Migration Behaviors and Distribution of Adult Spring Chinook Salmon Radio-Tagged at Willamette Falls Dam in M. Keefer, M. Jepson, C. Caudill, S. Lee, T. Blubaugh, M. Knoff, and M. Morasch Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho, Moscow, ID

Acknowledgments NOAA – Kim Hatfield, Stephanie Burchfield ODFW – Tom Friesen, Wayne Vandernaald, Todd Alsbury, Jeff Ziller, Kelly Reis, Joy Vaughan, Shivonne Nesbit, Kirk Schroeder, Craig Tinus, Michele Weaver, Cam Sharpe OR Parks and Rec. – Sara Griffith UI – Travis Dick, Theresa Tillson, Dan Joosten, Tami Clabough Kal Johnson, Charlie Erdman PGE – Tim Shibahara USFWS – Bonnie Johnson, James Bowker (INAD) USACE – David Griffith, Rich Piaskowski, and Robert Wertheimer

Objectives Characterize salmon behaviors in the main stem & tributaries – ‘Basin Wide Assessment’ Migration rates Reach residency times Population-specific migration timing Assess distribution / survival Wild vs Hatchery fish Predictors of main stem migration success / mortality Temperature exposure histories Temperature has been associated with early mortality in Willamette Chinook

Salmon (and steelhead) collection site Companion study: winter & summer steelhead: (C. 11:10)

Methods Collect using denil trap, conduct rapid non-lethal assessment Intragastric radio tag + temperature logger on sub-sample Monitor upstream movements and final distribution – Recover transmitters & temp loggers (dam traps, hatcheries)

CLK WL1 WL2 WL3 WL4 WL5 CAL N. Santiam R. S. Santiam R. McKenzie R. Middle Fork CFWFall Creek Fixed-site monitoring WFU WFD Some year-to-year changes in tributary monitoring

Chinook tagging effort Year Number Radio- tagged Adipose clipped Adipose intact Number Restrained Number Anesthetized Number Temperature pods RT non-RT RT (ad-clipped) RT (ad-clipped) TAFS 143:

Tagging effort n = 150 n = 500 n = included EWEB sample n = 300

River environment: Data source = (Albany) 2011: 14.3 April-Aug Mean 2012: 14.5 o C 2013: : : : 403 cms 2013: : 271

Spring Chinook run timing at Wil Falls Early timing in warm, low-flow years

Main stem residency times Santiam McKenzie Middle Fork Median times (d) ● Shorter residence in low-flow, warm years

Main stem migration rates – WL1 WL2 WL3 WL4 WL5 WFU Rapid passage in lower main stem by all populations

Final Distribution : fish that escaped to tributaries 347* ‘Wild’ salmon * 6 not shown: main STM, LUK, YAM, CF 568* ‘Hatchery’ salmon ● Modest year-to- year differences within origin group ● Includes ‘successful’ fish from both restraint and anesthetic treatments ● W:H differences in relative abundance

Run Composition: Hatchery Chinook 2011 (n = 83) 2012 (n = 108) 2013 (n =178) 2014 (n = 193) ● Generally well-mixed within year ● Relative abundance varies Middle Fork S Santiam McKenzie Middle Fork S Santiam N Santiam S Santiam

Run Composition: Wild Chinook 2012 (n = 198) 2013 (n =53) 2014 (n = 72) McKenzie S Santiam McKenzie S Santiam N Santiam ● Inconsistent patterns; less well-mixed than hatchery groups

Escapement to Tributaries N = 762 anesthetized salmon Year effect: χ 2 = 12.8 P = Wilson 95% binomial ci’s S ~0.835 to 0.844

Escapement to Tributaries χ 2 = 5.1 P = χ 2 = 10.6 P = χ 2 = 12.3 P = N = 762 anesthetized salmon Marine mammal marks Wilson 95% binomial ci’s

Weekly main stem survival estimates N = 762 anesthetized salmon ● Program MARK ‘known-fate’ model of weekly survival ● Lower survival for migrants in the main stem later in summer as river warms

Weekly main stem survival estimates ModelParametersΔAICc Year+Descale50.00 Year+HeadInjury52.80 Year43.87 Year+Condition53.88 Year+Sex55.82 Year+Origin S(.) Year+Week Origin Sex Week Preliminary model comparison: MARK ● Strong year effect suggests environmental driver ● Variety of additional models will be explored Previous figure

Individual temperature histories 30-min data: >190,000 records 2012 examples (n = 23 recovered)

Thermal exposure estimates: 68 temp pods ● Highly variable days-at-large & total degree day accumulation ● Most accumulation in tributary reaches not in the main stem

Thermal exposure estimates: 68 temp pods J Thermal Biol 48:11-20 Reach-specific degree days per day (per salmon)

Conclusions Improved understanding of main stem experience Residency / Transit times ~ 2-5 weeks in main stem Migration rates ~ km/d in main stem – Variable, fastest downstream from Salem Populations fairly well-mixed through time – Wild composition more variable within-year Escapement to tributaries ~ 79-90% (Eugenol fish) – Descaling, head injuries, marine mammal injuries – Lowest survival in warmest year (2013) – Survival declines as season progresses – Escapement <> Reproductive Success

Conclusions Temperature exposure varies among years, reaches Lower main stem reaches warmest for most fish Degree-day accumulations highly variable Short-duration stressful exposure was common Little evidence for thermoregulatory behavior along the main stem migration corridor

Questions? P