1. Migration Behaviors and Distribution of Adult Spring Chinook Salmon Radio-Tagged at Willamette Falls Dam in 2011-2014 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 83844-3141

2. 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

3. 2011-2014 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

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

5. 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)

6. 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

7. Chinook tagging effort Year Number Radio- tagged Adipose clipped Adipose intact Number Restrained Number Anesthetized Number Temperature pods 20111501123813119145 RT + 100 non-RT 201250018931134615499 RT (ad-clipped) 201329922970-29966 RT (ad-clipped) 201430022476-3000 TAFS 143:856-863

8. Tagging effort n = 150 n = 500 n = 299 2012 included EWEB sample n = 300

9. River environment: 2011-2014 Data source = http://ida.water.usgs.gov/ (Albany)http://ida.water.usgs.gov/ 2011: 14.3 April-Aug Mean 2012: 14.5 o C 2013: 16.9 2014: 16.5 2011: 387 2012: 403 cms 2013: 216 2014: 271

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

11. Main stem residency times 2011201220132014 Santiam12.010.85.96.0 McKenzie24.019.816.417.5 Middle Fork32.021.316.518.1 Median times (d) ● Shorter residence in low-flow, warm years

12. Main stem migration rates – 2011-2014 WL1 WL2 WL3 WL4 WL5 WFU Rapid passage in lower main stem by all populations

13. Final Distribution : 2011-2014 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Escapement to Tributaries N = 762 anesthetized salmon Year effect: χ 2 = 12.8 P = 0.005 762 370 314 16 296 392 448 152 298 Wilson 95% binomial ci’s S ~0.835 to 0.844

17. Escapement to Tributaries χ 2 = 5.1 P = 0.024 χ 2 = 10.6 P = 0.001 χ 2 = 12.3 P = 0.016 486 68 445 729 19 75 317 113 762 33 N = 762 anesthetized salmon Marine mammal marks Wilson 95% binomial ci’s

18. 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

19. Weekly main stem survival estimates ModelParametersΔAICc Year+Descale50.00 Year+HeadInjury52.80 Year43.87 Year+Condition53.88 Year+Sex55.82 Year+Origin55.88.. S(.)111.64 Year+Week2412.76 Origin213.63 Sex213.64 Week2124.24 Preliminary model comparison: MARK ● Strong year effect suggests environmental driver ● Variety of additional models will be explored Previous figure

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

21. 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

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

23. Conclusions Improved understanding of main stem experience Residency / Transit times ~ 2-5 weeks in main stem Migration rates ~ 10-60 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

24. 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

25. Questions? P