Monitoring Estuarine Survival of Steelhead Monitoring Estuarine Survival of Steelhead ((Oncorhynchus mykissOncorhynchus mykiss) Smolts in the Nehalem and ) Smolts in the Nehalem and Alsea Basins, Oregon Using Acoustic TelemetryAlsea Basins, Oregon Using Acoustic Telemetry

Jeremy Romer, Camille Leblanc, Carl Schreck, David Noakes, Shaun Clements Jeremy Romer, Camille Leblanc, Carl Schreck, David Noakes, Shaun Clements

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.

#

Nehalem River

North Fork

Wheeler

Manzanita

PacificOcean

Hatchery

Nehalem Bay andSurrounding Area

Oregon

#

#

# TrapLast count

Life Cycle Monitoring: Spatial Resolution

#

Nehalem Bay andSurrounding Area

Oregon

# TrapLast count

Life Cycle Monitoring: Spatial Resolution

33 Km

steelhead 2009

Acoustic Technology

7 mm x 18 mm, 0.7 g in water

V7V9

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

Pacific Ocean

Alsea Study Area

OHRC

Nehalem Study AreaNehalem Study Area

LCM

07

0907

09

07 09

Waldport

0

10

20

30

Upper Mid Lower

% u

ndet

ecte

d

40

Alsea Study – Possible Mortality2007, 2009

steelhead 2007,2009

95 (4)

82 (8)

100

100

= Predator Congregation = Receiver Efficiency

Alsea River Mouth

09

01

0209

01

02

09

01

02

steelhead 2001,2002,2009

0 2

N km

Nehalem Study – Possible Mortality2001, 2002, 2009

0

10

20

30

Upper Mid Lower

% u

ndet

ecte

d

40

93 (4)

88 (6)

100

100

= Predator Congregation = Receiver Efficiency

9/31 29% detected

25/39 42% detected

Alsea - Effect of run timing on survival

21/34 62% detected

Nehalem - Effect of run timing on survival

Early Peak

ExpGroup

0

10

20

30

40

Days

Early Peak

ExpGroup

0

10

20

30

40

Days

Alsea River (55 Km)

Effect of run timing on time to reach the lower estuary

N=9 N=25

Nehalem River (33 Km)

N=15 N=21

Alsea Nehalem

River

0

2

4

6

8

Da

ys

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

Alsea River Mouth

70 tagged

62 Estuary Entry - 42 Km – 88.6%

22-38

Pacific Ocean

Ocean - 55 Km – 31-54%

South JettyPacific Ocean

Nehalem River Mouth

69 tagged

53 Estuary Entry - 20 Km - 76.8%

22-34 Ocean - 33 Km – 32-49%

Nehalem (n=38)

Columbia (n=64)

Dis

tan

ce T

rave

lled

(K

m)

> 41 Days0 100 200 300

Travel time to Estuary (h)

0

40

80

120

160

200

steelhead 2001

Migration through the Columbia Estuary

12:00 0:00 12:00 0:00 12:00

steelhead 2001

Tid

al Stag

e (m)

Riv

er K

m

0

1

2

350

-10

0

10

20

30

40

Spring Chinook

r2 = 0.52

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

75 175 275 375 475

Mean Daily Flow (kcfs)

Mea

n R

ate

(kp

h)

Steelhead

r2 = 0.47

Fall Chinook

r2 = 0.46

Migration Rates to EstuaryRelation to Flow

**

ANDREW WALCH – because he is a better field tech than the one you have.

ODFWKim Jones – Gear, opportunity, motivationSteve Johnson – Alsea smolt trap setup, receiver tech support, data, adviceBrian Riggers – BoatKara Anlauf - GISCharlie Stein – Access queries, ocean fishingDave Stewart – Redwood housing NehalemKanani Bowden – ScalesLisa Borgerson – ScalesBill Ratliff – Landowner contacts Ryan Couture – OHRC, coordination Joseph O’Neil – OHRC, maker of thingsEric Suring – LCM Project LeaderChris Lorion – Smolt trapping AlseaDerek Wiley – Smolt trapping NehalemPaul Olmsted – Smolt trap NehalemAaron Paloni – Smolt trap NehalemJitesh Pattni - Smolt trap NehalemRichard Biederbeck – Technical support

OSUJayde Ferguson – ATP, ParasitesMichael Glynn – ATP assayAllison Evans – Psychotherapy & statsSchreck Lab – for the love of fish

EPA Jim Powers – VR2 receivers

LandownersPaul McCracken- NehalemPat & Bunny Wright – AlseaRichard & Kathy Ellis – Alsea

ODFW District Fish BiologistsBob Buckman – AlseaChris Knutsen – Nehalem

NOAAPete Baki –Permitting

Old Man Ocean – for letting us have all of our gear back.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS