This annual report
is one in a continuing series describing Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) progress toward meeting trout (resident
and anadromous) mitigation goals established in the Lower Snake River
Compensation Plan (LSRCP). The reporting period covers between 1 July
2001 and 30 June 2003. Smolt trapping information for the 2002/2003
migration will be presented in a future report, as population estimates
were not completed at time of report printing. In addition, coded-wire
tag recoveries and expansions from the sport fishery will be presented
in future reports.
The LSRCP program
in Washington State began in 1981 with construction of Lyons Ferry
Hatchery (LFH). Refurbishing of the Tucannon Fish Hatchery (TFH) followed
in 1984-85. In addition to the hatchery construction and modifications,
three remote acclimation ponds (AP) were built along the Tucannon,
Touchet, and Grande Ronde rivers to acclimate juvenile summer steelhead1
before release. All of these facilities make up WDFW’s Lyons
Ferry Complex (LFC) (Figure 1).
The LFC steelhead
program began as “in kind, in place” replacement under
the mitigation program, with goals to maintain genetic integrity of
steelhead stocks. Unfortunately, non-endemic steelhead stocks were
initially utilized for the program (Wells and Wallowa stocks). Broodstock
trapping at Lyons Ferry (mainly Wells stock, but occasionally mixed
with Wallowa stock) eventually made to what we now term the LFH stock.
These non-endemic stocks were de-facto “supplementation”
stocks to the natural populations within the basins where they were
planted, since they were allowed to escape into natural spawning areas.
However, that strategy is not the current goal, and supplementation
of the natural populations with these stocks is considered undesirable.
Actions have been taken where possible to reduce this impact (i.e.,
changing of release locations, reductions in the numbers released,
fishery regulation changes, and development of new endemic broodstocks
on the Tucannon and Touchet rivers).
Recent declines
in adult natural2 steelhead escapement, and the eventual listing by
the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries
(formally known as National Marine Fisheries Service) of Snake River
and Mid-Columbia steelhead under the ESA in 1999 as “Threatened”,
reinforces the need for continual monitoring of natural steelhead
and salmon populations in rivers receiving LFC fish. Natural juvenile
density and population estimates, and population estimates from smolt
trapping (Tucannon River only) are used to assess the potential effects
of hatchery fish on natural populations, as well as determine whether
hatcheries can be used in recovering ESA listed populations. Further,
because of federal rulings on the risks of the hatchery stocks (National
Marine Fisheries Service 1999 Biological Opinion), the project has
been tasked with deciding what course of action should be taken with
our hatchery steelhead stocks to lessen effects on ESA listed fish
(i.e. releases of LFH (non-local) stock of summer steelhead into the
Touchet River).
The Lyons Ferry
Evaluation assesses whether the LFC produces fish that meet the LSRCP
mitigation goals (USACE 1975), as determined through estimated returns
to the project area (Snake River) from trap counts, spawning escapement
estimates, and the sport fishery. The evaluation program also attempts
to determine what parts of the mitigation program may adversely affect
listed salmonid populations protected under the Endangered Species
Act (ESA), and recommends actions to improve the facilities' effectiveness.
