Summer movements of juvenile salmonids in the Upper Chehalis River
John WinkowskiMara Zimmerman
Washington Department of Fish and WildlifeChehalis Basin Technical Meeting, September 22, 2015
Key questions for juvenile salmonids
• Do fish use the dam site?• When do fish use the site?• What direction are the fish coming from? • How far are fish coming from?
Cascade
Recap of 2013 – what we learned• Juvenile salmonids move upstream and downstream
through the dam location throughout the summer• Individual fish move into tributaries from mainstem • Individual fish move upstream in early morning and
downstream in early evening
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Key questions for juvenile salmonids
• Do fish use the dam site? YES• When do fish use the site? ALL SUMMER• What direction are the fish coming from? • How far are fish coming from?
Study design - 2014
Dam site/PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
14 km
• Do fish use the dam site?• When do fish use the site?• What direction are the fish coming from?• How far are fish coming from?
Fish species studied in 2014
• Juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)• Juvenile Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
How are juvenile fish using the potentially impacted area during summer low flows?
• Do fish use the dam site?• When do fish use the site?• What direction are the fish coming from?• How far are fish coming from?
Do fish use the dam site? YESChinook O. mykiss
Distance (km) Tagged % detected Tagged % detected
7.5 0 NA 24 45.7 67 64 45 203.7 14 7 29 281.9 28 18 69 160.4 43 70 32 69
-0.4 49 6 90 93-1.4 28 0 51 0-3.6 52 0 24 4-5.5 43 0 49 8-7.3 35 0 17 6
Total 359 23 % 430 33 %
1) Fish are using the dam site2) Percentages of fish detected gives us
confidence to draw inferences from data
How are juvenile fish using the potentially impacted area during summer low flows?
• Do fish use the dam site?• When do fish use the site?• What direction are the fish coming from?• How far are fish coming from?
When do fish use the dam site? Throughout summer months
X
X
How are juvenile fish using the potentially impacted area during summer low flows?
• Do fish use the dam site?• When do fish use the site?• What direction are the fish coming from?• How far are fish coming from?
• Detected ~ Direction + Distance + Length + Condition + Direction:Distance + Direction:Length + Direction:Condition,
family=binomial
O. mykiss: what factors predict arrival at dam site?
glm(), aictab()
Dam site PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
Detected (y/n) ~ Direction + Distance + Condition + Direction:Distance +
Direction:Condition
Detected (y/n) ~ Direction + Distance + Condition + Direction:Distance + Direction:Condition
If tagged upstream, more fish detected from farther away
If tagged downstream, less fish detected from farther away
Detected (y/n) ~ Direction + Distance + Condition + Direction:Distance + Direction:Condition
If tagged upstream, no influence of fish condition
If tagged downstream, most detections were fish in poor condition
Chinook: What factors predict arrival?
Most Chinook moved downstream, not upstream
Chinook: what factors predict arrival at dam site?
• Upstream tagged fish only• Detected ~ Distance + Length + Condition
Dam site PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
Distance, Length, Condition did NOT improve prediction of which tagged Chinook moved
downstream
How long between tagging and first detection?
Dam site PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
Dam site PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
• Time to first detection ~ Direction + Distance + Length + Condition +
Direction:Distance + Direction:Length + Direction:Condition,
family = Gamma
O. mykiss: How long between tagging and first detection?
glm(), aictab()
O. mykiss tagged downstream arrived quicker than O. mykiss tagged upstream
Chinook: How long between tagging and first detection?
• Chinook tagged upstream only• Time to first detection ~ Distance + Length +
Condition
Dam site PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
Distance, Length, Condition did NOT improve prediction of when tagged Chinook moved
downstream
Summary• Usage of the dam site occurred throughout
summer low flow period• Juvenile salmonids arrived from distances up to
7 km• Juvenile salmonids upstream of dam site
behave differently than fish downstream
Dam site PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
Summary – O. mykiss• O. mykiss arrived from both an upstream and
downstream direction• O. mykiss from downstream were in poorer condition
and arrived quickly during study period• O. mykiss from upstream arrived over an extended
period of time regardless of condition
Dam site PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
Summary Chinook• Chinook arrived from upstream but not from
downstream• Arrival of Chinook was not dependent on
distance or fish characteristics
Dam site PIT array
UpstreamDownstream
Connectivity footprint
Discussion• Dam site is an important migration corridor
during summer low flow periods• For 2 years, we’ve documented extensive movements
throughout the summer
• Benefits of horizontal migrations in upper Chehalis are unknown
Restoration implications
• Factors that restore river connectivity (e.g., dam and culvert removal) are important
• The scale of restoration and protection actions is important
• Restoration question: restore continuous reach vs. multiple smaller reaches?
Acknowledgements• West Fork Environmental, Weyerhaeuser,
Panesko Tree Farm • Fish Ecology and Life Cycle Monitoring Unit:
Thomas Buehrens, Kale Bentley, Patrick Hanratty, Trevor Johnson, Jamie Lamperth
• Ben Truscott (WDFW)• Funding: Washington State legislature• WDFW technicians: Richard Visser II, Matthew Hobin,
Amy Edwards, Noelia Ragland, Riley Freeman, Brianna Murphy, Eric Walther
Juvenile salmonid movements during summer low flows
Discussion
• Challenges the previous idea that juvenile salmonids maintain relatively small home-ranges during summer months
• What factors are contributing to these movements (i.e. temperature)?
Downstream/upstream tagging sitesDownstream Upstream
Tagging
Interrogation period
X
Smaller Chinook took longer to arrive than larger Chinook
