Spawning Distribution of Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon
Statement of Work and Budget FY2005

BPA Project Number:   1998-010-003
Contract Number:   20366
Performance/Budget Period:   December 1, 2004 – November 30, 2005

Technical Contact Name:   Aaron Garcia
Technical Contact Title:   Project Manager
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Idaho Fishery Resource Office
P.O. Box 18
Ahsahka, ID  83520
Technical Contact Phone:   (208) 476-2249
Technical Contact Fax:   (208) 476-7228
Technical Contact email:   aaron_garcia@fws.gov

Contracting Contact Name:   Daniel Diggs
Contracting Contact Title:   Assistant Regional Director, Fishery Resources
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4147 Ahsahka Rd.
Ahsahka, ID  83520

Financial Contact Name:   Sarah Burri
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Division of Budget and Finance
911 NE 11th Ave.
Portland, OR  97232-4181

CONTRACT BACKGROUND:

Goal: Monitor the spawning population of fall chinook salmon in the mainstem Snake River, and summarize the distribution of all spawners upriver of Lower Granite Dam.
OBJECTIVE 1:  DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF REDDS CONSTRUCTED IN THE SNAKE RIVER ABOVE LOWER GRANITE DAM (Schedule: December 2004 – November 2005)
OBJECTIVE 2:  COMPILE AND REPORT INFORMATION ON THE SPAWNING DISTRIBUTION OF FALL CHINOOK SALMON ABOVE LOWER GRANITE DAM (Schedule: December 2004 – November 2005)

Background: Fall chinook salmon in the Snake River are listed under the Endangered Species Act as a Threatened Species.  One recovery action involves the release of hatchery-origin fall chinook juveniles above Lower Granite Dam annually.  Redd searches are used to monitor the affects of this action, and the population status as a whole, as per Hatchery NMFS 174 Pt.4 (Determine relative distribution and timing of hatchery and natural spawners), Hydro NMFS 107 (Assess survival of adult salmonids migrating upstream), RM&E NMFS 182 (Determine the reproductive success of hatchery fish relative to wild fish), RM&E NMFS 184 (Hatchery research, monitoring, and evaluation program), and RM&E NMFS 199 (Implement the specific research/monitoring actions outlined in Appendix H).  Redd searches in the Snake River are conducted by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (BPA project 1998-010-03) and Idaho Power Company.  Redd searches in Snake River tributaries are conducted by the Nez Perce Tribe.  Project 1998-010-03 serves as a platform for presenting the results of all searches in a single document.

Study area:  The Snake River from Asotin, Washington, to Hells Canyon Dam, a distance of roughly 100 miles (RM 147-247) and the Snake River tributaries in which fall chinook salmon redd searches are conducted.

Approach: Shallow-water spawning areas within the study area will be searched from a helicopter at roughly 7-d intervals starting in mid-October and ending in mid-December.  Deep-water spawning sites will be searched using underwater video equipment between mid-November and mid-December.

Accomplishments: Findings from work conducted under this project number were presented in twelve annual reports to BPA (Connor et al. 1993; Garcia et al. 1994a-2004) and four publications (Groves and Garcia 1998; Dauble et al. 1999; Connor et al. 2001; Garcia et al. In press).  These publications presented information on deployment of submersible cameras, spawning in the tailraces of lower Snake River dams, redd capacity of the Snake River, and the spawning distribution of supplemented fall chinook salmon upriver of Lower Granite Dam, respectively.  In cooperation with biologists from the Nez Perce Tribe and Idaho Power Company, we are preparing an additional paper, "Aerial and Deepwater Searches for Fall Chinook Salmon Redds in the Snake River Basin", that is expected to be completed in FY05.

BPA Property:  None

References

Connor, W. P., A. P. Garcia, H. L. Burge, and R. H. Taylor.  1993.  Fall chinook salmon spawning in free-flowing reaches of the Snake River.  Pages 1-29 in D. W. Rondorf and W. H. Miller, editors.  Identification of the spawning, rearing, and migratory requirements of fall chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin.  1991 Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Contract DE-AI79-91BP21708, Portland, Oregon.

Connor, W. P., and five coauthors.  2001.  Estimating the carrying capacity of the Snake River for fall chinook salmon redds.  Northwest Science 75:363-371.

Dauble, D. D., Johnson, R. L., and Garcia, A. P.  1999.  Fall chinook salmon spawning downstream of Lower Snake River hydroelectric projects.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 128:672-679.

Garcia, A.P., W.P. Connor, and R.H. Taylor.  1994a.  Fall chinook spawning ground surveys in the Snake River.  Pages 1-19 in D.W. Rondorf nand W.H. Miller, editors.  Identification of the spawning, rearing, and migratory requirements of fall chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin.  1992 Annual Report  to Bonneville Power Administration, Contract DE-AI79-91BP21708, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., W.P. Connor, and R.H. Taylor.  1994b.  Fall chinook spawning ground surveys in the Snake River.  Pages 1-21 in D.W. Rondorf and K.F. Tiffan, editors.  Identification of the spawning, rearing, and migratory requirements of fall chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin.  1993 Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Contract DE-AI79-91BP21708, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., and six coauthors.  1996.  Fall chinook spawning ground surveys in the Snake River, 1994.  Pages 1-18 in D.W. Rondorf and K.F. Tiffan, editors.  Identification of the spawning, rearing, and migratory requirements of fall chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin.  1994 Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Contract DE-AI79-91BP21708, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., W.P Connor, R.D. Nelle, R.D. Waitt, E.A. Rockhold, and R.S. Bowen.  1997.  Fall chinook spawning ground surveys in the Snake River, 1995.  Pages 1-17 in D.W. Rondorf and K.F. Tiffan, editors.  Identification of the spawning, rearing, and migratory requirements of fall chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin.  1995 Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Contract DE-AI79-91BP21708, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., W. P. Connor, R. D. Waitt, R. S. Bowen, T. A. Anderson, and P. E. Bigelow.  1999a.  Fall Chinook Salmon Spawning Ground Surveys in the Snake River Upstream of Lower Granite Dam, 1996.  Pages 1-22 in D.W. Rondorf and K.F. Tiffan, editors.  Identification of the spawning, rearing, and migratory requirements of fall chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin.  1996-1997 Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Contract DE-AI79-91BP21708, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., R.D. Waitt, C.A. Larsen, S.M. Bradbury, B.D. Arnsberg, M. Key, P.A. Groves.  1999b.  Fall chinook salmon spawning ground surveys in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam, 1998.  Pages 7-19 in A.P. Garcia editor.  Spawning distribution of fall chinook salmon in the Snake River.  1998 Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Project number 9801003, Contract 98-AI-37776, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., R.D. Waitt, C.A. Larsen, S.M. Bradbury, B.D. Arnsberg, M. Key, P.A. Groves.  1999b.  Fall chinook salmon spawning ground surveys in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam, 1998.  Pages 7-19 in A.P. Garcia editor.  Spawning distribution of fall chinook salmon in the Snake River.  1998 Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Project number 9801003, Contract 98-AI-37776, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., R.D. Waitt, C.A. Larsen, D. Burum, B.D. Arnsberg, M. Key, P.A. Groves.  2001.  Fall chinook salmon spawning ground surveys in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam, 2000.  Pages 13-31 in A.P. Garcia editor.  Spawning distribution of fall chinook salmon in the Snake River.  Draft 2000 Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Project number 199801003, Contract 98-AI-37776, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., and six coauthors.  2003a.  Fall chinook salmon spawning ground surveys in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam.  Pages 14-22 in A.P. Garcia editor.  Spawning distribution of fall chinook salmon in the Snake River. 2001 Progress Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Project number 1998-010-03, Contract 98-AI-37776, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., S. Bradbury, B.D. Arnsberg, S.J. Rocklage, and P.A. Groves.  2003b.  Fall chinook salmon spawning ground surveys in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam, 2002.  2002 Progress Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Project number 1998-010-03, Contract 98-AI-37776, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., S. Bradbury, B.D. Arnsberg, S.J. Rocklage, and P.A. Groves.  2004.  Fall chinook salmon spawning ground surveys in the Snake River basin upriver of Lower Granite Dam, 2003.  2003 Progress Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Project number 1998-010-03, Contract 98-AI-37776, Portland, Oregon.

Garcia, A.P., W.P. Connor, D.J. Milks, S.J. Rocklage, R.K. Steinhorst.  In Press.  Movement and spawner distribution of hatchery fall chinook salmon adults acclimated and released as juveniles at three locations in the Snake River basin.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

Groves, P.A., and A.P. Garcia.  1998.  Two carriers used to suspend an underwater video camera from a boat.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management 18:1004-1007.