Spokane Tribal Hatchery, 2003 Annual Report.
- Spokane Tribe of Indians, Wellpinit, WA
Due to the construction and operation of Grand Coulee Dam (1939), anadromous salmon have been eradicated and resident fish populations permanently altered in the upper Columbia River region. Federal and private hydropower dam operations throughout the Columbia River system severely limits indigenous fish populations in the upper Columbia. Artificial production has been determined appropriate for supporting a harvestable fishery for kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake (Grand Coulee Dam impoundments). A collaborative multi-agency artificial production program for the Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake fisheries exists consisting of the Spokane Tribal Hatchery, Sherman Creek Hatchery, Ford Trout Hatchery and the Lake Roosevelt Kokanee and Rainbow Trout Net Pen Rearing Projects. These projects operate complementary of one another to target an annual release of 1 million yearling kokanee and 500,000 yearling rainbow trout for Lake Roosevelt and 1.4 million kokanee fry/fingerlings for Banks Lake. Combined fish stocking by the hatcheries and net pen rearing projects in 2003 included: 899,168 kokanee yearlings released into Lake Roosevelt; 1,087,331 kokanee fry/fingerlings released into Banks Lake, 44,000 rainbow trout fingerlings and; 580,880 rainbow trout yearlings released into Lake Roosevelt. Stock composition of 2003 releases consisted of Lake Whatcom kokanee, 50:50 diploid-triploid Spokane Trout Hatchery (McCloud River) rainbow trout and Phalon Lake red-band rainbow trout. All kokanee were marked with either thermal, oxytetracyline or fin clips prior to release. Preliminary 2003 Lake Roosevelt fisheries investigations indicate hatchery/net pen stocking significantly contributed to harvestable rainbow trout and kokanee salmon fisheries. An increase in kokanee harvest was primarily owing to new release strategies. Walleye predation, early maturity and entrainment through Grand Coulee Dam continues to have a negative impact on adult kokanee returns and limits the success of hatchery/net pen stocking on the number of harvestable fish. Preliminary results of gonad necropsies indicate a reduced incidence of precocious kokanee produced at the Spokane Tribal Hatchery in 2003. This was a probable attribute of change in hatchery rearing practices employed on 2002 brood year kokanee produced in 2003, primarily thermal manipulation and feed protein source. Kokanee and rainbow trout fingerlings transferred to Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake net pen rearing operations in the fall of 2003 for subsequent release as yearlings in 2004 consisted of 645,234 rainbow trout and 627,037 kokanee salmon. A total of 590,000 Lake Whatcom kokanee fingerlings were carried over at the Spokane Tribal Hatchery for stocking as yearlings in 2004. Recommendations for future hatchery/net pen operations include use of stocks compatible or native to the upper Columbia River, continue hatchery-rearing practices to reduce precocity rates of kokanee and continue new kokanee stocking strategies associated with increased kokanee harvest rates.
- Research Organization:
- Spokane Tribe of Indians
- Sponsoring Organization:
- United States. Bonneville Power Administration.
- DOE Contract Number:
- 00004731
- OSTI ID:
- 842943
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BP-00004731-2; R&D Project: 199104600; TRN: US200516%%1365
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Spokane Tribal Hatchery, 2004 Annual Report.
Ford Hatchery; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Fish Program, Hatcheries Division, Annual Report 2003.