leaburg Dam = 84% of redds (2005-09)

McKenzie River as Template for Juvenile Chinook Migration

32% wild67% wild

91% wild

Migration Timing Past Leaburg Dam Using Bypass Trap

Catch of Wild Spring Chinook in the Leaburg Bypass TrapMigration from Spawning Areas

Seine Downriver & Tag late Spring & Summer

Tag & Release

0

1000

2000

3000

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Fry

Ca

tch

0

100

200

300

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Fry

Ca

tch

0

100

200

300

400

500

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Fry

Ca

tch

FRY MIGRATION from MCKENZIE RIVER

1999-2001

56 km

89 km

Spring and Summer Rearing & Migration

Lower McKenzie Willamette Santiam

Fry too small to tag when migrating in first winter

Seine downstream of spawning areas after fry have grown

Outmigration timing: PIT tag & Detect at Willamette Falls and Lower Columbia trawl

Willamette Falls Locks

PGE Sullivan Hydroelectric

Plant

Fish Bypass with PIT tag interrogators

Willamette Falls at Oregon City

Changing Infrastructure• Antenna System• Bypass System• Fish Guidance over

Falls

Detection ChallengesChanging Flow & Proportion of Fish to Plant

Detection (Expansion) Factors

Turbine 13 Bypass +

North Full Flow Bypass

• Large antenna 2007

1. Operational Time (%) - recorded

Downtime during high debris periods

Turbine 13 Bypass

• Single antenna, screened evaluator 1999 – 2005

• Second antenna, within bypass route 2005

2. Fish Guidance Efficiency to

Bypass Route - tested

3. Antenna Efficiency - tested

Flow Control (Notch) Guide Fish to Apex of Falls

at lower flows

4. FLOW - estimated

Detection Factors

Detections Expanded by Proportion of Flow through Sullivan (about 6,000 cfs to Plant regardless of river flow)

Developing additional flow factors through PIT releases above Falls at various flows

Emigration of Juvenile Spring Chinook past Willamette FallsTagged as Subyearlings in Lower McKenzie & Upper Willamette

Detected at Willamette Falls (years with > 30 detections)

Subyearlings tagged in mid Willamette (downstream of Santiam confluence)

Subyearlings tagged in Santiam Basin

Detection of Spring Chinook Migrants Tagged at Leaburg Trap

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Pa

ssa

ge

tim

ing

Fry (Leaburg)

Subyearlings

Fall migrants

Spring migrants

Generalized Migration of Juvenile Spring Chinook

Relative seasonal use of Willamette River

Leaburg Dam

past Willamette Falls

Juvenile Chinook Growth – Willamette River Spring & Summer Rearing

Spring–Summer Migration of Juvenile Willamette Spring Chinook Catch in Lower Columbia Trawl (Km 61 - 83) Apr – Jun, limited sampling into July

Recaptures expanded by efficiency of Trawl sampler estimated from detections at Sullivan Plant and Trawl

Juvenile Chinook Life Histories

Willamette Winter-Spring

Lower Willamette

Columbia

Ocean

Willamette Spring-Summer

Willamette Winter

Fall Migrants(Oct-Dec)

Spring Migrants(Feb-Apr)

Nov-Dec

From spawning

areas

? unknown timing

documented

hypothesized or unknown

Jun-Jul

(Aug)

May-Jun Willamette

Summer

Parr Migrants

Fry Migrants(Jan-May)

Willamette Spring

Feb- May

May-Jul ? ?

Mar- Jun

Apr- May Apr- Jun

Sep-Dec

? Mar-May

Feb-Apr

Age 0 (Subyearling) Life History in Wild Adult Spring Chinookby brood year (hatchery fish all adipose-clipped & otolith marked)

Life History Diversity Matters – Different Life Histories Contribute

Provides Resilience to Populations

Colder ColderColder Warmer Warmer

Antennas in Willamette Falls FishwayLimited Data to Date

One Lesson Learned: ALWAYS CHECK THOSE BOLTS!!!

Acknowledgements

ODFWBob Lindsay, Project Leader (retired)Ken Kenaston, Project Asst (retired)Region, District, Hatchery staffMany hard-working seasonal employees

PSMFCDave MarvinJohn Tenney

PGETim ShibaharaDan Domina (former)

Eugene Water & Electric Board