S.P. Cramer & Associates, Inc.Fisheries Consultantswww.spcramer.com

Effects of Hatchery Strays On Recruitment of

Steelhead in Mid Columbia Subbasins

Steve Cramer & Brent Lister

Funded by Yakima Joint Board

Mid – Columbia Study Area

Life history typeBasin Mixed Rainbow Steelhead TotalsDeschutes 121 1,665 396 2,182

John Day 17 3,196 3,213Klickitat 80 185 264Umatilla 736 417 1,154Walla 107 638 745

Yakima 302 500 457 1,260

Totals 423 3,105 5,289 8,817

Miles of stream inhabited by O. mykiss in subbasins of the Mid Columbia Steelhead ESU

Hatchery & Wild Interbreeding

• Only Umatilla and Deschutes show >10% hatchery fish among natural spawners

• % Hatchery spawners is much lower in key production areas than at passage monitoring stations.

Productivity vs Hatchery Fish Percent Oregon Steelhead, 1989-95 (Chilcote 2001)

0

2

4

6

8

0 20 40 60Hatchery Percent

Rec

ruits

/sp

awn

er

Percent hatchery steelhead in spawning escapements, 1978-2002

0

20

40

60

80

10019

78

1981

1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

1999

2002

Hat

cher

y P

erce

nt

Deschutes

Umatilla

Yakima

Bakeoven Creek, Deschutes River

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

200

0

200

1

200

2

Spawning Year

%W

ild

Buckhollow Creek, Deschutes River

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

200

0

200

1

200

2

Spawning Year

%W

ild

% Wild Steelhead on Spawning Grounds

  WildHtchr

y

% Htchry

Birch Ck% Htchry 3-Mi Dam

1995-96 143 6 4% 43%

1996-97 109 6 5% 38%

1997-98 85 1 1% 59%

1998-99 73 0 0% 51%

Adult summer steelhead collected at the fish trap on Birch Creek (Umatilla

River)

Average Wild Steelhead Recruits per Parent Spawner, 1978-97

broods

0

0.3

0.6

0.9

1.2

1.5

Deschutes John Day Umatilla

Rec

ruit

s/S

paw

ner

Wild/Hatchery Wild

Average Wild Steelhead Recruits per Parent

Spawner, 1985-97 broods

0

0.3

0.6

0.9

1.2

1.5

Deschutes John Day Umatilla Yakima

Rec

ruit

s/Sp

awne

r Wild/HatcheryWild

Relative recruitment of wild steelhead to spawning populations, 1978-97 broods.

0

1

2

3

41

97

8

19

80

19

82

19

84

19

86

19

88

19

90

19

92

19

94

19

96

Sta

nd

ard

ized

Rec

ruit

s

Deschutes

John Day

Umatilla

Relative recruitment of wild adult steelhead to Deschutes tributaries and two non-hatchery

streams, 1987-97 broods

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.519

87

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

Sta

nd

ariz

ed R

ecru

its

Buckhollow and Bakeoven

John DayYakima

Average spawning escapements of wild and hatchery steelhead, Deschutes River, 1978-2002

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1978-86 1987-94 1995-2002

N (

x 1

00

0)

Wild Hatchery Strays

Warm Springs River as Control

• Major tributary of Deschutes River

• USFWS operates a weir where nearly all fish entering the river are trapped

• Only unmarked steelhead are released above the weir

Relative returns of wild steelhead to Deschutes and Warm Springs River (wild only), 1980-99.

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

31

98

0

19

82

19

84

19

86

19

88

19

90

19

92

19

94

19

96

19

98

Sta

nd

ard

ize

d R

etu

rn

Deschutes

Warm Springs

Lower Mainstem

South Fork

Middle Fork

North Fork

Deschutes Umatillla Yakima Warm

Springs

Upper Mainstem

0.67 0.91 0.81 0.69 0.44 0.55 0.29 0.47

Lower Mainstem

0.62 0.66 0.76 0.61 0.71 0.57 0.56

South Fork 0.69 0.76 0.54 0.56 0.36 0.65

Middle Fork 0.61 0.50 0.59 0.46 0.42

North Fork0.68 0.67 0.50 0.70

Deschutes0.64 0.64 0.76

Umatillla 0.66 0.70

Yakima 0.52

Correlation Matrix of Naturally Produced Steelhead Abundance Trends

Mid Columbia Natural Steelhead Trends

-2.0

-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Nat

ura

l R

etu

rns

Ind

ex

Regional Index

Deschutes

*Index includes all of John Day, Yakima and Warm Springs

Deschutes Naturally Produced Steelhead

-2.5

-2.0

-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

De

via

tion

Fro

m R

eg

ion

al T

ren

d

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

% H

atc

he

ry o

f N

atu

ral S

pa

wn

ers

Deviation from Regional Index

% Hatchery Spawners

Mid-Columbia Natural Steelhead Trends

-2.0

-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

Nat

uarl

Ret

urns

Ind

ex

Regional Index

Umatilla

*Index includes all of John Day, Yakima and Warm Springs

Umatilla Naturally Produced Steelhead

-2.0

-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

De

via

tio

n F

rom

Re

gio

na

l Tre

nd

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

% H

atc

he

ry o

f N

atu

ral S

pa

wn

ers

Deviation from Regional Index

% Hatchery Spawners

Conclusions• Population productivity per wild

spawner was not measurably affected by hatchery spawners

• Trends in abundance of Mid-Columbia steelhead are driven by factors common to all populations

• Hatchery strays do not fully mix with wild fish and produce fewer recruits

• Hatchery strays should be treated as a separate population when estimating stock recruitment parameters