WRIA 8 Fish in/Fish out Monitoring Summary Presentation to the WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council Hans B. Berge King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks Water and Land Resources Division 17 November 2011

Background Chinook listed as threatened under ESA in 1999 in Puget Sound ESU Science-based conservation plan for WRIA 8 adopted by NOAA in 2005 Conservation Plan strongly endorses monitoring using VSP parameters to identify goals and objectives, and to measure effectiveness of plan implementation (this project)

Viable Salmonid Population (VSP) Interdependent parameters for evaluating viability: Abundance How many fish are there at various life stages? Productivity Is the population growing? Distribution (spatial structure) Don't put all your fish in one stream Diversity How many life history strategies are present? Measures of genetic diversity

VSP Parameters Monitoring Program Abundance Productivity Distribution Diversity Spawner Surveys Escapement, Redd counts Estimates of total eggs, Prespawning mortality Relative use of streams and rivers in core, satellite and episodic areas Age structure, Hatchery or Natural origin Fry/Smolt Trapping Juvenile abundance Egg to smolt survival (%) Relative comparison of Bear vs. Cedar Fry vs. smolt numbers, migration timing PIT-Tag Migration survival estimates Relative use and importance of migration areas Migration timing to ocean

1.4 M people Ocean-type, Fall Chinook threatened in 1999 2 Chinook hatcheries (~2.5 M per year) Mass marking began in 1999 (>95%) Land use includes urban, ag, rural res, forest

Methods Timing and Abundance Biological characteristics Productivity Diversity

Timing and Abundance Live counts 1x per week in all streams with Chinook Live and Dead counts Carcass sampling Redd Identification and location (2-3x per week) Analysis Area-under-the-curve (AUC) Redd counts (2.5 fish/redd) to reduce error Redd density (GPS location)

Live Counts Sockeye Chinook Redds

Presence of Hatchery Fish on Spawning Grounds Adipose Fin Photos from NMT website: http://www.nmt-inc.com

Length, Age, and Pre-Spawn Mortality (egg retention)

Productivity Potential egg deposition (#redds x fecundity) based on age information Migrants (scoop and rotary screw traps at mouth of Cedar River and Bear Creek) PIT Tagging at screw trap and interrogated at Locks Returning adults (unmarked component of appropriate age)

Results

Timing

Abundance

Composition

Pre-Spawning Mortality Marked females have a higher incidence of PSM in each basin (chi sq; P<.001) 7.7% vs. 22.2% of marked females

CWT Results Hatchery strays from: Kitsap Peninsula (Gorst Ck, Grovers Ck) Cowlitz River Hatchery Tulalip Bay University of Washington Issaquah Creek (majority) Elliott Bay Net pen releases Soos Creek

Productivity What does it mean? Survival from life stage to life stage Full life cycle survival (redd to redd) Population replacement (redd to redd ratio >1.0)

Juvenile Survival Cedar River Jan-April small fry (45mm) migration with later (May-June) larger parr (60-100mm) migration

Juvenile Survival Bear Creek

Cedar River Redd to Redd Recovery plan goal Replacement

Benefits Improved knowledge of species Monitoring data used to focus actions in the plan Auditing of restoration projects Rearing capacity limiting in the Cedar River for smolt production Pooling resources across jurisdictions for shared benefits In-kind contributions increasing each year for projects Collaboration and training with the Cedar River Naturalists, SalmonWatchers, Water Tenders, and Salmon Seeson Raising awareness in the public by providing accurate information Observation of in season problems for salmon Blockages/beaver dams, fish kills, etc. Interaction and educational opportunities with private property owners Removing pumps from streams, landscaping, agency contact information

Importance for Stakeholders Chinook life history requires consistent long-term annual monitoring to understand status and trends in population dynamics in order to compare to goals for recovery Predictive relationships between fish in and fish out data will help devise possible future management actions Understanding how projects relate to productivity is essential for de-listing species

Funding provided by the King Conservation District Acknowledgments WRIA 8 Technical Committee and Salmon Recovery Council Spawning ground surveyors: mix of State, County, and Tribal staff Karl Burton, SPU, redd surveys in the Cedar River John Sneva et. al, WDFW, for aging scales City of Redmond, Boeing, Blockbuster Video for help with Screw trap access and power Funding provided by the King Conservation District