The use of PIT tags to evaluate passage of adult Pacific lamprey at Columbia and Snake river dams Christopher Caudill, Charles Boggs, Eric Johnson, and

The use of PIT tags to evaluate passage of adult Pacific lamprey at Columbia and Snake river dams

Christopher Caudill, Charles Boggs, Eric Johnson, and Matthew Keefer

Department of Fish and Wildlife ResourcesUniversity of Idaho

The use of PIT tags to evaluate passage of adult Pacific lamprey at Columbia and Snake river dams

Christopher Caudill, Charles Boggs, Eric Johnson, and Matthew Keefer

Department of Fish and Wildlife ResourcesUniversity of Idaho

Chris Peery, USFWSMary Moser & Howard Pennington, NOAA-FisheriesDave Clugston, Derek Fryer, & Sean Tackley, USACE

And many more...!

Year

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

BO

N c

ou

nt

(100

0's)

0

100

200

300

400

2010: ~6,200

Sources: Starke & Dalen 1995; DART

Background

1998-2010 mean: ~39,600

1939-1969 mean: ~104,700

Daytime counts

Adult lamprey passage issues

• Passage bottlenecks in fishways• Passage delays and failures at dams• Gaps in knowledge of basic life history

Adult lamprey passage issues

• Passage bottlenecks in fishways• Passage delays and failures at dams• Gaps in knowledge of basic life history

• Monitoring issues:– long freshwater period (up to one year)– battery life in active tags– tag size– potential for FDX PIT-tag collision

Presentation objectives• Overview of current HDX-PIT research

program• Examples of monitoring technology• Examples of lamprey research results

– Local scale (i.e., flume and fishway studies)

– Meso scale (i.e., river reaches, dam-to-dam)

– Hydrosystem scale• Future directions

Resources• www.cnr.uidaho.edu/uiferl

– Technical reports and papers on HDX-PIT research

Effects of body size and river environment of the upstream migration of adult Pacific lampreys. N Am J Fish Manage 29:1214-1224

Variability in migration timing of adult Pacific lamprey in the Columbia River, USA. Enviro Biol Fishes 85:253-264

Testing adult Pacific lamprey performance at structural challenges in fishways. N Am J Fish Manage 30:376-385

Behavior of adult Pacific lamprey in near-field flow and fishway design experiments. Fish Manage & Ecol (in press)

Development of Pacific lamprey fishways at a hydropower dam. Fish Manage & Ecol (in press)

http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/uiferl

Research toolbox

• Monitoring systems– Radiotelemetry– Acoustic telemetry– HD PIT tags

• Tradeoffs– Different tools for different questions– Complimentary– Tag life limitations– Handling issues

Monitoring system tradeoffs• Active radiotelemetry

– Good for tailraces, fishways, tributaries– Best current tool for dam passage metrics – External antenna may contribute to tag effects

• Acoustic telemetry– Good for deep water– No external antenna– Limited application in turbulent water with

entrained air

Monitoring system tradeoffs• Passive HDX-PIT tags

– Unlimited tag life: useful for overwinter evaluation– Fewer known tag effects– Limited application for fine-scale fishway

evaluations

HDX-PIT fishway antennas

HDX-PIT antennas in Lamprey Passage Systems (LPS)

Bonneville WA-Shore

Univ. of Idaho sites

NOAA fisheries sites

Flow

OR Shore

Flow

WA Shore

OR Shore

Bonneville

HDX-PIT monitoring sites

LPSEntrance

Ladder

Ladder

Flow

OR Shore

WA Shore WA Shore

OR Shore

Flow

The Dalles John Day


North Shore

South Shore

Flow

WA Shore

OR Shore

Flow

McNary Ice Harbor


Priest Rapids: ladders only

Lower Monumental, Lower Granite: 2011 installations

1997 147

1998 205

1999 199

2000 299

2001 298

2002 201

2007 398

2008 595

2009 596

2005 ---

2006 ---

757

609

368

841

2,000

60

34

84

40

40

McNary

RadioRadio HDX-PIT

BonnevilleNumbers tagged

Total: all studies

JDA: 79 HDX-PIT

Year

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Lam

pre

ys t

agg

ed

0

500

1000

1500

2000BON radioBON PITMCN radioJDA PITBO acoustic

2010 312 19 18 BON: 30 JSATS

Double-tag detection efficiencies

Total

52

Site

WA-shore exit

Dam

BON

detected

88%

Radiosdetected

85%

HD-PIT

25Bradford exitBON 100% 96%

31East exit (1)TDA 100% 86%

East exit (1+2)TDA 95%

16North exitTDA 100% 63%

8South exitJDA 100% 100%

1North exitJDA 100% 100%

* Missed detections included power outages, shed / failed tags

Biological Questions

• Local Scale– flume studies of swimming performance and

behavior – passage of individual fishway structures

• Meso-scale– dam passage metrics– inter-dam conversions

• Hydrosystem scale– multi-dam escapement and final distribution

Experimental fishway tests (1999-2008)

Cascade Island entrance HD-PIT antennasCascade Island entrance HD-PIT antennas

Half-duplexantennas

Half-duplexantennas

Detection efficiency of 84% double tagged fish (RT/HD; N = 31 CI double-tag entrances)


22%

0% 2%

76%

First antenna records


Detection of 68 HD-PIT tagged lampreysDetection of 68 HD-PIT tagged lampreys

41%

25%46%

85%

Percent detected at each antenna

Number of antennas: 34% (23) 1 of 4 antennas41% (28) 2 of 4 antennas19% (13) 3 of 4 antennas 6% (4) 4 of 4 antennas

LPS use, passage time, & passage efficiency estimates

Bradford Island Fishway

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

5/22

5/29 6/

5

6/12

6/19

6/26 7/

3

7/10

7/17

7/24

7/31 8/

7

8/14

8/21

8/28 9/

4

9/11

9/18

Num

ber o

f Lam

prey

Count Window

BI AWS LPSn= 6,441

n= 5,301






Dam passage estimates - 2009

Dam

BON TDA JDA MCN IHR PRD

Per

cen

t p

ast

(%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Radio onlyHD onlyDouble tag

Escapement from release below BON

1 June 1 July 1 Aug 1 Sept

Tim

e t

o p

ass

(d

)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Flo

w (

kcfs

)

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Passage times: Release past Bonneville Dam

Reach

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Co

rrel

atio

n c

oef

fici

ent

( r)

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

2006 2007

Flow Temperature Fish weight

*

*

*

*

*

**

*

*

*

***

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

* *

* *

Reach passage times: Effects of river environment

► Faster passage when warm, low flow

10 lower Columbia River reaches

Weight (g)

200-

250

250-

300

300-

350

350-

400

400-

450

450-

500

500-

550

550-

600

600-

650

650-

700

>700

Per

cen

t (%

)

0

20

40

60

80

1002005 (n = 841)2006 (n = 2000)2007 (n = 757)2008 (n = 608)2009 (n = 368)

Release to pass Bonneville Dam: HDX PIT

Upstream escapement: lamprey size effects

Weight (g)

200-250

250-300

300-350

350-400

400-450

450-500

500-550

550-600

600-650

650-700>700

Per

cen

t (%

)

0

20

40

60

80

100Double tagRadio onlyHD only

Fish size effects - 2009

Escapement: Release to Bonneville exit

Weighted regressions

r2 = 0.47

r2 = 0.08

r2 = 0.54

Small nSmall n






Dam passage estimates - 2009

Dam

BON TDA JDA MCN IHR PRD

Per

cen

t p

ast

(%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Radio onlyHD onlyDouble tag

Escapement from release below BON

Date and size effects

Site

Release Pass BO Pass TD Pass JD Pass MN

Wei

gh

t (g

)

300

400

500

600

700

Release date

15 May 1 June 15 June 1 July 15 July 1 Aug 15 Aug 1 Sep

Pro

bab

ility

of

pas

sag

e

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Bonneville

The Dalles

John Day

P < 0.001

Logistic regression

P = 0.03

P = 0.04

+5% +7% +14% +19%

Pattern is repeated in most radio and HDX-PIT studies

Common, but less universal effect

BON

TDA

JDA MCN

PRD

John Day RDeschutes R

Klickitat R

5%44%

Last detections: 172 HD-only fish that passed BON

Fishways = 9%

IHD

Tops of ladders, LPSs = 91%

22%

1%

24%

1%

1%

2%

Nonedetected at 3-Mile Dam

2009

Date

10 May 30 May 19 Jun 9 Jul 29 Jul 18 Aug 7 Sep 27 Sep

Co

un

ted

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Co

un

ted

0

100

200

300

400

500

2008 - Bonneville

2009 - Bonneville

Overwintering

Tagged

Detected

Conclusions

• HDX PIT-tag technology has been a critical tool in an integrated research program:– Radio-telemetry– Acoustic telemetry– Optical and acoustic camera imaging

• Assess movements and migration at multiple spatial scales

Future HDX-PIT applications

• Continued evaluation of fishway modifications, e.g., Lower Monumental Dam, Lower Granite dams (Now), Bonneville Washington Shore (2013)

• Tributary monitoring

• Migration success...

1980-2004

River Kilometer

200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Pro

po

rtio

n (

+/-

1 S

E)

0.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4

BO

TD

JD

MN

IH LoMo LoGoLGr BO

550 600 650 700

0.00

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

IH

LoMo

LoGo

LGr

BO

MN IH LGr

IH

LGr

American Shad and FDX PIT-tags

Migration system and “success”Philopatry Natal Stream

15 % Unsuccessful

Obstruction

85% Successful

Migration system and “success”Philopatry: Natal Stream

15 % Unsuccessful

Obstruction

85% Successful

Site infidelity:

15 % Successful

Obstruction

85% Successful

Migration system and “success”: Site infidelity

Unaltered migration corridor:

15 % Unsuccessful

Obstruction

85% Successful

Spawning Stream

Migration system and “success”: Site infidelity

Unaltered migration corridor:

15 % Unsuccessful

Obstruction

85% Successful

Altered migration corridor:

Spawning Stream

15 % Successful

Obstruction

85% “Successful”?

Migration system and “success”

Altered migration corridor: Obstruction

Altered migration corridor:

15 % Successful

Obstruction

85% Successful

Reduction in total population size &Need to assess lifetime fitness

“Successful”?

Resources• www.cnr.uidaho.edu/uiferl

– Technical reports and papers on HDX-PIT research

Effects of body size and river environment of the upstream migration of adult Pacific lampreys. N Am J Fish Manage 29:1214-1224

Variability in migration timing of adult Pacific lamprey in the Columbia River, USA. Enviro Biol Fishes 85:253-264

Testing adult Pacific lamprey performance at structural challenges in fishways. N Am J Fish Manage 30:376-385

Behavior of adult Pacific lamprey in near-field flow and fishway design experiments. Fish Manage & Ecol (in press)

Development of Pacific lamprey fishways at a hydropower dam. Fish Manage & Ecol (in press)

http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/uiferl

From release past dams

Dam

BO TD JD MN IH PR

Per

cen

t p

ast

(%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

2007200820092010

Reach escapement: radio-tagged fish

Transmitter and HDX PIT specs

32 mm HDX

Radio tag: NTC-4-2L

1997-2002 43 mm 11.0 mm

2002-2007

MCFT-3BM

NTC-6-2 29-30 mm 9.1 mm

2008-2009 NTC-4-2L 18 mm 8.3 mm

7.7 g

4.5 g

2.1 g

2005-2009 23 mm 4.0 mm 0.6 gHDX PIT

Radio

2005-2009 32 mm 4.0 mm 0.8 g

Year Model Length Diameter Weight

BON TDA

JDAMCN

IHR

PRD

Radiotelemetry

HDX-PIT

Monitoring systems: Hydrosystem scale

Radiotelemetry HDX PIT tag

Ladder exits

Tailraces

Fishways (limited JDA, PRD)

Ladder exits

LPS systems (BON)

Tributaries / Reservoirs

--

Fishway sites (BON, MCN, IHR)

--

--

Documents

The use of PIT tags to evaluate passage of adult Pacific lamprey at Columbia and Snake river dams Christopher Caudill, Charles Boggs, Eric Johnson, and