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Title: Survival of Juvenile Chinook Salmon during Barge Transport

Abstract

To mitigate for fish losses related to passage through the Federal Columbia River Power System, an extensive fish transportation program using barges and trucks to move fish around and downstream of dams and reservoirs was implemented in 1981. Population modeling and other analyses to support Pacific salmon recovery efforts have assumed that the survival of juvenile salmonids during the transportation experience was 98%. To estimate survival during barge transport from Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River to a release area downstream of Bonneville Dam, a distance of 470 km, we used a novel adaptation of a release-recapture model with acoustic-tagged yearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) smolts. A total of 1,494 yearling Chinook salmon were surgically implanted with Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) acoustic transmitters and passive integrated transponders (PIT) and divided into three groups. The three tagged groups consisted of; (1) a group which was released into the raceway with the population of fish which were later loaded into transportation barges (R{sub B}), (2) a group which was held in a net-pen suspended within the general barge population until 5-6 h prior to barge evacuation, at which time they were confirmed to be alive and then released intomore » the general barge population (R{sub A}), and (3) to validate a model assumption, a group which was euthanized and released into the barge population 2-8 h prior to barge evacuation (R{sub D}). Six replicates of these groups were loaded onto fish transport barges that departed Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River between 29 April and 13 May, 2010. Acoustic receiver arrays between 70 and 220 km downstream of the barge evacuation site were used to detect tagged fish and served as the basis for estimation of survival within the barge. Tag-life-corrected estimates of reach survival were calculated for barged and control fish in each of the six replicate trials. The ratio of survival from release to Rkm 153 for barged fish relative to control fish provided the estimate of within-barge survival. The replicate survival estimates ranged from 0.9503 (SE = 0.0253) to 1.0003 (SE = 0.0155). The weighted average of the replicate estimates of within-barge survival was computed to be = 0.9833 (SE = 0.0062). This study provides the first documentation that assumed survival of 98% inside barges during yearling Chinook salmon smolt transport appears to be justified. Survival of other species or stocks by barge or for any species/stock by truck remains unknown.« less

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1037541
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-78271
Journal ID: ISSN 0275-5947; 400403209; TRN: US201207%%347
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
North American Journal of Fisheries Management
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 31; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 0275-5947
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
13 HYDRO ENERGY; 24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION; ACOUSTICS; COLUMBIA RIVER; DAMS; DOCUMENTATION; JUVENILES; POWER SYSTEMS; SALMON; SIMULATION; TELEMETRY; TRANSPORT; salmon, survival, barge, Columbia River, JSATS, Chinook

Citation Formats

McMichael, Geoffrey A, Skalski, J R, and Deters, Katherine A. Survival of Juvenile Chinook Salmon during Barge Transport. United States: N. p., 2011. Web. doi:10.1080/02755947.2011.646455.
McMichael, Geoffrey A, Skalski, J R, & Deters, Katherine A. Survival of Juvenile Chinook Salmon during Barge Transport. United States. https://doi.org/10.1080/02755947.2011.646455
McMichael, Geoffrey A, Skalski, J R, and Deters, Katherine A. 2011. "Survival of Juvenile Chinook Salmon during Barge Transport". United States. https://doi.org/10.1080/02755947.2011.646455.
@article{osti_1037541,
title = {Survival of Juvenile Chinook Salmon during Barge Transport},
author = {McMichael, Geoffrey A and Skalski, J R and Deters, Katherine A},
abstractNote = {To mitigate for fish losses related to passage through the Federal Columbia River Power System, an extensive fish transportation program using barges and trucks to move fish around and downstream of dams and reservoirs was implemented in 1981. Population modeling and other analyses to support Pacific salmon recovery efforts have assumed that the survival of juvenile salmonids during the transportation experience was 98%. To estimate survival during barge transport from Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River to a release area downstream of Bonneville Dam, a distance of 470 km, we used a novel adaptation of a release-recapture model with acoustic-tagged yearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) smolts. A total of 1,494 yearling Chinook salmon were surgically implanted with Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) acoustic transmitters and passive integrated transponders (PIT) and divided into three groups. The three tagged groups consisted of; (1) a group which was released into the raceway with the population of fish which were later loaded into transportation barges (R{sub B}), (2) a group which was held in a net-pen suspended within the general barge population until 5-6 h prior to barge evacuation, at which time they were confirmed to be alive and then released into the general barge population (R{sub A}), and (3) to validate a model assumption, a group which was euthanized and released into the barge population 2-8 h prior to barge evacuation (R{sub D}). Six replicates of these groups were loaded onto fish transport barges that departed Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River between 29 April and 13 May, 2010. Acoustic receiver arrays between 70 and 220 km downstream of the barge evacuation site were used to detect tagged fish and served as the basis for estimation of survival within the barge. Tag-life-corrected estimates of reach survival were calculated for barged and control fish in each of the six replicate trials. The ratio of survival from release to Rkm 153 for barged fish relative to control fish provided the estimate of within-barge survival. The replicate survival estimates ranged from 0.9503 (SE = 0.0253) to 1.0003 (SE = 0.0155). The weighted average of the replicate estimates of within-barge survival was computed to be = 0.9833 (SE = 0.0062). This study provides the first documentation that assumed survival of 98% inside barges during yearling Chinook salmon smolt transport appears to be justified. Survival of other species or stocks by barge or for any species/stock by truck remains unknown.},
doi = {10.1080/02755947.2011.646455},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1037541}, journal = {North American Journal of Fisheries Management},
issn = {0275-5947},
number = 6,
volume = 31,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2011},
month = {Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2011}
}