This project seeks to expand our knowledge on the factors limiting production of Okanogan and Wenatchee sockeye salmon stocks. A primary factor affecting the Okanogan stock is believed to be survival upstream of Wells Dam. To quantify this mortality, this project has funded PIT and acoustic tagging of sockeye salmon at Wells Dam with additional sockeye PIT tagged at Bonneville Dam as part of the Upstream Migration Timing Accords project).
The project has also funded PIT tag antenna arrays at Zosel (ZSL at PTAGIS), McIntyre, and Skaha (SKA) dams as well as an instream arrays at Oliver, BC (OKC) and Penticton, BC (OKP).

Acoustic tagging was conducted at Wells Dam since this project commenced through 2016 when it was dropped due to the expense of this tagging and the fact that recent PIT tag array installations, many funded by this project, provide much of the passage/survival data provided by acoustic tags.  One place where acoustic tagging was useful was to determine survival to the North Basin of Osoyoos Lake which is a cold water refuge for migrating sockeye salmon.  This is located immediately upstream of the Osoyoos Narrows in Osoyoos, BC.  These narrows could possibly be monitored with PIT tag antennas if we can determine where in the narrows the fish pass, thus we are again going to seek to use DIDSON to determine the feasibility of so monitoring this area.  Efforts in both 2017 and 2018 were adversely affected by high flows so we will try again in 2019.  

We will continue to PIT tag adults at Wells Dam to augment the number of PIT tagged sockeye in the Okanagan Basin used for estimating survival through our PIT tag network in the basin.  (Some sampling and tagging may also be conducted at Priest Rapids Dam if the Bonneville trap is shut down due to high temperatures as was the case in 2015.)  This data may allow for the development of different river management actions to reduce this mortality.  It is hoped that, depending on where mortality is occurred, better flow management techniques to optimize adult survival can be developed. The PIT tag network we develop as part of this project may also improve data on steelhead and Chinook use of the Canadian portion of the Okanogan Basin.

This project also seeks to standardize smolt abundance estimation methodologies between the two stocks by conducting annual hydroacoustic surveys of Lake Wenatchee to compare with those being conducted in Osoyoos  Lake.  Costs of the Wenatchee acoustic surveys are shared with DFO, while Osoyoos and Skaha lake surveys are funded by DFO, the ONA, and Grant and Chelan PUDs.  

This project is also annually supports PIT tagging of juvenile Okanagan sockeye in 2019 to assess assess downstream mortality of these fish through the Okanagan River and the Columbia Basin hydrosystem.  Additional funding for the PIT tagging is provided by the Fish Passage Center through the Comparative Survival Study, DFO, and Grant and Chelan PUDs.  

Much of the work for this contract will be conducted by contractors and subrecipients:

Contractor/subrecipient      Task

Yakama Nation                  B, D,G,
Okanagan Nation              B, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P
Biomark (or other qualified contractor):  F, I (pre-loading PIT tags from CSS)