Comment on proposed FY 2006 budget

We request the renewal of contract 1989-098-01 for Fiscal Year 2006. The budget of $125,590 is consistent with the budget previously approved by Bonneville. The USFWS overhead has increased from 22% to 25.5% since submission; therefore, we anticipate an overall budget increase of $3506.00 resulting in a total budget of $129,096.

Accomplishments since the last review

2003,2004: 1. Conducted multiple redd counts on Clear creek and Pete King Creek between mid-August and mid-October. Recorded location of redds, number of live fish observed and origin of fish. 2. Conducted carcass surveys on Clear Creek and Pete King Creek. Collected DNA, scale and dorsal fin samples, recorded percent spawn, examined for fin clips, coded-wire tags and radio tags. 3. Inventoried migrating adults at the permanent wier established in Clear Creek. Recorded fork length, age group, marks, tags and gender on all Chinook salmon. A one to one ratio of supplementation and natural fish were transported above the weir and released to spawn naturally. 4. Completed data analysis of adult production parameters i.e redd counts, adult returns to wier and carcass data to estimate adult escapement, straying and redd production attributable to ISS and strays. 5. Operated juvenile emigration screwtrap in Clear Creek from March through July to estimate juvenile Chinook production. PIT-tagged emigrating juvenile Chinook salmon smolts to estimate screwtrapping efficiency, smolt abundance, survival and migration time to downstream dams and other life history characteristics. Operated a juvenile collection net during October through November to collect and sample pre-smolts. 6. Snorkeled segments of Clear Creek and Pete King Creek to estimated parr abundance. 7. Differentially marked ISS smolts from general production smolts with ventral fin clips (50,053 right ventral fin clips in 2003 and 50,969 left ventral fin in 2004) prior to release. An additional 750 smolts from each release group were PIT-tagged for survival estimates to downstream dams. 8. PIT-tag files from screwtrapping and pre-release activities were submitted to the PTAGIS database. 9. Prepared and submitted quarterly reports to BPA. Completed and submitted Annual Report for 2001 field activities. 10. Participated in Cooperators meetings to plan upcoming activities and work on Brood Year reports.

FY 2006 goals and anticipated accomplishments

Prepare a cooperative Statement of Work for contract year 2006. Prepare a cooperative annual report that documents ISS research activities associated with Chinook salmon Brood Year 2002. Install screw trap on Clear Creek and monitor adult weir on Clear Creek and Pete King Creek to estimate juvenile production and adult escapement to these streams. Conduct redd counts and carcass surveys on Clear Creek and Pete King Creek. Intensify carcass surveys beyond multiple pass redd counts, remove various structures from carcasses for aging, collect length, sex, DNA, egg retention information, and examine for the presence of fin clips, coded wire tags, radio tags, VI tags, and other tags. Remove snouts from carcasses containing coded wire for laboratory analysis. Use existing weirs and other escapement monitoring techniques to identify, collect, mark, and enumerate adults escaping into ISS study streams. Collect tissue samples for DNA analysis from all adult Chinook salmon released to spawn naturally upstream of weirs. Operate juvenile screw traps in Clear Creek to estimate the number of out-migrating Chinook salmon parr, pre-smolt, and smolts.Record data on fork length, weight, number of juveniles captured, and marked fish recaptured to estimate brood year production. Upload all juvenile Chinook salmon PIT tag release files to PTAGIS. Mark juvenile and adult Chinook salmon with PIT tags and/or fin clips to estimate survival of juveniles and/or determine origin of naturally spawning adults. Complete data analysis of adult production evaluation points collected in 2003. Complete data analysis of brood year 2003 juvenile production by estimating outmigration of naturally produced Chinook salmon collected in 2004 and 2005. Synthesize and interpret field data to provide estimates of juvenile Chinook salmon production in Clear Creek and Pete King Creek. Collect juvenile population data and transfer data to IDFG GPM project. Obtain density data from GPM database.

Subbasin planning

How is this project consistent with subbasin plans?

Spring chinook are identified as a "focal" species in the Clearwater Subbasin Assessment (pg 6). ISS addresses the natural spawning component of the anadromous adult return objectives for the Clearwater subbasin (Problem 1, Obj A, table 3, pg 16) by supplementing natural spring Chinook populations with hatchery-origin progeny and monitoring the effects of these supplemental fish on natural populations in an effort to increase the long-term returns to the Clearwater subbasin. Evaluation of supplementation and implementation of natural production strategies within the ISS program addresses the utilization of a mix of hatchery and natural productin strategies to meet subbasin goals (Problem 3, Obj D, pg 21). Research, monitoring and evaluation activities proposed within the Clearwater Subbasin Management Plan are currently be addressed by the ISS program. The ISS program currently monitors life-stage survival, out-migration timing and life-stage specific habitat use of naturally produced spring Chinook juveniles within Clear Creek and Pete King Creek (pg 63, I2). Current sampling protocol emphasizes data collection pertaining to presence/absence of spawners and/or juveniles (redd counts, scretrapping and snorkeling), presence/absence of hatchery-origin spawners (carcass surveys), age of spawners,and temperature monitoring which is proposed as sampling strategies for developing/expanding index areas (pg 69, VI2). The ISS program has multiple year data sets pertaining to adult returns, smolt survival to downstream dams, adult spawner abundance, spawning success and spawner to spawner ratios for Clear Creek and Pete King Creek for investigating the population status of spring Chinook (pg 75, VIII1).Other reserch goals addressed by ISS are: (1)assessing out-of-subbasin factors affecting smolt outmigration success (pg 75, VIII3) and (2) assesing the effectiveness of hatchery production to sustain or rebuild natural production (pg 76, VIII4).

How do goals match subbasin plan priorities?

This project occurs in areas of federally-owned and privately-owned lands. Opportunity for action on are considered high on federally-owned lands and moderate for privately-owned lands. Focal species and high priority issues occur within the study streams encompassed within their respective PMUs. Spawning and rearing of spring Chinook is known to occur in Clear Creek and Pete King Creek, the streams being monitored by this project. Although no listed priorities are directly linked to this project, implementing current listed priorities will benefit spring Chinook recovery which is the overidding goal of the ISS project.

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