This project monitors ecosystem response to dam removals on the Elwha River, Washington State. The Elwha Dam removal project is the largest project of its kind in the world and is the largest restorative action that has taken place in any Western U.S. Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). Ecosystem response includes changes to aquatic habitat, the food web, and all aspects of the viable salmon parameters of listed and non-listed salmonid species. The project is based on the development and implementation of the Elwha Monitoring and Adaptive Management Guidelines (EMAM), which was developed as a collaborative effort between the Watershed Program at the NWFSC, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT), the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and the National Park Service (NPS). We employ a variety of metrics to efficiently monitor ecosystem condition over space and time. This project will provide data to assess changes for the listed Elwha River populations (Chinook salmon and steelhead), and help determine whether those populations are improving, static, or declining. Such analyses are crucial to help inform future large-scale dam removals for multiple ESUs across the Western U.S. All relevant biological data.

This project monitors ecosystem response to dam removals on the Elwha River, Washington State. The Elwha Dam removal project is the largest project of its kind in the world and is the largest restorative action that has taken place in any Western U.S. Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). Ecosystem response includes changes to aquatic habitat, the food web, and all aspects of the viable salmon parameters of listed and non-listed salmonid species. The project is based on the development and implementation of the Elwha Monitoring and Adaptive Management Guidelines (EMAM), which was developed as a collaborative effort between the Watershed Program at the NWFSC, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT), the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and the National Park Service (NPS). We employ a variety of metrics to efficiently monitor ecosystem condition over space and time. This project will provide data to assess changes for the listed Elwha River populations (Chinook salmon and steelhead), and help determine whether those populations are improving, static, or declining. Such analyses are crucial to help inform future large-scale dam removals for multiple ESUs across the Western U.S. All relevant physical data.

Removal of two dams on the Elwha River, Washington will help restore natural sediment processes to the coastal environment near the river mouth. We are interested in the responses of fish associated with shallow subtidal and intertidal habitats because they function as spawning and rearing habitat for many fish species including the ecologically important forage fish and federally protected species of Pacific salmon. Since 2006, we have been collecting species composition and size distribution of the intertidal/subtidal fish community in the Eastern and Central Strait of Juan de Fuca. Potential reference site and treatment sites (where sediment changes are expected to occur) were sampled on a monthly basis from April to September using a beach seine. We found over 45 species of fish, mostly juvenile stages, using this portion of the Strait of Juan de Fuca representing two groups- fish occurring in the water column and those living on or near the bottom. The water column species tended to be very abundant and included both migrants (e.g., juvenile salmon) and residents (surf smelt). Although the same species tended to be present each year, they often exhibited dramatic between year variability in abundance. This suggests the importance of using multiple years of data to evaluate changes resulting from dam removal. Treatment and reference areas exhibited some significant differences and we found seasonality in the fish assemblage structure. Our results suggest that some promising bio-indicators of short and long term change in sediment processes are: 1) numbers of species, 2) species diversity, 3) composition and sizes of benthic species, 4) abundance by life history stage of surf smelt, and 5) presence of migratory species like juvenile salmon. We will continue this work following dam removal to track the changes due to dam removal. For this project, the data was stored in .xls and access files.

Conduct captive brood stock gene rescue program for Elwha River odd-year class pink salmon. All fresh mortalities larger than 100 mm are sent to Fish Health for pathology. Autopsy data is maintained on their database.

1) The purpose of this project is to measure changes in juvenile salmon habitat occurrence and health following restoration activities at the Mirror Lake Complex and Horsetail Falls in the Lower Columbia River and estuary. Parameters measured include habitat conditions such as vegetation, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen; salmon diet and prey availability; weight, length, growth rate, lipid content, genetic stock, and chemical contaminant exposure. 2) Lyndal Johnson (NWFSC FTE) is the project lead, and other primary staff involved are Sean Sol and Paul Olson (NWFSC FTEs) and Kate Macneale (NWFSC term employee), but the project also involves other NWFSC FTEs, other term employees, contractors, and staff from other programs (Environmental Chemistry) and Divisions (FE, CB), as well as staff from collaborating agencies (e.g., the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership). 3) The project involves field surveys in which parameters measured include habitat conditions such as vegetation, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen; salmon diet and prey availability; weight, length, growth rate, lipid content, genetic stock, and chemical contaminant exposure. 4) Specific products to be produced include annual reports for the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, and manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. 5) Specific audiences include (but are not limited to) the Bonneville Power Administration and other federal, state, and local agencies involved with salmon recovery and environmental management in the Columbia Basin (e.g., EPA, Washington Department of Ecology, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the City of Portland), the NMFS regional office, and other agency and academic scientists. 6) This is a stand-alone project, but it is also a component of a larger action effectiveness monitoring program overseen by the Estuary Partnership. 7) This is an ongoing project with a soft completion deadline; however, there are specific tasks to be completed on a yearly basis. Juvenile chinook salmon diet composition and prey availability in habitat.

The objective of this study is to quantify population, community, and ecosystem level changes as a result of salmon recolonization of the Cedar River, WA above Landsburg Dam. The dam was installed in 1901, blocking the upstream migration of adult salmon and steelhead from about 43 km of river habitat. A fish ladder was installed in 2003 to allow adult salmon passage. We collected baseline data on water chemistry, habitat, isotopes (periphyton, invertebrates, fish, riparian trees) and resident trout and sculpin populations in 2000-2002. These studies have been ongoing since 2000. A mark-recapture study in Rock Creek, the largest tributary available to salmon, was started in 2004 to quantify growth, movement, and survival of juvenile coho and resident trout. Diet data from resident fish and juvenile coho.

Conduct captive brood stock gene rescue program for Elwha River odd-year class pink salmon. Raw data on rearing density, loading density, water temperature, ration, and feed size may be available. Raw data on administration of therapeutic drugs may be available.

This study is a cooperative effort between Douglas Island Pink & Chum (DIPAC), the University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (UAF, SFOS), the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Auke Bay Lab (ABL), and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G) to determine the potential for interactions between DIPAC hatchery chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) fry and wild chum salmon fry in Taku Inlet, Southeast Alaska. We analyzed patterns in spatial and temporal distribution, size, and condition of juvenile chum salmon collected in the littoral and neritic waters of Taku Inlet in 2004 and 2005. Energy density and diet of wild and hatchery chum salmon fry in Taku Inlet were analyzed and compared to data obtained later in the season for chum salmon stocks caught in Icy Strait. The greatest potential for wild/hatchery interactions was in the outer inlet, directly following early hatchery releases (May 9-11). Peak outmigration for wild chum salmon fry coincided with early hatchery releases; in contrast, most wild chum salmon fry had already emigrated from the estuary by the time of late hatchery fry release (May 22 June 1). In both years, hatchery fry were rare in the inner inlet, but comprised over 95% of the catch in the outer estuary during the peak of outmigration. Hatchery chum salmon were significantly larger than wild fry in both beach and neritic samples. Wild and early hatchery chum salmon were smaller in the littoral than the neritic habitat, indicating that both groups moved from shallow to deeper water with ontogeny. In spite of large differences in abundance, no negative correlation between abundance of hatchery fish and condition of wild fish was identified. Both wild and early hatchery chum salmon fry showed apparent growth through the season, while late hatchery fry appeared to leave the estuary soon after release. Regardless of origin, most chum salmon juveniles emigrated from the study area in late May and early June, indicating a high probability for mixed-stock schools. Hatchery chum salmon juveniles were initially larger and had greater energy content than wild fish; however, energetic values converged by mid-June in Taku Inlet. In Icy Strait, energetic condition of wild and hatchery chum salmon juveniles was also similar. Multivariate analysis of 54 prey measures indicated that diets of the two groups were distinctly different throughout the season in all Taku Inlet locations and converged in Icy Strait.

In the early 1990s, Redfish Lake sockeye salmon from the Sawtooth Basin in Idaho were on the brink of extinction, and they were listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act in 1991. To prevent extinction, a gene rescue captive broodstock program was established for the stock that consisted of taking most of the remaining gene pool into captive culture at specialized conservation hatcheries at the Manchester Research Station and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Eagle Hatchery. Efforts through the decade of the 1990s consisted of developing techniques for successful culture of sockeye salmon to adulthood, establishing rearing and spawning protocols to ensure preservation of stock diversity, and habitat enhancement at the rearing lakes. In the early 2000s, the program began to include a demographic focus to boost the population through rearing and release of enough juveniles to produce some adult returns. For the last few years, NWFSC eyed egg production has resulted in over 150,000 smolts being released into the Stanley basin annually for recovery, with plans to increase NWFSC eyed egg production to support release of half a million smolts in the Stanley Basin by 2017. In 2011, and for the fourth year in a row, record numbers of sockeye adults have returned to their native home in Idaho. All fresh mortalities larger than 100 mm are sent to Fish Health for pathology. Autopsy data is maintained on their database.

Our experience with juvenile sablefish and long term rearing of broodstock indicate that salmon grower feeds currently used by commercial sablefish farmers for grow out are not optimally formulated to support maximum growth and efficient feed conversion. However, there are no published studies examining the effects of dietary nutrient balance on productive performance and growth at any post larval life-history stage for this species, and there are currently no commercial diets specifically formulated for sablefish in the marketplace. Because of the large impact of feed cost on the economic viability of farming sablefish, we are focusing on grow out diets intended for use during the post larval stages of development when the fish are being reared to harvest size. In this research, we use a novel statistical mixture model and response surface analysis method to determine the optimal level of dietary protein, lipid and digestible carbohydrate for testing. This approach permits simultaneous testing of diet formulations encompassing the full range of protein, lipid and digestible carbohydrate that can be produced commercially using today’s most advanced extrusion feed manufacturing technology. Raw data on rearing densities, tanks, water temperature, mortalities, ration and feed size may be available.