Effectiveness of alternative broodstock, rearing and release practices at Winthrop NFH

William Gale and Matt Cooper -USFWS, Mid-Columbia River Fishery Resource Office

Chris Pasley-USFWS, Winthrop National Fish Hatchery

How it began - Grand Coulee Mitigation

• Built as mitigation for Grand Coulee Dam - Simple times

• Located on the Methow River in Winthrop, WA.

• Currently rears spring Chinook, coho and steelhead.

Mitigation still critical to hatchery purpose and funding.

Winthrop NFH

Leavenworth NFH

Entiat NFHGrand Coulee Dam

Wells Dam

Wanapum Dam

Rocky Reach Dam

Rock Island Dam

Chief Joseph Dam

0 30 6015Kilometers

Then everything changed……

• NOAA listings of spring Chinook salmon (endangered), and steelhead (threatened), Service listing of bull trout (threatened)

• Hatchery Review:• USFWS HRT Process• HSRG Process

How do we meet the conflicting demands of mitigation, recovery and reform?

Steelhead in the Methow: Past Paradigm• Collection of adults at

Wells Dam, brood for two programs.

• Collection occurs in fall prior to spawning.

• Collection at Wells Dam results in use of out of basin adults

This paradigm sacrifices population structure!!

Winthrop NFH

Leavenworth NFH

Entiat NFHGrand Coulee Dam

Wells Dam

Wanapum Dam

Rocky Reach Dam

Rock Island Dam

Chief Joseph Dam

0 30 6015Kilometers

Hatchery Reform at WNFH• Transition to local

broodstock.• Collection in sync with

natural spawning• Precludes a yearling

program due to cold water and later emergence.

• Evaluation/Adoption of a two year smolt rearing program.

Transition to Local Brood• Began in BY 2008. Collection via

angling to collect wild fish and volunteers to the hatchery ladder.

• Goal is pNOB ≥ 0.5., 50k smolt program.

• Angling is a viable means of collecting adults.

• Limited to current program size.

• Other techniques need to be evaluated. Increased angler involvement?

Evaluation of 2yr smolt rearing• Rear and release 2 groups

of 50K annually (100K total).

• S1 releases progeny of Wells Dam collection.

• S2 releases progeny of local brood.

• 100% CWT, 15K PIT / group.

Evaluation of 2yr smolt rearing program• Following factors examined:

– Hatchery growth

– Post release survival and migratory behavior

– Residualism

– Age structure of adult returns

Hatchery Growth

May JulSe

pNov Jan

MarMay Jul

Sep

Nov JanMar

0

50

100

150

200

250

S2S1

Mea

n FL

(mm

)

2010 Release

May JulSe

pNov Jan

MarMay Jul

Sep

Nov JanMar

0

50

100

150

200

250

S2S1

Mea

n FL

(m

m)

2011 Release

May-08

Jul-08

Sep-08

Nov-08Jan-09

Mar-09

May-09

Jul-09

Sep-09

Nov-09Jan-10

Mar-10

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

Feeding Regime

S2S1

MEA

N P

ERCE

NT

BODY

WEI

GHT

/ DAY

Length Frequency at Release

85-89

105-109

125-129

145-149

165-169

185-189

205-209

225-229

245-249

265-269

285-289

305-3090%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

85-89

105-109

125-129

145-149

165-169

185-189

205-209

225-229

245-249

265-269

285-289

305-3090%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

1 YR

2 YR

20112010

194 ± 2 mm

214 ± 1 mm 159 ± 1 mm

187 ± 1 mm

Fork Length (mm)

21.7 cm FL S1 Program

85-89

105-109

125-129

145-149

165-169

185-189

205-209

225-229

245-249

265-269

285-289

305-3090%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%1 YR2 YR

Precocial?Parr?

22 cm FL S2 Program

Mark-Recapture: Methods• S1 and S2 PIT tagged smolts released

annually (≈15 K / group).

• M-R models using mainstem Columbia River arrays.

• Full models tested for GOF.

• Parameters estimated using model averaging (AIC methods).

In addition to the standard assumptions this approach assumes that apparent survival estimates for the first reach is a combination of residualism and true mortality.

Mark Recapture: Downstream Detections

Unique PIT Detections2010 Release Year Winthrop Rocky Reach

Dam McNary Dam John Day Dam

Bonneville Dam

S1 14,841 5,474 382 389 1,643

S2 14,756 5,156 466 370 2,174

2011 Release Year

S1 14,698 2,559 364 891 241

S2 14,881 4,135 708 1,187 460

Apparent Survival2010 Release

Reach

RRJ MCJ JDJ

Appa

rent

Sur

viva

l

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0 S1 S2

2011 Release

ReachRRJ MCJ JDJ

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

*

*

Travel Time

0

10

20

30

40

50

Rocky Reach Dam

McNary Dam

BonnevilleDam

Trav

el T

ime

(Day

s)

0

10

20

30

40

50S1 S2

Rocky Reach Dam

McNary Dam

Bonnevile Dam

2010 2011

*

**

**

Residuals: Methods

• Collections occurred in the summer/fall following release.

• Sampling by e-fishing, angling, and seine.

• Sampling focused on the area around WNFH.

• Both side channel and mainstem habitat surveyed.

1- year Wells stock

2- year Methow stock

Occurrence of residuals by rearing group

2010 20110.00%

0.10%

0.20%

0.30%

0.40%

0.50%

0.16%

0.42%

0.02%

0.13%

S1

S2

• 2010 – n = 120, Spring Creek.

• 2011 - n = 230, Spring Creek and Methow River (6 km)

Residuals Sex Ratio

Male Female0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

64%

36%

100%

0%

S1

S2

Male Female0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

63%

37%

74%

27%

S1 = 196 samplesS2 = 34 samplesS1 = 113 samples

S2 = 7 samples

% M

ale

2010 2011

Conclusions• Results indicate that S2 performance is

comparable or better than S1.– S2’s have a higher survival after release and faster

travel time than S1’s.– Residual life history type differs and the frequency of

residuals is likely higher in the S1 group.• To reach a comparable size different growth

trajectories are needed, this impacts life history decisions.

Unanswered Questions• Can we use physiology to further categorize

life history types (i.e. parr vs. maturing)• Will the age structure of adult returns differ?

How will it compare to wild?• Can we use PIT arrays to describe/model

residual movement/behavior and assess ecological impacts.

How do we know when we are locally adapted?

Questions?

Acknowledgements• The Players:

– NOAA-Fisheries – Barry Berejikian, Chris Tatara, Don Larsen, Penny Swanson.

– UW – Mollie Middleton and Jon Dickey.

– FWS – M. Hall, R. Schmit, C. Hamstreet.

• Cooperators:– USGS and BOR – WDFW

• Funding: BPA, BOR, USFWS.

Mark-Recapture: Model Structure

WNFH Rocky Reach McNary John Day BonnevilleΦ1 Φ2 Φ3 Φ4

p1 p2 p3 p4

WNFH Rocky Reach McNary John Day BonnevilleΦ5 Φ6 Φ7 Φ8

p5 p6 p7 p8

S1

S2

Size at Release

S1 S2 Wild Age-1 Wild Age-2100

120

140

160

180

200

220

2010

2011

Fork

leng

th (m

m)

Wild smolt data from WDFW: Snow et al, 2011.