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THE OSPREY
The International Journal of Salmon and Steelhead Conservation
Issue No. 92 January 2019
An In-Depth Look at the Thompson
River Wild Steelhead Crisis
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
WILD FISH CONSERVATION HITS AND MISSES
• HATCHERY
STEELHEAD REPLACING DESCHUTES REDBANDS • CLIMATE
CHANGE AND SKAGIT SPAWNING TRIBUTARIESContents THE OSPREY
Columns & News
Chair
Pete Soverel
Editor
3 From the Perch — Editor’s Message Jim Yuskavitch
Editorial Committee
4 Hits and Misses — Chair’s Corner
Pete Soverel • Ryan Smith
Greg Knox • Ralf Kroning
5 Letters to the Editor Bruce McNae • Rich Simms
Scientific Advisors
Features
21 Fish Watch: Wild Fish News, Issues and Initiatives Rick Williams • Jack Stanford
Jim Lichatowich • Bill McMillan
Bill Bakke • Michael Price
Design & Layout
Jim Yuskavitch
6 Managing Thompson River Steelhead to Zero Letters To The Editor
The Osprey welcomes letters to the
By Bob Hooton editor. Article submissions are welcome
but queries in advance are preferred.
The Osprey
12 A Changing Climate and Steelhead in Mid-Skagit
69278 Lariat
River Tributaries Sisters, OR 97759
jyusk@bendcable.com
By Bill McMillan (541) 549-8914
The Osprey is a joint publication of not-for-profit or-
18 Hatchery Steelhead Replacing Wild Redbands on ganizations concerned with the conservation and sus-
tainable management of wild Pacific salmon and
Deschutes River Tributaries (and other problems) steelhead and their habitat throughout their native
and introduced ranges. This unique partnership in-
By Jim Yuskavitch cludes The Conservation Angler, Fly Fishers Interna-
tional, Steelhead Society of British Columbia,
Skeena Wild, World Salmon Forum, Trout Unlim-
Cover Photo Courtesy NASA ited and Wild Steelhead Coalition. Financial support
is provided by partner organizations, individuals, clubs
and corporations. The Osprey is published three times
Inset Photo by Jim Yuskavitch a year in January, May and September. All materials
are copyrighted and require permission prior to
reprinting or other use.
Steelhead Society of British Columbia
The Osprey © 2019
ISSN 2334-4075
2 The OspreyFROM THE PERCH — EDITOR’S MESSAGE
Singing the Shutdown Blues
by Jim Yuskavitch
A
s I write this column, it’s come from our national parks. Camp- being done in the forest with a reduced
the 31st day of the partial grounds are littered with garbage, presence of Forest Service staff where
government shutdown, set overflowing restrooms and at least firewood theft and poaching ESA-listed
off, as we all know by now, some people ignoring park rules that bull trout are ongoing problems.
by a political dispute over help protect their fragile environments. In addition, the shutdown has post-
whether or not to build a wall along the Visitors have been spotted (and some- poned wildfire-related work such as
US-Mexico border. times photographed) walking off board- firefighter training and planning for
And believe it or not, the shutdown walks onto sensitive meadows in prescribed burns to reduce fire danger
has even affected The Osprey, causing in western national forests. That could
a delay in some articles being turned in translate into bigger, harder-to-extin-
because authors affiliated with shut- guish fires this summer with poten-
tered federal agencies were among the Even The Osprey tially severe consequences for wild fish
approximately 800,000 furloughed and fish habitat.
workers or the peer-review process
wasn’t spared the At least for now, I’ve not heard of any
held up.
While The Osprey is often critical of
negative impact direct damage being done to wild Pa-
cific salmon and steelhead fisheries be-
government management of our wild
Pacific salmon and steelhead, many of
of the government cause of the shutdown, but when
agencies such as NOAA and the US Fish
our authors are government scientists, shutdown. and Wildlife Service are closed or sev-
and many of the ideas for stories origi- erly cut back, it doesn’t help any. Nei-
nate in federally-funded research. ther does it help when agencies like the
And even though conservationists and US Forest Service and Bureau of Land
wild fish advocates have many con- Yosemite National Park and letting Management that play important roles
cerns and disagreements with govern- their dogs run free with wildlife at Yel- in managing and restoring wild fish
ment oversight of natural resources, lowstone. Perhaps the most disturbing habitat are in the same boat. But if the
neverthelesss, the shutdown has also reports come from Joshua Tree Na- shutdown is reinstated, we will surely
highlighted how important agencies tional Park where people have driven see more repercussions for our wild
such as the National Oceanic and At- their off-road vehicles across the fish resources.
mospheric Administration, US Fish and desert, churning up the fragile soil, and There wasn’t much wild fish advo-
Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Bu- at least one incident of someone knock- cates could do to change the situation.
reau of Land Management, National ing down an ancient Joshua Tree. In But as we work to move the natural re-
Park Service and Environmental Pro- some cases, environmental damage source agencies to better and more ef-
tection Agency are to the nation’s pub- perpetrated during the shutdown may fective wild fish conservation and
licly-owned fish, wildlife, water and take decades or longer to recover — if recovery policies, we also need to rec-
land. ever. ognize the key role they play to eventu-
Perhaps the most disturbing stories of Here in central Oregon where I live, ally reach those goals.
the negative impacts of the shutdown who knows what kinds of damage is
How The Osprey Helps Wild Fish
The Osprey has been bringing the lat- So when you subscribe/donate to The
est science, policy, opinion and news Osprey, you not only receive a subscrip-
stories to its readers supporting wild
Pacific salmon and steelhead conserva-
Sending The Osprey to tion yourself, but you also help us put
The Osprey into the hands of the people
tion and management for 31 years. But decision makers is we need bring to our side to save our
we are much more than a publication wild fish.
that you subscribe to because of your key to our wild fish Please go to the subscription/donation
own interest in wild fish conservation. form on page 23 or on-line at
The funds we receive from our sub- conservation advocacy. http://www.theconservationangler.com
scribers allows us send The Osprey to and donate whatever you are able.
wild fish conservation decision-makers Your support makes Thank you.
and influencers including scientists,
fisheries managers, politicians and wild that possible. Jim Yuskavitch
fish advocates. Editor, The Osprey
January 2019 • Issue No. 92 3HITS & MISSES — CHAIR’S CORNER
Net Pens Out, Salmon Wasted
By Pete Soverel
I
n this and future issues of The ery. Indeed, Idaho had authorized ille- gered Species Act for two decades.
Osprey, I will briefly touch on gal fisheries each year since 2010. Over that period, stocks have continued
concurrent successes and fail- Under this threat, ID F&G came to their to decline towards extinction in spite of
ures regarding wild steelhead senses and agreed to a series of conser- legal, ESA requirements that manage-
and salmon management. Sadly, vation measures and submitted a fish- ment agencies must adopt programs
setbacks typically outweigh progress, ing plan to the National Oceanic and and practices to promote their recov-
in large part because management Atmospheric Administration. But the ery. Declines in some stocks such as
agencies remain wedded to policies and plan they submitted is more or less Snake River wild B-run summer steel-
practices that not only haven’t worked, identical to the last one it submitted in head and Willamette winter run steel-
but have been demonstrably counter- 2010. In our view, this plan is deeply head have been dramatic. For example,
productive. This general observation is flawed and should not be approved by wild Willamette winter steelhead re-
particularly true regarding hatchery NOAA without a full-scale federal envi- turns have plummeted from about
and harvest practices over which man- ronment review. After all the proof is in 11,000 to 800-900 in the past ten years
agement agencies have direct control the pudding — wild Idaho steelhead are or so.
yet persist with actions that, based heading for extinction. In any case, the Similarly, dire conditions apply to in-
upon observable results, are positively conservation coalition has changed the terior Fraser River steelhead stocks
counter-productive and harmful. terms of debate in Idaho. It will no with current runs to the Thompson and
longer be business as usual. Chilcoltin rivers totaling less than 200
HITS Selective Harvest
fish. Response of the Canadian Depart-
ment of Fisheries and Oceans, Provin-
cial authorities and tribal managers is
Atlantic Salmon Net Pen Phase Out Washington has approved a commer- nothing, just business as usual. Even
cial demonstration project of a pound more shocking, the reported First Na-
Washington State decides to phase out net in the lower Columbia (see page 21 tion landings of steelhead is one. Let me
all open water Atlantic salmon net pens for more information on this exciting, repeat that — one. This doesn’t even
by 2025 as current aquaculture com- innovative harvest methodology). begin to pass the laugh test.
pany leases expire and will not be re- Many FN fisheries are completely un-
newed. This is huge and leaves British
Columbia as the only remaining mis- MISSES monitored by federal, provincial or
tribal enforcement personnel. Check
guided authority permitting these envi- out these photos of a typical fish waste
ronmental disasters to continue. Even Failure to Protect Wild Salmon and incident. Contrary to official Depart-
in BC, under pressure from First Na- Steelhead ment of Fisheries and Oceans and First
tions and local advocates, Broughton Nations statements that the fish are col-
Archipelago net pens will be closed The biggest miss is the on-going and lected, they are not. No DFO or FN en-
over the next five years. complete failure of responsible man- forcement folks show up, but FN folks
agement agencies to protect wild try to minimize the impact by throwing
Columbia and Snake Rivers Wild Steel- salmon and steelhead stocks through-
head Conservation out their American and Canadian
ranges. Especially shocking are the sta-
Faced with the lowest projected wild tus of stocks in the most productive sys-
steelhead returns, especially Snake tems — Sacramento, Columbia/Snake,
River B-runs, Washington and Oregon Fraser, Dean and Skeena. For example,
fish and wildlife commissions estab- Columbia basin wild salmon and steel-
lished a set of coldwater refugia on the head are in grave trouble, with many
lower Columbia River, where there are stocks facing high risk of near-term ex-
in-flows of cold water, to protect mi- tirpation and hundreds of locally
grating fish that congregate in those lo- adapted stocks already extinct because
cations. Idaho declined to enact any their migration corridors are blocked
conservation measure to protect histor- by high, impassable dams. In aggre-
ically meager wild steelhead runs, gate, current wild Columbia salmon and
which prompted a coalition of conser- steelhead populations are no more than
vation organizations to sue because the about 1% and more likely about .25 of Here’s one the First Nations monitors
Idaho Department of Fish and Game 1% of historic abundance. All surviving missed. Photo courtesy Symon Kirchner
did not have Endangered Species Act stocks have been listed as threatened or
permits to conduct any steelhead fish- endangered under the federal Endan- Continued on next page
4 The OspreyContinued from previous page Over the next several issues, The Os-
prey will feature issues related to
the wasted fish into the river. US/Canadian tribal/First Nations fish-
These fish are all males. The females eries: how they are authorized; alloca-
have been stripped for their roe while tions fixed; monitored; enforced and;
males are simply discarded. Want conservation issues related to double
more? dipping — tribal fishers who fish in
commercial open-
ers, tribal openers,
subsistence openers
and so on. The first
of that series is by
Bob Hooton ad-
dressing Thompson
River steelhead be-
ginning on page 6.
Pete Soverel is
Chair of The Osprey
Management Com-
mittee, and Presi-
Male salmon discarded along the Fraser
dent and Founder of
River, British Columbia. Photo courtesy
Male salmon left to rot along the Fraser River, British Colum- The Conservation Symon Kirchner
bia. Photo courtesy Symon Kirchner Angler.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
My Heart Leaped
Dear Editor:
My heart leaped up when I beheld the lovely new magazine named The Osprey in beautiful black and white with the fine fish-
hunting hawk in what looked to me as an osprey in dive, not on a salmonid but on fish opinion of the world.
Each article, especially Jack Stanford and Rick Williams' The Efficacy and Role of Hatcheries in Securing the Future of Pacific
Rim Wild Salmon, expressed The Osprey's long, long effort to bring facts, bring science to the many stubbornly ignorant who
still have control of managing salmonids in this part of the world. It has been a long, hard slog on the part of The Osprey man-
agers and editors. A slog that has to continue so long as salmonids swim and struggle to replicate their kinds.
I say bravo to editor Jim Yuskavitch for his excellent work and bravo to Chair Pete Soverel for foresight, efforts and skills in
uplifting and maintaining The Osprey. If I may I also give kudos to John Sager, who eons ago struggled with the then primitive
computers and my rush-rush editorial efforts to get the newsletter known as The Osprey out to hands waiting for science about
the destinies of the fish who honor us with their presences.
Jack de Yonge
New Jersey
Editor’s Note: Jack de Yonge was a long-time member of the Steelhead Committee and editor of The Osprey from 1990 to 1993.
Making a Difference
Dear Editor:
I wish to thank you on your article by Jack Stanford and Rick Williams (The Efficacy and Role of Hatcheries in Securing the
Future of Pacific Rim Wild Salmon, September 2018). It clarified my thoughts on hatcheries. I was very pleased as it answered
my many questions I have had over the years concerning hatcheries. When one has an animal that is so predictable as salmon,
why screw it up? Watching those minnows swim round and round in a tank, it is amazing to me that they find their way home at
all. I have said to myself while watching them, good bye to biodiversity. I certainly hope that your international journal will
help make a difference.
Mike Harris
Comox, British Columbia
January 2019 • Issue No. 92 5Managing Thompson River Steelhead to Zero
An in-depth look at a legendary river’s wild steelhead crisis
By Robert Hooton
R
eaders of The Osprey are smaller than the southern resident orca ferred stretch of the river around the
no doubt aware there has population but how many people have confluence of its major tributary, the
been a steadily developing ever heard of those steelhead? The only Nicola River, was ruled out of bounds
conservation crisis with re- fish left to fight for are the Thompson’s. for fishing from a boat decades ago.
spect to British Columbia’s For perspective, consider a comment The TRS fishery does not have any-
revered Thompson River steelhead by a retired professional colleague where near the longevity of other leg-
(TRS). The evolution of issues and upon receiving the most recent status endary fisheries such as those of
processes surrounding those fish and report on TRS. “J---- C-----, there are several California streams, Oregon’s
their status is difficult to stay abreast more people on the distribution list than Umpqua and Deschutes rivers , Wash-
of but it’s worth a snapshot circa late there are steelhead!” ington’s Skagit or Idaho’s Clearwater. It
2018 nonetheless. only emerged on the angling scene
I suspect an early question that will Some Background after the Second World War and the im-
surface among readers of these com- provements in road access through the
ments is why would a little-known, free- TRS are not just a unique stock among Fraser Canyon and beyond. By then the
lance, long retired government the 450 or more separately identifiable Thompson’s steelhead had already been
fisheries biologist sound off in an subjected to 75 years of commercial
American based conservation oriented fishing by fleet sizes that dwarf those
publication on a Canadian issue? Two of the present. Seasons bracketed the
answers – first, there is no similar pub- Thompson River entire spawner immigration timing as
lication north of the 49th parallel with well as the kelt emigration period. The
anywhere near the reach of The Osprey.
steelhead are an only things that ever constrained com-
Second, Thompson River steelhead are
an international treasure. They know no
international treasure. mercial gill netting of the mainstem
Fraser all through its tidal reaches in
borders. The anglers who have experi-
enced them are brothers and sisters of
Anglers who have those years was winter ice and the de-
bris that accompanied headwaters
a common mother. To a one they are
deeply concerned this one of a kind
experienced them are snowmelt in spring.
It wasn’t until the late 1970s that the
steelhead population is on the brink of deeply concerned they first attempts to establish steelhead
extirpation. Canadian politicians seem abundance commenced. The estimates
oblivious to that fact. They need to be will soon be extirpated. from that point forward are best illus-
educated and held accountable for their trated by material developed by the
negligence and dereliction of duty. The provincial steelhead management biol-
more I can do to educate the broadest stocks in British Columbia. That habit- ogists.
possible constituency in the hope that ually applied word falls well short of The low point in Figure 1 represents
enough pressure can be brought to bear recognizing the stature of these fish. the final number of steelhead (150) es-
to actually do something to arrest the They are big, they have a long known timated to have made it to spawning in
demise of those fish, the better I will genetic make-up that imparts superior the spring of 2018. Clearly that is the
sleep. swimming performance (i.e. they com- all time low. The prediction for 2019 is
I should clarify right at the outset that monly fight like hell) and they arrive in only marginally higher.
TRS are one of a group of steelhead, in- a river with enough volume and gradi- The three zones identifying spawner
cluding Thompson, Chilcotin, Nahat- ent during the season when water tem- populations theoretically required to
latch, Bridge, Seton and Stein, perature optimizes aggressiveness. meet abundance levels that would ac-
originating from tributaries of the mid- Together these are the attributes that commodate different sport fishing
dle reaches of the Fraser River up- underlie those frequent numerous ac- management regulations. Those zones
stream from Boston Bar (about 150 counts of epic angling encounters. Road and the theory behind them are de-
miles upstream from Vancouver). This access, accommodation and services scribed in a 2016 document titled
group is identified as Interior Fraser immediately at hand and all within a “Provincial Framework for Steelhead
Steelhead (IFS) on the basis of common day trip of Vancouver — where else has Management in BC”. For those who are
genetics. The focus on the Thompson such a combination of features been so interested in reviewing that frame-
here and now is because the other IFS readily available in modern times? It work, it can be found at:
stocks have been so depressed for so helps that the river is classified, guid- http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/docs/P
long they have disappeared from the ing is forbidden and boats have been a rovincial-Framework-for-Steelhead-
steelhead landscape. The Chilcotin relatively minor feature of the fishery Management-in-BC-April-2016.pdf
River stock, for example, is now for most of its history. The most pre- Continued on next page
6 The OspreyContinued from previous page recover when less than half of such a
pathetically low escapement goal is
being realized. Such a number obvi-
ously fails to accommodate any sport
fishery. It also implies that if by some
stoke of luck the stock ever did recover
to that level or anything beyond, it
would be entirely acceptable to fish the
stock right back down to that level.
As we will see below, the people who
prepared and signed off on the steel-
head management framework have vir-
tually no ability to move Thompson
River steelhead out of the extreme con-
servation concern zone. That is not a re-
flection on their commitment or
dedication but merely a statement on
the political realities of the times.
Jurisdictions
Multiple jurisdictions with competing
mandates and objectives are never a
recipe for effective resource manage-
Figure 1. The estimated pre-fishery abundance of Thompson and Chilcotin steelhead
ment. Any British Columbia steelhead
from the time provincial government biologists first began concerted efforts to make
that approaches fresh water in times
those estimates to the present. Thompson steelhead contribute roughly 75% of
and places where commercial and First
these numbers. Source: Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations
Nation (FN) fisheries are prevalent
and Rural Development.
face major obstacles in that respect.
Figure 2. Thompson River steelhead spawner abundance. Source: Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations
and Rural Development.
Stated simply and in the context of the spawners are distributed perfectly over
The federal government’s Department
status of Thompson River steelhead, all the total available steelhead-producing
of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has do-
a person needs to know is the threshold habitat. What are those odds? If you’re
main over all recreational, commercial
for falling into that “extreme conserva- like me, you’ll probably wonder why a
and FN fisheries in both marine and
tion concern zone” is the stock is at less river system whose stock specific Chi-
freshwater environments. However, ad-
than 10% of the abundance needed to nook and sockeye salmon escapement
ministration of the freshwater recre-
seed the steelhead producing habitat of targets number in the thousands and
ational fishery has been delegated to
its river of origin. Moreover, that is tens of thousands (even hundreds of
the Province of British Columbia. On
only in a perfect world where the ratio thousands in the case of Adams River
of males to females is optimal and the sockeye), respectively, is expected to
Continued on next page
January 2019 • Issue No. 92 7Continued from previous page an era where we are compelled to have the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC)
“free and informed prior consent” for have provided all the necessary back-
surface that would appear manageable. any resource management decisions ground to understand when and where
It isn’t and it is getting worse in that re- perceived to impact First Nations. In TRS steelhead are encountered. The
spect. the context of managing fisheries that PSC test fishing sites are located on the
Within the provincial government hi- influence the status of Thompson River following maps. The DFO sites are
erarchy there are now multiple min- steelhead, this manifests itself in DFO fewer but also cover Johnstone Strait
istries (the provincial analogue of US being compelled to consult and negoti- and the lower Fraser River. The stan-
federal departments) with a stake in the ate any fishery that might have bearing dard method of estimating the in-sea-
future of TRS. The ministry most peo- on those fish. Between DFO’s chronic son abundance of TRS for at least the
ple assume is in charge is Forests, negligence and denial with respect to last 30 years is the chum test fishery
Lands, Natural Resource Operations the influence of fisheries under its ju- that DFO runs at Albion, at essentially
and Rural Development (FLNRORD). risdiction on steelhead and the large the same location as Whonnock on the
(How’s that title for emasculating fish- number of individual FNs spread along maps on the following page.
eries management?) In fact, it is an- the TRS migration corridor, such a sys- Management of the fisheries that im-
other Ministry (Agriculture) that tem cannot possibly reduce pressure on pact TRS most has nothing to do with
assumes the lead role. That relates to those fish. their abundance. Despite their status as
the Agriculture people being the licens- endangered and recommended for list-
ing and marketing agency for the com- ing under Canada’s Species At Risk Act,
mercial fish processing industry and its not a single fishery under the jurisdic-
products, including farmed Atlantic DFO’s denial of the tion of DFO and known to impact those
steelhead has ever been adjusted ac-
salmon. When steelhead run timing
overlaps that of commercially targeted influence of cordingly. Talk yes, adjustments no.
species like sockeye and chum salmon, The only fisheries that are ever man-
and pressure is brought to bear on DFO commercial and First aged according to anticipated abun-
for announcing commercial and First dance of target species are those
Nations net fishery openings that obvi- Nations fisheries focused on chum and sockeye salmon.
ously impact Thompson fish, the only International treaties force that ap-
provincial voice ever heard by DFO cannot reduce pressure proach for sockeye while the price of
comes from the Agriculture people. chum roe is the primary driver of the
Complicating the picture is the pres- on Thompson River latter. These remarks speak only to the
commercial fishery interception of
ence of two other provincial ministries
— Aboriginal Affairs and Reconcilia-
steelhead. steelhead. The other fishery of greater
tion and Environment. The former’s significance today is the First Nations
title speaks to its mandate. The latter is fishery that occurs everywhere from
supposed to address environmental is- Management the mouth of the Fraser and all along
sues but also compliance and enforce- the migration corridor of TRS, all the
ment. Conservation Officers who at one No one can influence the number of way to Kamloops Lake. Keep in mind
time dealt almost exclusively with fish- Thompson bound steelhead departing there are also FNs fishing with either
ing and hunting now spend very little central North Pacific pastures. Our in- owned or contracted vessels that par-
time on these traditional activities. tervention begins when they enter the take of regular commercial fisheries in
Both federal and provincial govern- south coast waters of BC and must pass tidal waters, both near shore and
ments espouse the gospel of the United through seine and gill net fleets. The through the tidal areas of the lower
Nations Declaration of the Rights of In- fish have two possible migration corri- Fraser itself. There is also a docu-
digenous People and trumpet the word dors to Mother Fraser. One is down the mented fishery by FN anglers targeting
reconciliation at every opportunity. Un- outside of Vancouver Island and around TRS in the Thompson River itself in the
derlying all of that is the Canadian Con- its southern tip, through Juan de Fuca winter months.
stitution Act (1982) that affirmed and Strait and into the river. The other is in- Whereas the textbook description of
recognized the rights of aboriginal peo- side down through Johnstone Strait (see fisheries management implies knowl-
ple and laid the foundation for the ex- map). In earlier years the split between edge of target species abundance, har-
isting order of priority in terms of inside and outside routes was important vest safely available, a system of
fisheries management, namely, 1) con- because mixed stock net fisheries off administering and quantifying harvest
servation, 2) food, social and ceremo- Nitinat (near the entrance to Juan de and adequate monitoring of compliance
nial use by First Nations and 3) Fuca Strait) intercepted Thompson to ensure harvest is not exceeded, that
commercial and recreational fisheries. bound fish. More recently those nets is clearly not the case for steelhead.
The net effect is steelhead simply do have been moved inshore and presently Last year was a prime example. There
not warrant anything other than lip do not appear to impact TRS. The other were exactly two steelhead encoun-
service from either federal or provin- fisheries, the Johnstone Strait gill net tered by DFO’s Albion test fishery be-
cial governments. and seine fisheries are much more tween October 1 and its termination on
The emergence of a third and equal problematic. When unleashed by DFO November 23. Alarm bells were ringing
level of government, First Nations, has to harvest late returning sockeye loudly for three weeks before that. Yet,
become an integral component of life in salmon and, immediately thereafter, DFO called multiple seine and gill net
Canada. Between our constitutional ob- chum salmon, TRS are exposed. openings in Johnstone Strait and fur-
ligations and multiple court decisions Genetics work and salmon focused ther south before and since. Worse still,
pursuant to them we find ourselves in test fisheries conducted by DFO and
Continued on next page
8 The Ospreyrecords are embarrassing.
For example, the published
DFO tally of FN territory by
territory, week by week har-
vest of steelhead between the
mouth of the Fraser and the
lower Fraser Canyon (~115
miles) over the entire period
when interior bound steel-
head would be expected to be
present (September 1
through early November)
over the past four years is
two fish (one in 2018 and one
in 2016). There are no
records whatsoever for the
substantial FN fisheries that
occur anywhere upstream,
nor is there any acknowl-
edgement of that previously
mentioned harvest of TRS by
FN anglers who fish the
Thompson in winter. Square
that with DFO’s records of
steelhead caught by its Al-
bion chum test fishery. In
making two sets per day (one
hour each), often only on al-
ternate days the single test
fishery net caught 28 steel-
head in that same period.
The reported commercial
catch of steelhead is no bet-
ter. Commercial fishers
learned long ago that ac-
knowledgement of actual
steelhead catch could never
be to their benefit. DFO is
fully aware of the deficien-
cies of their published catch
data but has never footnoted
or qualified its own numbers.
Over time, they are inter-
Source: Pacific Salmon Commission
preted and applied as iron-
clad evidence of no problem
dealt with successfully. There are mul- by those whose interest is not served by
tiple eye witness descriptions and an disclosure or conservation. Alaska fig-
Continued from previous page
abundance of photographic and video ured it out many years ago when the in-
the legally sanctioned FN fisheries evidence of FN net fisheries accounting terception of Skeena origin steelhead
which were mandated as beach seines for large numbers of salmon, often- by its net fleets in Districts 104 and 106
only (because they are deemed to be times with nothing more taken than the (Southeast Alaska) was brought to light.
“selective”) all through the late return- roe from chums. These accounts typi- They made that issue disappear quickly
ing Adams River sockeye run timing cally elicit expressions of righteous in- with the simple measure of forbidding
were promptly replaced by gill net fish- dignation from FN leaders and the landing and retention of steelhead.
eries targeting chum salmon as soon as commitments to deal with transgres- No data equals no problem.
the sockeye were thought to be past. sors. No one seems able to provide evi- In terms of summarizing fisheries
The fact that the chum and steelhead dence that ever happens or that the management and how it is prosecuted
run timing overlap never enters the frequency of incidents has diminished. in relation to TRS (and, in fact, steel-
consciousness of the people who control The politics involved preclude the in- head in general), the description is
those fisheries. tervention of DFO enforcement offi- quite simple: The recreational fishery
The legal FN fisheries are only part cers as anything more than in times and places where TRS are
of the story of the impact of their fish- messengers. likely to be encountered has been
eries on TRS. Beyond DFO authorized In terms of quantifying the impact of closed since 2017. For many years be-
fisheries there is a very obvious un- any of the net fisheries on TRS (or any fore that the Thompson itself was reg-
sanctioned fishery that no one has ever others in British Columbia) the formal
Continued on next page
January 2019 • Issue No. 92 9Continued from previous page the stock. These stocks are sub-
Level of control exercised by managers and fishery that influences abundance of however, and that has much to do
ject to fishing mortality at sea,
Thompson River steelhead with declines in the number of
fish that reach age 4 to 6.
Variable Commercial First Nations Recreational clining age at spawning because
Whereas TRS do not display de-
Harvest Management Low Nil High
they don’t get harvested by com-
mercial fisheries to the same ex-
Catch Accounting Low Nil Moderate
tent as Alaska Chinook they do
exhibit declining size at age.
The other steadily accumulat-
Enforcement Nil Nil High
ing evidence of problems at sea
concerns the potential overload-
Source: Robert Hooton
ing of the entire north Pacific
and Gulf of Alaska ecosystem
with hatchery origin chum and
ulated on a single barbless hook, artifi- less than 1 in the past 2 years. pink salmon. Alaska’s ocean ranching
cial lure only, catch and release basis. The age composition of TRS has not proponents are no small part of that
No credible case can be made that fish- changed, so the decline in maximum problem but Japan’s chum hatcheries
ery has had any impact on TRS returns size can only be related to growth at are an even bigger issue. A ten-fold in-
over that period and more. The recre- sea. This is a mirror image of wild Chi- crease in hatchery chum output over
ational fishers swallowed the bitter pill nook stocks along the Pacific coast. In the period of record has been shown to
of closure because DFO contended they Southeast Alaska there is a long-term influence the primary food items avail-
could not restrict the FN fisheries if data set on wild fish originating from a able to both Chinook and steelhead. The
any recreational fishery remained large number of streams whose habitat ultimate link to TRS occurs when the
open. Given the extent of the sanc- is unaltered over the period of record. returns of enhanced Japanese chum
tioned and unsanctioned fisheries the The pattern of declining size at age is fail, as they did in 2018, driving the de-
FN community has been conducting on also common there. Commensurate mand for chum roe from this side of the
the Fraser River this year, one can only with that there has been a major reduc- Pacific upward. The commensurate
ask how DFO passes the red face test tion in the age composition of female rise in price of that luxury product en-
for conservation after the recreational spawners. Formerly dominant 4 to 6 courages ever more targeting of ma-
fishers, the least impactful by far, have
voluntarily stopped fishing.
Anecdotal Observations
Thompson River steelhead are
renowned for their size, as indicated
previously. They are also on the high
end of the fecundity spectrum. That has
been a large part of the rationale for
such low thresholds for the aforemen-
tioned zones of conservation concern
and extreme conservation concern.
There is a very important pattern evi-
dent, however. The maximum size of
TRS has been on a downward trend for
the past 40 years. From those trophy
winning weights in the high 20-pound
class and frequently breaking 30
pounds up until 1978, the maximum size
has dropped steadily to range between
the high teens and low 20s since about
1990. In fact the weight of the largest
steelhead sampled by the provincial bi- A close up of the annual Thompson River steelhead trophy derby winners of yester-
ologists since 1990 was about 25 pounds year and the weights of their winning fish. Those are the kinds of steelhead the Thomp-
and there have been only four other son once produced. Photo by Robert Hooton.
years since then where the largest fish
recorded reached 22 pounds. None of ture chums for nothing more than their
the fish sampled in the last four years year olds have been replaced by 3 year eggs. The most concentrated fishery
exceeded 20 pounds. Predictably, there olds whose fecundity and average egg for those chums occurs in the estuaries
has been a corresponding decline in the size translates to escapement require- and rivers of southwestern BC. When
number of recruits per spawner, from ments far in excess of what they were there are 150 TRS migrating through
between 9 and 13 in the mid-1980s to given the original age composition of Continued on next page
10 The OspreyContinued from previous page
the same waters as a million chum
salmon (the DFO forecast for south
coast chum salmon in 2018) the addic-
tion to the lucrative chum roe fishery
trumps conservation.
The point in raising declining size at
age of TRS is to emphasize the impor-
tance of increasing escapement, not
just to previously calculated thresh-
olds, but to levels well beyond to offset
the negative influence smaller and
fewer eggs on recruitment of smolts
and, eventually, adults. Given the point
on the stock recruitment curve TRS are
at, the only logical method of improving
their status is reducing harvest to en-
sure the fish that do begin a homeward
journey from their ocean feeding
grounds arrive on redds.
The other instructive piece of data
that I see no evidence has ever been
considered in debates around manage-
able factors influencing the number of
Source: Coquihalla River snorkel survey, Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Re-
TRS making it home is the annual
source Operations and Rural Development
counts of summer steelhead in the Co-
quihalla River, a coastal summer steel-
head tributary of the Fraser about 100 Processes them — as endangered.
miles east of Vancouver. To those who The ultimate decision will not rest on
contend seals are responsible for popu- The one big lesson we should have the worth of Thompson River steelhead
lation declines because they eat all the learned by now it is that process is as an angling treasure or on their sym-
smolts and/or that ocean productivity, never an answer. It would take no small bol as the canary in the coal mine. In-
not nets is the limiting factor, I say book to list the number of government stead, it will almost certainly center on
please explain the figure on this page. and non-government sponsored groups, the sheer economics of conservation. If
Coquihalla smolts exit the Fraser at organizations, societies, associations, one wades through the plethora of ma-
the same time and via the same route as councils, alliances, secretariats, etc. terial DFO has put in circulation, the
TRS smolts. Logically, they occupy the that have engaged in many dozens at only conclusion likely is the cost-bene-
same ocean at the same time and travel least of meetings, symposiums, sum- fit of conserving TRS is daunting. Sig-
the same migration routes on their re- mits, conferences, or whatever, all with nificantly constraining, much less
turn. The argument that the TRS habi- the intent of conserving Thompson ending, lucrative commercial and First
tat has been seriously compromised River steelhead. I challenge anyone in- Nations fisheries for the sake of 150
doesn’t hold up either. The Coquihalla volved in any of those processes to pro- steelhead whose only supporters are a
has suffered far more habitat abuse duce evidence a single TRS has been bunch of anglers who can’t get on the
than any part of the Thompson. Fur- saved as a result. Even a submission by same page and have taken themselves
thermore, the steelhead producing area the University of Victoria’s Environ- out of the equation by agreeing to cease
of the Coquihalla is a tiny fraction of mental Law Center on behalf of BC’s fishing, is a pretty unlikely outcome.
the Thompson’s. The only difference largest fish and wildlife advocacy or-
between the two stocks is the Coqui- ganization, the BC Wildlife Federation,
halla fish travel through BC coastal wa- to Canada’s Auditor General requesting
ters and the lower Fraser before the net an examination of Canada’s failure to
fisheries for salmon are underway. protect endangered Pacific salmon and Robert Hooton retired as supervisor of
They enter the Fraser during runoff steelhead under its own Species at Risk the Fish and Wildlife Section for the
when high water and debris limit FN Act (SARA) has gone unanswered for British Columbia Ministry of Environ-
fisheries even if there was enough more than seven months. ment’s Vancouver Island Regional Of-
early returning Chinook salmon left to The future of TRS rests with the ulti- fice in 2008.
invite netting effort at that time. mate process now unfolding. That is the
Whereas we have no hope of influenc- DFO facilitated public consultation on
ing ocean rearing conditions and little the recommendation of Canada’s desig-
prospect of harvesting enough pin- nated science community experts
nipeds to make any difference (even if (COSEWIC) to proceed with the SARA
they were proven to be a problem for listing of the stock group, Interior
TRS) we can exercise full control over Fraser Steelhead, which Thompson
nets if we are serious about conserva- River steelhead dominate — all 150 of
tion.
January 2019 • Issue No. 92 11A Changing Climate and Steelhead
The race for survival in Washington’s mid-Skagit tributaries
By Bill McMillan
A
fter ten years of conduct- tively long list of people responsible for sions from the observations made. It
ing independent spawning Skagit Basin fisheries management, also coincided with weather and stream
surveys at five mid-Skagit and to those known to otherwise have flow conditions that may provide a
River Basin tributary interests in Skagit Basin steelhead and glimpse of what the increasing effects
creeks in Washington what recovery progress may, or may of climate change will result in the com-
State, several salmon and steelhead not, be occurring. The report provides ing 10 to 50 years and the challenges
spawning year proved particularly re- a discussion of what was found in the that will confront fisheries managers
vealing for steelhead. The findings spring of 2015 and what the implica- for effective wild steelhead recovery.
suggest that while a warming climate tions for the steelhead future may be As one example, I recorded precipita-
may increase steelhead spawning mor- for similar steelhead spawning streams tion with a rain gage near the mouth of
tality in Washington State’s Skagit in the Skagit Basin. Savage Creek’s entry to the mid-Skagit
River tributaries, natural selection may Since 2015 the wild steelhead spawn- River beginning in the fall of 2001. The
also increase overall survival by select- ing returns to Finney and O’Toole average rainfall in that time for the
ing for earlier spawning fish, especially creeks have continued to greatly in- April/May period was 10.456” but in
as the Washington Department of Fish crease, more modestly increased at 2015 was 6.885”, only 66% of the aver-
and Wildlife phases out planting of age. May’s rainfall was only 1.4” in
hatchery fish. 2015 compared to an average of 4.216”,
From the first fall rains with salmon Findings suggest that 33% of average and the lowest rainfall
entry, until the end of steelhead spawn- in 15 recorded Mays. This coincided
ing in latter May or early June, I have a warming climate with a winter of little snow accumula-
conducted independent spawning sur- tion, particularly at the lower elevation
veys since 2009/10 at five primary Mid may increase spawning hills that surround the mid-Skagit Val-
Skagit River tributary streams (O’- ley. Yet, winter rainfall was at least
Toole, Mill, Savage, Finney, and Dry mortality, but natural normal. High and low temperatures
creeks). 2018/19 is the 10th year of
doing so. In three of the most recent
selection may also throughout Puget Sound’s fall and win-
ter were well above normal, causing
four survey years, the probable effects
of progressing climate change have
increase overall this anomaly and divergence from past
winter trends of normal-to-better snow
been particularly evident. Particularly
dry periods in April/May have resulted
survival. accumulation during normal-to-better
rainfall years (see Cliff Mass, Univer-
in those tributary creeks that are inter- sity of Washington meteorologist, May
mittent going dry earlier than occurred Mill Creek, slightly increased at Savage 18, 2015 weather blog
in the past 20 years of living near these Creek, and have significantly declined http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/).
streams. Two of these go dry every year at Dry Creek. Savage and Dry creeks Intermittency of stream flows during
(Savage and Dry creeks), and one some are the most severely affected by inter- the previous five years of surveys has
years but not others (Mill Creek). Fur- mittency duration, where past hatchery been identified as a probable primary
thermore, one of the perennial tributar- steelhead spawning was most fre- driver of steelhead spawning time in
ies has numerous side channels that are quently observed, and with the least ev- mid-Skagit tributaries that begin to go
intermittent and are going dry earlier idence of wild recovery progress to dry by late June (Figure 1, from McMil-
than in the past (Finney Creek). Only date. A great contrast in wild steelhead lan 2015). It was also thought that more
one of the five streams regularly sur- recovery progress is evident in the five general patterns of streamflow varia-
veyed has been relatively unaffected in mid-Skagit tributaries regularly sur- tions during the spawning season and
recent years from its past history of veyed. The evidence suggests that re- water temperatures also likely con-
being perennial throughout and cool of covery progress can differ by specific tributed to steelhead spawning time
flow (O’Toole Creek). The first year of tributary hydrological characteristics, that may otherwise vary to some de-
particularly dramatic change occurred and by past hatchery steelhead interac- gree by these environmental factors —
in the flow patterns in the spring of tion history. as much as 30 to 40 day differences in
2015 that happened to also coincide The spawning return at Finney spawning time peaks. However, there
with a significant increase in returning Creek was greater than any in the re- were not specific enough streamflow
wild steelhead spawning at two of the cent past to comparatively draw from and temperature data taken from which
five tributaries (O’Toole and Finney (past high 20 redds found in 2014 com- to find very significant correlations to
creeks). The report that follows was pared to 101 redds in 2015). This in- steelhead spawning time. Recognizing
written at the end of the 2015 spawning crease in spawning evidence provided this, during each spawning survey at
season. It was distributed to a rela- the opportunity to draw more conclu-
Continued on next page
12 The OspreyContinued from previous page (Figure 2). culties for me to do spawning surveys,
Although Finney Creek appears to be which was often high with turbid flows.
each creek during the full extent of the an outlier in an otherwise greater per- This may have resulted in lack of find-
October 2014 through May 2015 centage of early steelhead spawning co- ing better evidence of early spawning
salmon/steelhead spawning season, inciding with ascendance of warmer that may have actually occurred. This
water and air temperatures were me- average water temperatures, the high was not similarly a constraint on the
thodically taken. Although it remains stream temperatures in May of 2015 smaller creeks.
that tools to determine daily stream- may be particularly anomalous to those Particularly revealing from the water
flows were not available, the tempera- of the past at Finney Creek. Finney’s temperature data taken in 2014/2015
ture data taken compared to whether source is considerably higher elevation are those of Savage Creek just below a
steelhead spawned earlier (prior to than the other four creeks surveyed large pond as compared to those meas-
March 15th) or later (after March 15th) with more commonly lingering effects ured just above it, and to those of
helps to further explain some of the of snowmelt to its flow than at the oth- Finney Creek (Figure 3). During most
variations in steelhead spawning time ers. But this year there was little such of the fall and winter, Savage Creek
associated with intermittent streams contribution to Finney Creek’s flow below the pond was about one degree
Figure 1
after April. Also, in January and much Fahrenheit (F) warmer than just above
of February, Finney Creek posed diffi- the pond. However, after cold spells
during which Savage Pond had iced
over and the ice remained for several
days even after the weather warmed, it
resulted in lingering colder tempera-
tures by a degree or two (F) below the
pond than above it. By mid-March the
temperatures below the pond began to
increasingly diverge with greater
warmth from those above the pond. As
much as intermittency, these rapidly
warming temperatures may result in
discontinuation of most steelhead entry
for spawning purposes into Savage
Creek as evidenced by nearly all steel-
head spawning there being prior to
March 15th (94% overall in the period of
2010-2014, and 100% in both 2014 and
2015).
At Finney Creek, water temperatures
were often colder in winter than either
location at Savage Creek. However, be-
Figure 2
ginning in early May it began to quickly
diverge from Savage Creek above the
pond and by the end of May was nearly
as warm as Savage Creek below the
pond where heat accumulates in the
pond from mid-March onward. This is
likely explained to a large extent by the
extremely dry May with resulting rapid
diminishment of Finney Creek stream
flow due to lack of snow accumulation
in its headwaters. Finney Creek in late
May of 2015 exhibited flows more char-
acteristic of late July in previous years.
Due to past logging that has resulted in
a very wide stream channel that is fully
exposed to sunlight, without snowmelt
contribution, its water temperatures
rapidly reached the mid-60 F range by
late May. There has been little, if any,
prior climate history to which Finney
Creek steelhead have adapted from
which to adjust to this rapid shift in
stream flow conditions of May 2015.
The streamflow height remained suffi-
cient for steelhead to enter from the Sk-
agit River until late May, but spawning
Continued on next page
January 2019 • Issue No. 92 13Figure 3 head redds were observed in that side
channel, steelhead fry apparently dis-
persed into it from other hatch loca-
tions for rearing. Due to the greater
spawning escapement, steelhead uti-
lized a greater extent of Finney Creek’s
available spawning gravel in 2015 than
in the past. This included greater use
of the side channels.
Lower Finney Creek, in a half-mile
section below the entry of Dry Creek,
had particularly greater spawning use
by later returning steelhead than in the
past. This is despite a main channel
shift that left a quarter mile of the for-
mer mainstem channel vacated. All the
spawning was concentrated into the re-
maining final quarter mile of the half-
mile total survey length. One side
channel in that latter quarter mile had
particularly high steelhead spawning
use. Photos 1 and 2 portray part of this
spawning use as on May 6, and again on
May 28, 2015 showing dramatic
changes in streamflow and the redds
going dry. Yet, as shown in Photo 3 the
Continued from previous page
sometimes throughout the channel. steelhead fry had already emerged and
Side channels are likely somewhat less were schooled in the bottoms of these
rapidly dropped off in the final week. redds. They were still capable of mov-
affected by higher flow events in win-
May 2015 had a greater proportion of ing downstream to the main channel of
ter and early spring with diminished ef-
all spawning than prior years. Finney Creek if they outmigrated be-
fects from potential scour.
Finney Creek and O’Toole Creek are fore this side channel went completely
Downwelling or upwelling through
the only streams of the five regularly dry. These steelhead fry emerged
redds at the upper and lower ends of
surveyed that had a continued prospect within 21-42 days after the estimated
side channels may also be conducive to
for steelhead entry and spawning after spawning dates based on how old the
higher egg-to-fry survival. However,
the first week in May 2015. Unlike redds looked from algal growth on
2015 proved to be a race of egg-to-fry
Finney, O’Toole Creek retains a rela- them. However, based on the size of
emergence early enough to be unaf-
tively cold and sustained flow through- some of the fry that were larger than
fected by side channels dewatering. To
out the summer — at least in the past. others, their emergence must have
some degree this has occurred before,
It has always been perennial. Finney been 7 days or more earlier with some
as had been documented in late May of
Creek, however, diminishes to very low redds older than estimated.
2014 at a Finney side channel beginning
flows by August combined with late af- Table 1 shows estimated lengths of
to go dry where young-of-the-year
ternoon water temperatures that can be time for steelhead to hatch and to
steelhead fry were photographed along
70 F or more on days when high air tem-
than 80 F. Given the Table 1
with other species. Although no steel-
peratures are greater
Continued on next page
present diminishment in Temperature Days to Hatch Days to Emerge Total Days to Emerge Reference
late May, it is conceiv- 2 C (35.6 F) 115 --- --- Quinn 2005
Finney Creek flow by
able that parts of lower 5 C (41 F) 68 --- --- Quinn 2005
Finney Creek’s main 8 C (46.4 F) 42 --- --- Quinn 2005
channel could go dry by 11 C (51.8) 28 --- --- Quinn 2005
14 C (57.2) 22 --- --- Quinn 2005
late summer if drought
5.5 C (41.9) 80 --- --- Hardy 2002
conditions continue to es-
10 C (50 F) 31 20 51 Hardy 2002
calate. Its numerous
monly done so in the 15 C (59 F) 19 10 29 Shumway et al. 1964
side channels have com-
past, sometimes by early 10 C (50 F) 35* --- --- Shumway et al. 1964
June, although not the 5 C (41 F) 80 2-3 weeks 94-101 Wales 1941
mainstem. 15 C (59 F) 19 2-3 weeks 33-40 Wales 1941
10 C (50 F) 50 --- somewhat later Wydoski & Whitney
Finney Creek steelhead
1979
often have concentrated
nels, particularly at their * Dissolved oxygen considerations from Quinn 2005: decreased O2 delayed hatching at 10 C (50 F)
spawning at side chan-
inlet and outlet areas, but from about 35 days to 40 days in steelhead as cited from Shumway et al. 1964.
14 The OspreyContinued from previous page although its large size suggested possi- Photo 1
ble steelhead as well. At least 9 steel-
emerge from time of egg fertilization head fry associated with it were
as previously compiled from available photographically documented on May
literature (McMillan 2015). Given that 5th and again on May 19th (Photo 5). It
Finney Creek had water temperatures was subsequently determined to be a
at afternoon to evening of 55-65 degrees steelhead redd with fry emergence
F throughout the month of May, it ap- likely in April based on their size of
parently accelerated the emergence about 2 inches in length. This confirms
times enough to potentially allow fry of the need to make collections for steel-
even relatively later spawning steel- head genetic determinations in May at
head after mid-March to get out of the the early fry life history level if hatch-
Photo 2
gravel and be free-swimming within ery parentage is to be found before
the 21-42 day period since spawning their numbers are culled out. Cham-
was estimated to have occurred. This bers Creek origin hatchery steelhead
is despite the fact that in latter March are known to have low survival in the
and through much of April the Finney wild and rapid loss would particularly
Creek water temperatures were 41-48 occur at the fry stage in intermittent
degrees at afternoon and evening and creeks with no inherent guide to
would have slowed development. The quickly migrate downstream.
other alternative is that the actual ages The observations of what may drive
of the spawning redds were older than steelhead spawning at the mid-Skagit
estimated, which is entirely possible as tributaries and how it may vary by
well. Nevertheless, it does seem possi- stream, by temperature, and by pres-
ble that the recently accelerated ence of a pond or lake are nothing par-
Photo 3
warmth of Finney Creek has resulted in ticularly new. Much of this has been
a race between late spawning and di- found to be a general rule of thumb for
minishing streamflows that at least fall spawning salmon as described by
some of these fry may ultimately win. Quinn (2005):
However, even if the majority, or even
all, lose this race, it will eventually re- “... there is surprisingly little research
sult in a selection for earlier spawning on the variation in adult reproductive
as was found in other side channel success as a function of spawning date,
areas (Photo 4) and a population that and the relationship between fry emer-
will increasingly evolve toward earlier gence and survival has only recently re-
spawning as climate and environment ceived attention. Many researchers
will dictate. But this can only occur if have pointed out that populations
management allows substantial num- spawning in cold rivers do so earlier in
Photo 4
bers of steelhead that enter the Skagit the year than those using rivers with
River early (November to February) to milder temperatures ... Salmon also
effectively increase in numbers to fill tend to spawn earlier at higher lati-
the many tributary creeks of the Skagit tudes, and this seems to be an adapta-
basin where intermittent flows will in- tion of populations to their local
creasingly become the norm. Intermit- environment ... For example, the outlets
tency is also becoming earlier. Dry of lakes typically have milder winter
Creek (of lower Finney Creek) went dry temperatures than their inlets, and
in its lower 200 feet by May 31, 2015 as sockeye tend to spawn later in the out-
compared to just prior to June 28, 2014. lets (Brannon 1987). This presumably
The proportion of overall steelhead results in synchrony of emergence be-
fry in Finney Creek basin that include cause all populations need to strike the
one or more parents of hatchery origin same balance between food availability,
Photo 5
likely emerge earliest. It is known temperature, and predator avoidance in
from observations of participants on an the lake, though this hypothesis is sel-
active redd at Dry Creek by WDFW dom really tested.”
surveyors (pers. comm. Andrew Fowler
of WDFW) that at least one hatchery However, with winter/spring spawn-
origin male was spawning there with a ing steelhead, the effects differ some-
wild female on January 28, 2015. It was what as found in mid-Skagit tributaries.
present on another redd the next day There is a reverse effect in that
with a group of 3 other steelhead of un- warmer streams seem to promote ear-
known sex and origin. At mid Savage lier spawning, not later, and the
Creek (130 m above a large pond) a pos- pond/lake effect is part of this although,
sible coho redd of very fresh construc- perhaps more importantly, there is a re-
tion was located on February 10, 2015
Continued on next page
January 2019 • Issue No. 92 15You can also read
