Contract Description
This contract is specifically designed for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) personnel in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to work collaboratively with the Yakama Nation fisheries monitoring and evaluation staff in the design, implementation, data collation, and reporting of radio tagged steelhead in the Yakima River and its tributaries. This project’s field work will be minimal but will include site visits to fixed radio telemetry sites to ensure a good understanding of the research design, methods, and particulars so that NMFS can assist the Yakama Tribe in collating, summarizing, and analyzing telemetry data.
This study will address the spatial distribution uncertainties for both the Naches and Upper Yakima Steelhead populations. The large geographic distribution of steelhead in the Yakima Basin results in diverse pre-spawning migration and holding patterns that influence the proportion of fish that survive to spawn.  This three-year radio telemetry study will better define the spawning distribution of steelhead in all four populations.  The natural spawning locations used by steelhead in the Yakima is a critical uncertainty that can be evaluated simultaneously with escapement, timing, and migration assessments.

The primary objectives of the three year radio telemetry study are to:
1. Better define the Upper Yakima and Naches spawning distributions,
2. Clarify the extent, distribution, and contribution of mainstem spawners,
3. Estimate population specific adult escapement and spawner abundances for each population,
4. Assess and ground-truth the long-term prospects for using GSI and PIT-tagging techniques for apportioning the total run at Prosser Dam.
The study will also collect other valuable spatial and temporal life history information specific to each population, including run timing, pre-spawn migration and holding patterns, pre-spawn survival, spawn timing, the number of redds constructed per female, age structures and sex ratios, and survival to kelting rates. Steelhead will be captured and tagged at Prosser Dam (Rkm 75.6) and released back into the river. Mobile tracking and fixed site receivers at tributary mouths, mainstem dams, and natural obstructions will be used to document passage timing, delays, and impediments.