PURPOSE:
The purpose of this Statement of Work is a research project to support the implementation of the 3-Step planning process of the Northwest Power & Conservation Council (NPCC) for a Chinook salmon hatchery to supplement populations in the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers per Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan developed by the Colville Confederated Tribes and fishery co-managers.

PROJECT GOAL:
Capture adult summer/fall Chinook salmon at Wells Dam, apply telemetry tags, and release them.  Identify their locations as well as their arrival and spawning time in the upper portion of the Columbia Cascade Province relative to their passage time at Wells Dam.  Describe their migratory patterns as they approach Chief Joseph Dam and determine the final destinations of fish that encounter the dam.

BACKGROUND:
Upstream migration of adult salmonids beyond the Grand Coulee Dam came to an end with the completion of this dam's construction in 1942.  As part of the agreement to construct the dam, the Federal Government authorized mitigation actions to offset the loss in anadromous fish production.  However, those mitigation measures were never completed due to the onset of the Second World War.  In recent years these mitigation actions have been renewed and the Colville Tribes have proposed the construction of the Chief Joseph Dam Hatchery to help offset anadromous fish losses, particularly summer/fall Chinook salmon.

The Colville Tribes, in concert with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, are working to establish baseline information for locating, designing, and managing the proposed hatchery.  One goal within this is to supplement summer/fall Chinook populations in the Okanogan and Columbia rivers with a hatchery population that follows the Hatchery and Genetic Management Plans developed by the Colville Tribes and fishery co-managers.

Targeting the collection of the appropriate genetic unit for use in the hatchery will be an important issue.  Two or more population components comprise the summer/fall Chinook stock upstream from Wells Dam.  Fish bound for either the Okanogan/Similkameen or Methow Rivers are included in that mixture.  Also, some fish destined for Wells Hatchery or mainstem-spawning areas below the Wells dam may overshoot that site and appear in the admixture upstream from the dam.  Finally, it has been suggested that some fish may spawn in the mainstem Columbia River downstream from Chief Joseph Dam.  Since one hatchery strategy is to supplement the Okanogan/Similkameen population, acquiring brood stock from that genetic component is critical.  Knowing where and when these fish migrate and where they congregate, and the extent to which they are spatially separated from other population components in the upper columbia will assist in devising a strategy for collecting brood stock.  The Colville Tribes also need to know if the timing of passage over Wells Dam is related to timing and location of subsequent spawning.  This is critical to the brood stock protocol and subsequent acclimation of progeny.

One part of the planning process requires acquisition of basic biological information about migratory behavior.  Consequently, radio telemetry techniques will be used to describe important adult migratory characteristics of summer/fall Chinook salmon through the upper Columbia Basin upstream from Chief Joseph Dam Hatchery, as well as identify the preferred location to collect adults from specific population components.

LOCATION OF PROJECT:
The project is located in the Okanogan Sub-basin in the U.S. and Canada, and the mainstem Columbia River upstream from Wells Dam, in the Methow, Okanogan, and Similkameen all in the Columbia Cascade Province.