1. Monitoring Estuarine Survival of Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Smolts in the Nehalem and Alsea Basins, Oregon Using Acoustic Telemetry Jeremy Romer, Camille Leblanc, Carl Schreck, David Noakes, Shaun Clements

2. Goal : Physiology- Assess degree of smoltification throughout run. Behavior- Assess differences between early and late run groups, between basins, or between years. Survival- Provide estimates of lower river and estuarine survival.

4. # Nehalem River North Fork Wheeler Manzanita Pacific Ocean Hatchery Nehalem Bay and Surrounding Area Oregon # # # Trap Last count Life Cycle Monitoring: Spatial Resolution

5. # Nehalem Bay and Surrounding Area Oregon # Trap Last count Life Cycle Monitoring: Spatial Resolution 33 Km

6. steelhead 2009 Acoustic Technology 7 mm x 18 mm, 0.7 g in water V7 V9

7. Two (7" x 15", 16 lb) Floats Sonic Receiver 1/2" Poly Crabline 3/8" Galvanized Chain (12') Kedge Anchor - 40 lbs Lead Weight (4 ounce) steelhead 2001

8. Pacific Ocean

9. Alsea Study Area OHRC

10. Nehalem Study Area LCM

11. Migration Timing

12. 07 09 07 09 07 09 Waldport 0 10 20 30 UpperMidLower % undetected 40 Alsea Study – Possible Mortality 2007, 2009 steelhead 2007,2009

13. 95 (4) 82 (8) 100 = Predator Congregation = Receiver Efficiency

14. Alsea River Mouth

15. 09 01 02 09 01 02 09 01 02 steelhead 2001,2002,2009 0 2 N km Nehalem Study – Possible Mortality 2001, 2002, 2009 0 10 20 30 UpperMidLower % undetected 40

16. 93 (4) 88 (6) 100 = Predator Congregation = Receiver Efficiency

17. 9/31 29% detected 25/39 42% detected Peak Early Alsea - Effect of run timing on survival

18. 21/34 62% detected Nehalem - Effect of run timing on survival

19. Alsea River (55 Km) Effect of run timing on time to reach the lower estuary N=9N=25 Nehalem River (33 Km) N=15N=21

20. Alsea Days Mean: 1.1 Median: 0.8 Max: 6.3 Total N: 38.0 Std Dev: 1.3 Nehalem Days 1.1 0.7 7.9 34.0 1.5 Estuary Residence Time

23. Alsea River Mouth 70 tagged 62 Estuary Entry - 42 Km – 88.6% 22-38 Pacific Ocean Ocean - 55 Km – 31-54%

24. South Jetty Pacific Ocean Nehalem River Mouth 69 tagged 53 Estuary Entry - 20 Km - 76.8% 22-34Ocean - 33 Km – 32-49%

25. Nehalem (n=38) Columbia (n=64) Distance Travelled (Km) > 41 Days 0100200300 Travel time to Estuary (h) 0 40 80 120 160 200 steelhead 2001

26. Migration through the Columbia Estuary 12:000:0012:000:0012:00 steelhead 2001 Tidal Stage (m) River Km 0 1 2 3 50 -10 0 10 20 30 40

27. Spring Chinook r 2 = 0.52 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 75175275375475 Mean Daily Flow (kcfs) Mean Rate (kph) Steelhead r 2 = 0.47 Fall Chinook r 2 = 0.46 Migration Rates to Estuary Relation to Flow * *

28. ANDREW WALCH – because he is a better field tech than the one you have. ODFW Kim Jones – Gear, opportunity, motivation Steve Johnson – Alsea smolt trap setup, receiver tech support, data, advice Brian Riggers – Boat Kara Anlauf - GIS Charlie Stein – Access queries, ocean fishing Dave Stewart – Redwood housing Nehalem Kanani Bowden – Scales Lisa Borgerson – Scales Bill Ratliff – Landowner contacts Ryan Couture – OHRC, coordination Joseph O’Neil – OHRC, maker of things Eric Suring – LCM Project Leader Chris Lorion – Smolt trapping Alsea Derek Wiley – Smolt trapping Nehalem Paul Olmsted – Smolt trap Nehalem Aaron Paloni – Smolt trap Nehalem Jitesh Pattni - Smolt trap Nehalem Richard Biederbeck – Technical support OSU Jayde Ferguson – ATP, Parasites Michael Glynn – ATP assay Allison Evans – Psychotherapy & stats Schreck Lab – for the love of fish EPA Jim Powers – VR2 receivers Landowners Paul McCracken- Nehalem Pat & Bunny Wright – Alsea Richard & Kathy Ellis – Alsea ODFW District Fish Biologists Bob Buckman – Alsea Chris Knutsen – Nehalem NOAA Pete Baki –Permitting Old Man Ocean – for letting us have all of our gear back. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS