|
|
home|
Fish & wildlife |
|
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
The purpose of the project is to test the assumption that new artificial production of fish can be used to increase natural production and to improve harvest opportunities, while maintaining the long-term genetic fitness of the native salmonid populations and keeping adverse ecological interactions within acceptable limits.
The project is enhancing production of spring chinook salmon in the upper Yakima River basin through supplementation, re-introducing stocks formerly present in the Yakima basin, providing harvest opportunities and increasing knowledge about the use of supplementation.
 |
70-90% increase in spring chinook returns
After years of careful planning and public input, the Cle Elum Supplementation and Research Facility, part of the Yakima Fisheries project, was commissioned in 1997 to enhance populations of spring Chinook in the upper Yakima River Basin while keeping adverse ecological interactions within acceptable limits.
Since populations of Columbia River spring Chinook generally return as 4-year-old fish, the fish reared by the Cle Elum supplementation project in 1997 and 1998 did not return in any abundance until 2001 and 2002. Therefore, we are only now beginning to see the results of the first releases from this innovative project. By all accounts these results are impressive!
After years of chronically depressed spring Chinook returns averaging only 2,000 to 3,000 fish per year, the Yakima Basin spring Chinook return has jumped to greater than 15,000 fish per year since 2000 with over 23,000 spring Chinook estimated to have returned in 2001. While much of this increase is attributed to natural factors such as better in-river and ocean conditions, project biologists estimate that the Cle Elum supplementation project has boosted populations of upper Yakima spring Chinook by about 90% in 2001 and by about 70% in 2002 over what returns would have been without the innovative hatchery. These fish have significantly enhanced tribal fisheries and highly successful state sport fisheries for spring Chinook returned to the Yakima River in 2001 and 2002 for the first time in decades. Spring Chinook are prized by all fishers as their higher oil content yields a much tastier salmon meal than other varieties of salmon.
One of the more innovative aspects of this project is that the fish from the Cle Elum hatchery will be used not only to enhance fisheries but also to contribute to naturally spawning populations. The Teanaway River, a tributary which enters the Yakima River about 5 miles east of Cle Elum, was one of the areas targeted for rebuilding of the natural population by this project. A portion of the spring Chinook reared at the Cle Elum hatchery are acclimated at the Jack Creek facility on the Teanaway River about 20 miles northeast of Cle Elum. The 1998 brood marked the first year that fish were released from this facility, with 2002 being the first year of significant returns from these releases.
The Yakama Nation has done extensive surveys for spring Chinook redds (egg nests) in the Teanaway River since 1981. The average redd count from 1981 to 2001 was fewer than 3 redds per year. Even in the relatively abundant years of 2000 and 2001 only 21 redds were documented in the Teanaway River in each of these years. But with the benefit of added fish from the Cle Elum supplementation project, the spring Chinook redd count in the Teanaway River in 2002 is 110 redds!
Biologists do not expect returns from the 1999 brood of Cle Elum supplementation releases (most of which will return in 2003) to fare as well, since the drought conditions of 2001 significantly impacted these fish during their juvenile migration to the ocean. However, with continued cooperation from Mother Nature, the project expects much more in the way of positive results from this innovative effort in the years to come.
Sponsors: Yakama Nation and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife