1. The Reintroduction of Late-Run Winter Steelhead into the Upper North Fork Lewis River, Washington, using F1 Wild Broodstock Hatchery Adults

2. Lewis River Hatchery and Supplementation Subgroup
Rich Turner, NOAA Fisheries
Erik Lesko, PacifiCorp Energy
Eric Kinne, Washington Department of Fish And Wildlife
I would first like to thank my co-authors Erik Lesko at PacifiCorp Energy and Eric Kinne with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. We are members of the Lewis River Hatchery and Supplementation Subgroup.

3. Lewis River Basin
MAP
The Lewis River is a tributary entering the Columbia River downstream from Vancouver Washington.
There are three mainstem dams on the North Fork Lewis River
Merwin Dam is at rivermile 19.5 was constructed in 1931, this dam blocked anadromous fish access to the upper basin
Yale Dam in 1953, and
Swift Dam in 1958 with a smaller forth dam (Swift #2) was constructed to recover power from the canal exiting Swift Powerhouse #1
These three projects currently inundate over 39 miles of historical spawning and rearing habitat but there is historical habitat still available above Swift Reservoir and in the tributaries.
These dams are owned and operated by PacifiCorp Energy,
Merwin Hatchery and trap are located directly below the Merwin Dam.
And Cedar Creek is a major tributary to the lower NF Lewis River.

4. Dam Relicensing Initiated 1995
Settlement Agreement signed November 2004
Reintroduction of salmon and steelhead
Fish Passage Facilities
Hatchery upgrades
50-year licenses issued July 2008
The process to relicense all of the projects on the NF Lewis River began back in 1995.
Over 200 meetings between all of the interested parties led to the completion and signing of a Settlement Agreement in 2004.
The Settlement Agreement requires that PacifiCorp fund the reintroduction of salmon and steelhead into the NF Lewis Basin beginning with the habitat above Swift Reservoir and then continuing in a phased reintroduction in to tributaries to Yale and Merwin lakes
To support reintroduction the hatchery facilities will be upgraded and fish passage facilities will be constructed to collect and transport downstream migrating juveniles
During the development of the Hatchery and Supplementation Plan describing these actions, reintroduction alternatives were discussed and it was decided that using F1 wild broodstock hatchery adults for reintroduction was the best approach for winter steelhead. Reintroduction of Chinook and coho salmon will use a mix of juvenile and hatchery adult releases. These were not a option for the late run winter steelhead because a hatchery program for this stock did not exist.

5. Late-run Winter Steelhead
Listed as Threatened
Recovery Goal – Primary Population
Reintroduction Strategy
100% wild-origin broodstock
Program size: 50,000 yearling smolts
Goal: 800 adults for upstream release
The late-run winter steelhead population in the NF Lewis River is part of the Lower Columbia Steelhead DPS that was first listed under the ESA as threatened in The listing status was re-affirmed in 2006.
The DPS includes all naturally produced steelhead from the Cowlitz River up to and including the Wind River in Washington and from the Willamette River up to and including the Hood River in Oregon.
The LCR steelhead DPS includes 23 historical populations – 17 winter run and 6 summer run that are divided into two strata or Major Population Groups: Cascade and Gorge strata The NF Lewis River population is part of the Cascade strata
The Reintroduction plan required the development of a new hatchery program that will use 100% natural origin or wild late-run winter steelhead for broodstock .
The program’s production goal is 50,000 smolts reared and released at the Merwin Hatchery.
The returning adults from this program will be transported upstream to seed the habitat above Swift Reservoir.
Returning hatchery adults will not be used for broodstock
The abundance goal for the population is as escapement of 800 natural origin adults which is expected fill the habitat above Swift Dam.

6. Broodstock Collection
Merwin Trap
Cedar Creek Trap
Tangle Netting – Lower River
Sport Anglers/Guides
There are a number of methods and locations that are being used to collect broodstock:
The Trap at Merwin Hatchery;
Cedar Creek trap
Tangle Netting and Seining in the Lower River;
And via sport angling guides

7. Broodstock Collection
Broodstock Goal
50 adults to produce 80,000 eggs
100% genetic analysis
The Goal of the program is to collect 50 adults: 25 females and 25 males for broodstock.
Fish that are collected and retained for broodstock are PIT tagged and floy tagged for identification and a tissue sample taken for genetic analysis.
The genetic analysis of each fish is used to develop a genetic assignment identifying the probability that the sampled fish belongs to a specific population. It was decided that only fish with genetic assignment levels greater than 50 percent for the NF Lewis - Cedar Creek population would be used for broodstock
In the beginning of the run this group is the first choice, but as the season progresses adults from neighboring tributaries (for example Kalama River) and those with in the Cascade Strata can be used.
Genetic assignment levels are also used so that we can avoid incorporating know hatchery stocks, Winter steelhead from outside the DPS and summer-run steelhead stocks.

8. Merwin Trap
This graph shows the number of unmarked steelhead collected at the Merwin Trap in 2009.
The adults collected in January were not incorporated into the broodstock and released back in to the river after they were PIT tagged and a genetic sample collected –
They were released because the program was not fully implemented and a collection curve identifying how many adults/week to retain had not been developed

9. In-River Collection
The use of tangle nets and seines was the most successful method for collecting broodstock in 2009.
A total of 65 steelhead were captured and 39 transported to the hatchery for genetic analysis
Because of the need to hold fish for a period of time, overly ripe females were generally returned to the river and not used for broodstock.

10. Sport Angler Catch
This was the first year of the program and collection was low with only 8 being collected using hook and line.
Now that we have established connections with local guides and have improved coordination the use of this method will be expanded for this year’s collections.

11. 2009 Summary Collected 74 fish for genetic analysis
37 males assigned to Lewis River/Cedar Creek
12 females assigned to Lewis River /Cedar Creek
Spawned 12 females and 19 males
Fish on hand – 24K yearlings
All fish are blank wire tagged
Releases are schedule for the end of May
74 unmarked winter steelhead were genetically analyzed and out of these, 35 were released back to the river, 31 were spawned, and 8 were mortalities.
Redd surveys in 2009 estimated an escapement of 588 spawners back to the mainstem NF Lewis and Cedar Creek.
The 39 adults retained for broodstock represents an estimated 6.8% of the escapement.
The egg take was 42,122 but egg loss was high resulting in an expected release of only 24,000 smolts.
All of the smolts will be blank wire tagged only to allow identification when they return as adults. These returning adults will be transported and released into Swift Reservoir.
The smolt releases are scheduled for the end of May.

12. Primary Assignment Area
Spawning Crosses and Assignments
FEMALES
MALES
CROSS NUMBER
DNA No.
Primary Assignment Area
PERCENT ASSIGNMENT 1 32
NF LEWIS
100%
99%
N FK LEWIS 12 2
97% 28 3 35
90%
62% 37 4 29 5 63
81%
95%
CEDAR 40 6 57 7 23
82% 19 8 39 9 65
94%
74% 56 10
58% 46 11 66
26%
56% 17
72%
93% 51
13* 67
KALAMA/summer
89% 45
14*
96% 49 15 68
55% 41 16
88% 55 69
MILL CR
78% 18 74
KALAMA
65%
98% 25 20 64
85% 71
21* 70
SF TOUTLE
N FK LEWIS/summer 73
* Indicates fish that were spawned, but fry were released in Battleground Lake.
Source: Eric Kinne, WDFW
At spawning there were 21 different crosses between the 12 females and 19 males to try to maximize genetic diversity
Note that the females are generally crossed with two males
Three of the crosses occurred at the end of the season before generic assignments were developed. These were later identified as out of basin or summer steelhead
These crosses were released as fry into a land locked lake.

13. Problems and Solutions
Broodstock Collection
Methods
Seasonal timing
Being the first year of operation there were a number of problems that arose during the season
For broodstock collection the various methods used seemed to worked well
The Tangle net did the best with good sites identified in 2009 that will be used again in 2010
Sport angler collection was low but looked promising Guides have be contacted to collect adults in 2010.
One problem was the collection of ripe females late in the season and what to do with them. It is was a tough call on whether to retain these for broodstock or to release them back into the stream especially when broodstock goals are not being met.
If they are ripe and retained for broodstock they will need to be spawned prior to knowing their origin and this can lead to crosses that are not usable in the program (as happened in 2009 leading to the release of the fry into Battleground Lake)
This year the retention of the ripe females will depend on the number of known origin females currently on hand and whether or not we are meeting the collection goals.
This illustrates one of the other problems we had which was with time needed to run the genetic assignment analysis.

14. Problems and Solutions
Genetic Assignment
Time required
Rules for inclusion/exclusion
- Genetic samples were collected and shipped once a week to the lab in batches with a turn around time of about 3 days. The problem was that some fish were held for up to 10 days before their origin was known. This becomes a problem when the females are ripe and ready to spawn.
- This year there is a new schedule such that all samples for the week are sent on Friday with results provided back on the following Wednesday.
- The other issue with the genetic analysis was what to include in the broodstock and what to reject. The genetic analysis estimated the probability that a fish belonged to a specific population.
- Only adults that assigned to the NF Lewis and Cedar Creek at greater than 50% genetic assignment probability were used for broodstock ,however as the season progressed, adults from the with in the cascade strata could be retained for broodstock.
- Fish that had a 5% or greater genetic assignment probability of being from a hatchery population were excluded from the broodstock.
The same constraints will apply in 2010.

15. Problems and Solutions
Spawning Protocols
Egg loss
Annual Operating Plan
Another problem with the program was the high egg-loss observed with the 2009 brood. This is being addressed through the
Elimination of green egg counts,
By Holding adults in circular tanks instead of raceways,
Using MS-222 on the adults and
Using Rubberized nets to reduce descaling and slime loss
The Annual Operating Plan provides direction for collecting of broodstock in the field and the spawning protocols at the hatchery.
The development of the annual plan allows for modification and refinement based on last years problems and successes.

16. Broodstock Collection Curve
The Broodstock Collection curve in the this years AOP provides weekly collection targets with the goal of getting a representative sample of run.
In 2010 to limit the impact on actively spawning adults and reduce the handling of spawned out fish the use of tangle nets and seines as a method to collect broodstock was shorten by two weeks

17. 2010 Collections 13 Collected through March 2 Assignments
8 Merwin Trap
5 Lower River Tangle Net
Assignments
8 Lewis River/Cedar Creek
3 lower River Hatchery,
1 Kalama, 1 Hood River

18. Acknowledgements Lewis River Hatchery and Supplementation Subgroup
More Information
2009 Annual Report: Still in draft, Contact
2009 Hatchery and Supplementation Plan:
Again I would like to acknowledge the Lewis River Hatchery and Supplementation Subgroup and the work that they are doing to make this program successful.
The 2009 Annual Report has not been finalized but I can provide to you the link when it becomes available.
The final Hatchery and Supplementation Plan is available at this website and it describes how reintroduction of the other salmonids native to the basin will be implemented and how the hatchery programs in the basin will be operated.
Questions?

19. Questions
Need Fish Picture