Blue Creek Chinook & Coho Life Cycle Monitoring Project

Post Date

July 14th 2010

Application Due Date

November 30th -0001

This is Notice of Intent. This opportunity has been awarded to the Yurok Tribe. No other applications will be reviewed.

Funding Opportunity Number

FWS-R8-YFWO-2010-FISHERIES-FP-05

CFDA Number(s)

15.608

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Grant

Funding Activity Categories

Science and Technology and other Research and Development

Eligibility Categories

Other

This opportunity is a Notice of Intent.

Funding

• Award Range:

  $29980 - $29980

Grant Description

Blue Creek is the largest and most pristine tributary in the Lower Klamath Sub-basin and correspondingly supports the largest anadromous fish populations in the sub-basin. In a 1979 report detailing the status of anadromous stocks within the Hoopa Valley Reservation (then including the present day Yurok Indian Reservation and representing all tributaries within the lower Klamath and lower Trinity Rivers), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) found Blue Creek to have “the greatest potential to support anadromous fish of any tributary on the reservation” (USFWS 1979). The Blue Creek Chinook stock is referred to as a late-fall Chinook run due to its typical November-December run timing and is considered to be a unique stock specifically adapted to the lower Klamath River and its tributaries (Anglin 1994). Gall et al. (1989) found Blue Creek fish to be more similar genetically to Smith River or Southern Oregon stocks than to other Klamath groups, while Snyder (1931) noted this unique run timing, finding Blue Creek fish to be much more similar to Smith River fish terms of body size, shape, and coloration. Blue Creek also supports one of the largest remaining coho salmon run in the Lower Klamath Sub-basin. In particular, the Crescent City Fork provides ideal spawning and rearing habitat for coho salmon and in most years is more heavily utilized by coho salmon in its upper reaches than any other salmonids species. Given Blue Creek’s relatively pristine habitat and its isolation from other wild coho refugia, the Blue Creek coho stock appears to be an important genetic refuge for wild coho populations in the Klamath River Basin. Stream assessment data collected by the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program (YTFP) during 1995-2004, as well as data collected by USFWS during 1988-1993, indicate that late-fall run Chinook and coho salmon are either non-existent or are present in relatively low numbers in the remaining lower Klamath River tributaries (Lintz and Kisanuki 1992; Lintz and Noble 1992; Noble and Lintz 1190; Voight and gale 1998; YTFP unpublished data 1994-2004). The ongoing monitoring of the Blue Creek salmon populations is therefore essential in order to assess the status of this unique resource. This project, initiated by USFWS in FY 1989, is designed to collect adult chinook escapement data for the Blue Creek basin. This data allows for an assessment of chinook population trends within the basin as well as Chinook and coho salmon distribution, immigration/emigration timing, and habitat usage throughout the Blue Creek drainage. The Chinook trend data is an integral component of the Mega-Table and allows for a more accurate assessment of wild salmonids population numbers throughout the Klamath Basin, which in turn allows for more accurate predictions of future Chinook run sizes. This project also collects coho salmon data to the extent possible; however surveys are often complete prior to the time that most coho salmon spawning is expected to occur in Blue Creek. The duration of surveys into late December/January is not only limited by budget, but often times by high flow conditions in the stream. Information collected through this project also allows for more meaningful and informed input into land management activities within the basin as well as future watershed restoration activities. Project Objectives: The objectives of this project are to: Generate a fall 2010 fall Chinook spawner index count for adult Chinook salmon using peak weekly snorkel survey counts of adult fall chinook. • Marking of fall Chinook will occur, which combined with snorkel surveys will allow for an estimation of the fall Chinook population abundance using the “area under the curve” methodology. The success of this methodology is largely dependent on stream conditions. • Several years of successfully producing “area under the curve” population estimates and spawner index survey estimates simultaneously should enable analysis of the relationship between the “area under the curve estimates” and the spawner abundance index count estimates. This could provide two benefits: 1. Application of this relationship to spawner survey index count data that has been collected since the early 1990’s, allowing an expansion of this information into population estimates. 2. Application of the relationship to spawner index survey count information in the future, so population abundance may be able to be estimated during years when “area under the curve” estimates are not available. • Determine the extent of Chinook salmon immigration and spawning within the Blue Creek basin during the fall/winter 2010-2011. This will include an assessment of timing, distribution and run size, as well as documenting the quantity, timing and distribution of redds and carcasses by species. • Provide Tribal Fisheries Biologists with the necessary data to provide informed input into Lower Klamath resource management planning, habitat restoration planning and implementation, and ESA-related recovery planning and viability analysis. • Improve the skills and knowledge of YTFP employees/Yurok Tribal members through hands-on experience conducting a diversity of fisheries monitoring projects. This agreement will benefit the public by the information collected from this large cooperative effort is used to track population trends and estimate the fall Chinook ocean stock abundance, age composition, and spawning run size, which are needed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), California Fish and Game Commission and Tribes for harvest management. The information is used to determine if the PFMC Conservation Goal for Klamath River fall Chinook is met in a particular year, and to develop projections of the fishable stock for the upcoming year. Once those projections are made, they are used by fishery management agencies to promulgate fishing regulations for the Chinook salmon fishery along the southern Oregon coasts. Task 1 – Generate a fall 2010 escapement estimate for adult Chinook using the area-under-the-curve methodology. Task 2 – Generate a fall 2010 fall Chinook spawner index count for adult Chinook salmon using peak weekly snorkel survey counts of adult fall chinook. Task 3 – Determine the extent of Chinook salmon immigration and spawning within the Blue Creek basin during the fall/winter 2010/2011. Task 4 – Provide Tribal Fisheries Biologists with the necessary data to provide informed input into Lower Klamath resource management planning, habitat restoration planning and implementation, and ESA-related recovery planning. B. METHODS Adult Fish Marking Capture Techniques: Fish will be targeted in the lower reaches of Blue Creek as they move into the system. Capture techniques will include a 3.5 inch mesh tooth tangle net. The net will be fished both passively and actively drifted depending on the most effective capture method for existing conditions. A biologist and at least one technician will remain with the net at all times, while a second biologist and technician will also be resent to assist with transfer of captured fish to holding tubes. All captured salmonids will be measured, sex will be determined by external characteristics when possible, scale samples taken, marked with a visual streamer tag, secondarily marked with a fin-clip, allowed to recover, and released upstream. Several marking events will occur in the lower reaches of Blue Creek. During each event batch marking will be implemented. All salmonids marked during each event will receive the same color streamer tag behind the dorsal fin. Observe Efficiency: Observer efficiency will be defined as the percentage of adult salmon counted by observers in relation to the actual number present. (Bocking et al, 1988, Irvine et al. 1993) Known number of salmon will be marked and allowed to disperse for a minimum of three hours (Hetrick, personal communication). Two divers will dive through this block-netted section and count newly marked fish. Physical parameters that are expected to effect observer efficiency will be recorded and rated during efficiency trials as well as during all snorkel surveys. Residence Time: Residence time will be defined as the average duration that individuals of a species spend alive in the creek. After marking events, snorkel surveyors will survey existing/long-term reaches throughout the anadromous portion of the drainage enumerating marked and unmarked salmonids by species. Marked fish counts will be corrected observer efficiency and plotted against time to yield a mark depletion curve (Hetrick, personal communication). The area under the curve will be divided by the original number of tags deployed to estimate a period-specific residence time in days for that time period as described by Irvine et al. (1992). Due to the fact that throughout the season residence time will likely vary, an average of the period specific residence times weighted by abundance will be determined. The weighted mean residence time will be applied to weekly snorkel counts to generate a weekly abundance estimate. All weekly estimates will be summed for the annual escapement estimate. Spawning Surveys Spawning surveys will be conducted weekly from October through mid-December of each year to document immigration and spawning activity by late-fall Chinook and coho salmon, as well as any steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout present during this time period. Surveys will be conducted using direct observation (snorkeling) techniques throughout the survey periods in order to maximize efficiency of fish observations, species identification, carcass and redd location etc. Each reach will be snorkeled by a crew consisting of a Fisheries biologist and a Fisheries Technician. All crewmembers involved in these snorkel surveys have extensive snorkeling experience, including several seasons conducting these inventories within the Blue and Terwer Creek drainages. Information will be collected on each live fish, redd, and carcass located as follows: Live Fish • Species, number and exact locations observed • Size, condition and sex of each observed fish as feasible • Presence of any clips, marks, scars, etc. Redds • Exact location where observed • Species and number of fish present (if any) • Habitat type where observed • Dimensions of redd (length, width, pt depth, mound depth) • Each redd flagged as downstream end to prevent counting on future surveys Carcasses • Exact location where observed • Species, fork length and sex • Percent spawned • Collect scales • Presence of any clips, marks, scars etc, and collect head if ad-clipped • Condition (fresh/rotten, whole/partial etc.) • Flag carcass through gills to prevent counting on future surveys

Contact Information

• Agency

  Department of the Interior

• Office:

  Fish and Wildlife Service

• Agency Contact:

  Misty Bradford
  Coop. Agreements Assistant
  Phone 530-842-5763

• Agency Mailing Address:

  work

• Agency Email Address:

  misty_bradford@fws.gov