Fall Chinook Aclimation Project; Pittsburg Landing, Captain John Rapids, and Big Canyon, Annual Report 2001.
Fisheries co-managers of U.S. v Oregon supported and directed the construction and operation of acclimation and release facilities for Snake River fall Chinook from Lyons Ferry Hatchery at three sites above Lower Granite Dam. In 1996, Congress instructed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USCOE) to construct, under the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan (LSRCP), final rearing and acclimation facilities for fall Chinook in the Snake River basin to complement their activities and efforts in compensating for fish lost due to construction of the lower Snake River dams. The Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) played a key role in securing funding and selecting acclimation sites, then assumed responsibility for operation and maintenance of the facilities. In 1997, Bonneville Power Administrative (BPA) was directed to fund operations and maintenance (O&M) for the facilities. Two acclimation facilities, Captain John Rapids and Pittsburg Landing, are located on the Snake River between Asotin, WA and Hells Canyon Dam and one facility, Big Canyon, is located on the Clearwater River at Peck. The Capt. John Rapids facility is a single pond while the Pittsburg Landing and Big Canyon sites consist of portable fish rearing tanks assembled and disassembled each year. Acclimation of 450,000 yearling smolts (150,000 each facility) begins in March and ends 6 weeks later. When available, an additional 2,400,000 fall Chinook sub-yearlings may be acclimated for 6 weeks, following the smolt release. The project goal is to increase the naturally spawning population of Snake River fall Chinook salmon upstream of Lower Granite Dam. This is a supplementation project; in that hatchery produced fish are acclimated and released into the natural spawning habitat for the purpose of returning a greater number of spawners to increase natural production. Only Snake River stock is used and production of juveniles occurs at Lyons Ferry Hatchery. This is a long-term project, and will ultimately work towards achieving delisting goals established by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Complete returns for all three acclimation facilities will not occur until the year 2002. Progeny (which would then be natural origin fish protected under the Endangered Species Act) from those returns will be returning for the next five years. In 2001, a total of 2,051,099 fish weighing 59,647 pounds were released from the three acclimation facilities. The total includes 318,932 yearling fish weighing 31,128 pounds and 1,732,167 sub-yearling fish weighing 28,519 pounds. Yearling fish numbers were reduced by Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) and sub-yearling acclimation time was limited by record low river water flows.
- Research Organization:
- Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Portland, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- 4297
- OSTI ID:
- 963083
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BP-00004235-3; TRN: US200917%%474
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Fall Chinook Acclimation Project; Pittsburg Landing, Captain John Rapids, and Big Canyon, Annual Report 2003.
Monitoring and Evaluation of Yearling Fall Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Released from Acclimation Facilities Upstream of Lower Granite Dam; 1999 Annual Report.