Comment on proposed FY 2006 budget

We are confirming that we wish to renew the Grande Ronde Basin Spring Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Program for FY 2006. The budget ($723,718), while consistent with Bonneville's approved budget, will not be sufficient to cover all of our work for 2006. We realize that now is not the time to ask for more money but level funding will be problematic. We have had increases in OPE (varies but can be as high as 30% increase), overhead (7.2%) and an additional charge for a PERS bond assessment (7.4% of salaries). These increases all came in the middle of this contract, meaning that we will be struggling to stay within our current budget. Additionally, for the past two years, we have been lucky in that we have had no cost of living pay increases for Oregon state employees, which has helped us remain at level funding. However, cost of living increases are likely this coming year and, if they include raises for the previous years, as proposed by the ODFW union, they will be substantial. All of these are costs for which we can do nothing, except reduce the work force, which would make it impossible for us to do the work. Roughly estimated, to keep the same level of service, we will need a 10% increase in our budget, which would bring it to $796,090.

Accomplishments since the last review

•Cooperation among co-management agencies (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Nez Perce Tribe and NOAA Fisheries) •Collaboration with other scientists, specifically to develop and evaluate innovative methodologies for improving fish husbandry and disease treatment/prevention, which have applications to both captive broodstock programs and conventional hatchery programs. •Completed a compendium project status report covering the years 1995-2002 and providing background, methods and results to that date (Hoffnagle, T. L., R. W. Carmichael and W. T Noll. 2003. Grande Ronde Basin spring chinook salmon captive broodstock program, 1995-2002 project status report. Fish Research and Development Project, Oregon, Northeast Region, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, La Grande). •Collected 500 parr from each of the program streams (Catherine Creek, upper Grande Ronde River and Lostine River) annually. •We have accumulated sufficient data to make conclusions regarding our hatchery rearing strategies - accelerated vs. natural pre-smolt growth and freshwater vs. saltwater post-smolt rearing. •We have released a total of 1,592,337 smolts from 2000-2005 (1998-2003 cohorts), a mean of 265,364 smolts per year. •Return rates have exceeded the expected rate (0.1%). •Captive broodstock F1 generation returns comprised 48% of the returning adults in the Lostine River, 88% in Catherine Creek and 93% in Grande Ronde River. •The co-management agencies developed a cooperative hatchery management plan for the Grande Ronde and Imnaha basins. •Responded to all Issue 12 requests and were given excellent comments by the ISRP, who stated that the experimental design “has the potential to provide meaningful insight into whether or not captive propagation can provide anything more than hatchery-origin adults returning from the ocean” and that the design should “remain intact”.

FY 2006 goals and anticipated accomplishments

•In September/October 2005, we will spawn approximately 180 female Chinook salmon and 300 males, resulting in approximately 310,000 eggs. We will also collect data on growth, fecundity and health of the salmon. •We will collect approximately 300 eggs from females spawned in the Grande Ronde River conventional program for use in evaluating the potential for using eggs from a conventional program for use in a captive broodstock program, instead of wild parr - this may reduce BKD in the captive program but may also have detrimental genetic consequences, which we will evaluate. •We will periodically sample captive broodstock salmon to monitor growth and health. •We will treat diseases when necessary. •We will begin to evaluate the effectiveness of a BKD vaccine, prediction of vertical transmission of BKD and the effectiveness of two drugs to prevent vertical transmission of BKD. •We will conduct maturity sorts in April and May to separate maturing salmon from immature salmon using innovative methodologies (ultrasound and near-infrared spectroscopy). •We will transport maturing salmon reared at Manchester Research Station (saltwater) to freshwater rearing facilities at Bonneville Fish Hatchery. •We will transport 2004 cohort smolts from pre-smolt rearing facilities at Wallowa Fish Hatchery to Bonneville Fish Hatchery and Manchester Research Station. •In August 2006, we will collect the 2005 cohort of captive broodstock from the program streams (Catherine Creek, upper Grande Ronde River and Lostine River) and transport them for pre-smolt rearing at Wallowa Fish Hatchery. •In May-September 2006, we will monitor weirs on program streams and conduct spawning ground surveys to collect data on return rates of captive broodstock offspring and tissue samples for DNA analyses to evaluate spawning success of captive broodstock offspring. •In September and October 2006, we will begin spawning to produce the 2006 F1 generation cohort. •We will submit annual and quarterly reports.

Subbasin planning

How is this project consistent with subbasin plans?

The Grande Ronde Basin Spring Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Program is fully consistent with the Grande Ronde Subbasin Plan and all seven points of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s program vision. Specifically, it addresses objectives regarding factors limiting fish habitats and species of the subbasin plan (Table 5-1, Page 31, Grande Ronde Subbasin Plan Supplement). The captive broodstock program helps achieve escapement objectives for spring Chinook salmon in the Grande Ronde Basin (Objective 1A, Supplement, page 31) . F1 generation smolts are released into natal streams of their parents and return to spawn naturally, increasing natural spawning. The program is an integral part of hatchery production in the Grande Ronde Basin and of the Northeast Oregon Hatchery Management Plan, developed cooperatively by the ODFW, CTUIR and NPT. From a mean of 1,350 wild parr captured / year we produced a mean of 265,364 F1 smolts / year and, in 2004, captive broodstock F1 generation returns comprised 48% of the returning adults in the Lostine River, 88% in Catherine Creek and 93% in Grande Ronde River. The F2 generation will form the backbone of the conventional hatchery programs being developed. It will assist in “protecting the genetic integrity of populations that are below historical levels” (Objective 2A) by acting as a gene bank for the populations, which were in danger of extirpation. We have protected the genetic integrity of those populations and our use of matrices in which eggs from each female are fertilized by 2-4 males preserves their genetic diversity. The program will “increase anadromous fish productivity and production, as well as life stage-specific survival through artificial production” (Objective 2B). By increasing parr-to-adult survival550x and egg-to-smolt survival 12X those seen in nature, we dramatically increase survival at all life stages, increasing production of all Chinook salmon and increasing natural production.

How do goals match subbasin plan priorities?

The Grande Ronde Basin Subbasin Plan did not prioritize work to be performed in the basin. However, the spring Chinook salmon is listed as threatened by the State of Oregon and under the Endangered Species Act and, as such, is listed as a focal species in the subbasin plan. The Grande Ronde Subbasin Plan Supplement provided escapement goals for each species of anadromous salmonid historically found in the basin and stated that “addressing out-of-subbasin issues combined within subbasin restoration and strategic artificial propagation is needed to achieve” these goals (Supplement, page 33). The captive broodstock program is an integral part of the referenced “strategic artificial propagation” and has been relied on for the majority of the hatchery production in the Grande Ronde Basin since 2000. In the 2005-2007 Implementation Plan (page 34), continuing the artificial propagation safety net program for the Grande Ronde River (the Grande Ronde Captive Broodstock Program) is listed as a near-term target for Hatchery Actions as an interim measure to avoid extinction. It is also listed as a long-term target that is recommended to continue to be funded “as long as they continue to be biologically effective and necessary to reduce extinction risk.” Chinook salmon are a critical part of the vision statement for the basin, “Create a healthy ecosystem with abundant, productive, and diverse populations of aquatic and terrestrial species, which will support sustainable resource-based activities that contribute to the social, cultural, and economic well-being of the communities within the subbasin and the Pacific Northwest.” Of all species, Chinook salmon is the one most associated with the resources and culture of the Pacific Northwest.

Other comments

The ISRP stated that the experimental design of the Grande Ronde Basin Spring Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Program “has the potential to provide meaningful insight into whether or not captive propagation can provide anything more than hatchery-origin adults returning from the ocean” and that the design should “remain intact”. In order to do so, we will need an increase in our budget from $723,718 to $766,037, an increase of 6%. Due to a change in ODFW overhead rates, if we remain at level funding, we will have to reduce our operating budget by $42,319, which will mean a reduction in service.