The Northwest Fisheries Science Center's (NWFSC) Salmon Population Summary (SPS) database provides public access to demographic data compiled for ESA-listed salmonid populations as part of the NWFSC's technical recovery planning efforts. The database contains data collected by co-managers (WDFW, ODFW, IDFG, and Tribes) and compiled in cooperation with NWFSC staff for: spawning abundance, age structure of wild spawners, fraction of natural spawners that are of wild origin, and the reduction in spawning abundance due to harvest. For some populations, additional data fields are also available. The data correspond to the populations identified by the NMFS Technical Recovery Teams, and are used in part to assess population and ESU-level recovery criteria for many listed ESUs. Most importantly, this data is critical for informing 5 year ESA salmon reviews, and makes 5 year status review data available to the public. Abundance of ESA-listed salmonids.

Sampling juvenile salmon and associated fishes in open waters of the lower Columbia River estuary. Field work includes bi-weekly sampling during the spring outmigration (Apr-June), and monthly sampling throughout the summer and fall. We use a purse seine to sample open water habitats. Our objectives are to document the seasonal and interannual variation in juvenile salmon immediately prior to ocean entry, with respect to abundance, size, origins (H/W), stocks, food habitats, and parasites/pathogens. We also document the larger estuarine fish community, which serves a critical role as prey for juvenile salmon predators. Abundance and size of fish caught in Columbia estuary.

FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Stomach Contents from juvenile salmonids, primarily Chinook and Coho.

FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Lab Lengths, weight, genetics, IGF-1 (growth), and otolith microchemistry from juvenile salmonids.

A study to evaluate the role of changing ocean conditions on growth and survival of juvenile salmon from the Columbia River basin as they enter the Columbia River plume and Pacific Northwest coastal habitats. Adult returns vary dramatically (over 10 fold) as a result of changing (good or bad) ocean conditions juveniles experience. Evaluating the benefit of restoration efforts in the Columbia River to restore endangered salmon populations needs to consider ocean conditions as a contributing factor to recovery. This is a large collaborative project with contributions from NWFSC, Oregon State University, and Oregon Health and Science University. The work focuses on three objectives: 1) Determining the distribution, growth, and condition of juvenile Columbia River Chinook and coho salmon in the plume and their ocean environments with associated physical and biological features, and effects on salmon survival via regular spring and summer surveys. 2) Using additional focused surveys to obtain critical pieces of information on predator impacts, specific food resources, biological condition, and means by which juvenile salmon exit the Columbia River estuary. 3) Synthesizing the early ocean ecology of juvenile Columbia River Chinook and coho salmon, test mechanisms that control salmonid growth and survival, and produce ecological indices that forecast salmonid survival. This project provides critical information on marine survival to the Columbia River salmonid management community (hydrosystem, harvest, hatchery, and habitat management) provides environmental indicators useful for forecasting salmon returns, and provides a greater understanding of ecological controls on salmon populations. This is a long-term monitoring and research project initiated in 1998. Species, abundance, and distribution of birds during salmon surveys.

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, and fish populations including resident trout and sculpin populations in 2000-2002. These field surveys have been ongoing since 2000. A mark-recapture study in Rock Creek, the largest tributary available to salmon, was started in 2004 and ended in 2010 to quantify growth, movement, and survival of juvenile coho and resident trout. Two experimental stream studies conducted to quantify salmon carcass effects on resident organisms. Density and distribution of resident trout and Pacific salmon during summer, spring and fall in main stem and tributary habitat.

FY20 will mark the 23nd year of sampling, making the Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) the longest running salmon survey on the west coast. JSOES has clearly demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River (CR) salmon in the Northern California Current (NCC) nearshore ecosystem. For example, our ocean indicators provide managers from the federal and state governments, tribes, and other agencies/groups the ability to forecast adult returns one to two years in advance for coho and spring/summer Chinook salmon. We continue to show the importance of evaluating ocean conditions to support management decisions and to provide context for efforts by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) and BPA to restore and enhance salmon production. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and CR plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. This knowledge will allow us to improve forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. These improved forecasts will lead to well-informed recommendations for an ecosystem approach to management strategies based on the full suite of river, plume, and ocean environments. Oblique Bongo Tows for juvenile salmonid prey field index.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey stations. The Juvenile Salmon and Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES) started in 1998 and is led by NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey is the longest running salmon survey on the U.S. West Coast. The primary goal of our work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how trophic dynamics and conditions in the ocean and Columbia River plume affect survival of juvenile salmonids. JSOES collects juvenile salmon and other open-ocean animals which allows identification of shifts in abundance, distribution, and growth/condition of migrating juvenile salmon. JSOES has demonstrated correlations between ocean conditions and the distribution, abundance, and survival of juvenile Columbia River salmon in the Northern California Current nearshore ecosystem to provide context for efforts by states, tribes, and others to restore and enhance salmon production. The samples from this survey improve salmon forecasts in a quantitative rather than qualitative manner, and decouple the effects of mitigation efforts in the freshwater environment from the effects of a changing ocean environment. The survey is conducted two times a year (late May and late June) for roughly ten days each. This study utilizes a surface trawl. A surface trawl collects juvenile salmon and other open-ocean animals during sampling.

ISEMP has the overarching objective of developing management decision support tools from quantitative relationships of stream habitat quality and quantity's impact on anadromous salmonid population abundance and productivity in the Columbia River basin. ISEMP's data collection, management and analysis task and the resulting products can be organized into seven focal areas - three that are primarily data collection (ISEMP data streams) and four that are primarily data processing (ISEMP data management, monitoring guidance, and decision support tools). Fish.

The goal of the tidal-fluvial estuary study is to determine the estuary's contribution to the spatial structure and life history diversity of Columbia River salmon stocks and the implications for estuary restoration. The study targets salmon use of tidal-fresh habitats in the estuary from Rkm 75 to Bonneville Dam, and addresses four primary objectives: 1. Characterize the temporal and spatial distribution of Chinook salmon genetic stock groups throughout the estuary (March 2010 - March 2012). 2. Determine stock-specific habitat use, life histories, and performance of juvenile salmon in key habitat complexes to fill data gaps in the tidal fluvial reaches of the estuary (2012-2016). 3. Monitor juvenile salmon life histories and their contributions to adult returns in selected estuary tributaries, including tributary examples where tidal habitats have been restored (2012-2018). 4. Evaluate estuary restoration needs for recovery of all salmon ESUs and account for projected effects of climate change through application of a salmon life-cycle model (2011-1015). The study, funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, involves a large team of researchers organized by NOAA Fisheries, including researchers from the Oregon Health and Sciences University, University of Washington, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The study addresses critical uncertainties identified in the research, monitoring, and evaluation (RME) program for the Federal Columbia River Estuary Program (FCREP). The Estuary Program is intended to conserve and restore the estuary ecosystem to improve the performance of listed salmonid populations. Products from the tidal-fluvial study will include: 1. Descriptions of stock-specific temporal and spatial distributions of Chinook salmon throughout the estuary. 2. Estimates of variations in Chinook salmon stock composition and stock-specific growth, food habits, consumption rates, and bioenergetic efficiencies within selected tidal-fluvial habitats. 3. Estimated contributions of estuarine life histories among returning adult Chinook salmon from selected populations throughout the Columbia River Basin. 4. A hydrological model quantifying the dynamics of rearing habitat opportunities for juvenile salmon at estuary reach and habitat scales. 5. Improved life-cycle models to account for the estuarine life histories of juvenile salmon and estimating the potential effectiveness of estuary restoration actions on the recovery and viability of selected salmon stocks. These results will directly address information needs to support estuary actions specified in the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Biological Opinion for the Columbia River. The tidal-fluvial estuary study is part of an ongoing estuary research program initiated in 2002. The current study expands upon earlier research conducted in the lower 100 km of the estuary from 2002 to 2008. Although all objectives will be addressed by 2018 to correspond with a review of progress implementing the FCRPS Biological Opinion, some sampling activities may extend beyond this date to allow brood-year reconstruction of estuary contributions to adult returns in selected streams (Objective 3). Bimonthly genetic stock group distribution for juvenile Chinook Salmon collected from 3 habitats each from 6 tidal-fluvial estuary reaches and monthly fish species composition, abundance, and length:weight; Chinook salmon life history and genetic stock ID.