1. Pacific Lamprey Research and Restoration Project in the Umatilla River

2. Study Area

3. Life cycle of Pacific lamprey

5. Potential causes of declining lamprey populations
Hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River
Chemical treatments in the Umatilla River
Habitat alterations in the Umatilla River resulting from:
irrigation practices
loss of beaver
livestock overgrazing of native grasses
logging the upper watershed
conversion of native plants to introduced crops

6. Outplanting adult lampreys
Primary goals:
Re-establish larval abundance
Collect baseline data regarding:
holding adult lampreys
release timing
release locations

7. Outplanting adult lampreys
Collected at the John Day Dam fish ladder in December-January
Maintained in the raceways at the Three Mile Falls Dam Facility in the Umatilla River
Outplanted into uppermost part of the mainstem Umatilla River and Meacham Creek in May

8. Release site locations and numbers
River km 139.9
2000: 300
River km 98.8
River km 118.4
2001: 81
2002: 150
2002: 141
2000: 150 .
2003: 110
2001: 82
2004: 63
2002: 100
2003: 90
Meacham Creek
2000: 150
Totals
2001: 81
2000: 600
2002: 100
2001: 244
2003: 230
2002: 491
2004: 70
2003: 484
2004: 133
Total: 1,576 individuals

9. Are outplantings successful?
Redd surveys
Egg survival
Larval densities and size distribution
Outmigration of larval and metamorphosed lampreys
Upmigration of adult lampreys

10. Nest and egg viability surveys
Purpose:
Determine the spatial distribution and number of nests
Determine the reproductive success of adult lamprey outplants

11. Nest and egg viability surveys
In surveyors walked along the river to locate nests (May-July)
In 2001 egg viability study conducted from 13 nests

12. Nest surveys

13. Nest Survey Results
Nests located in the uppermost part of the Umatilla River and in the Meacham Creek
Lampreys spawned during the first two weeks of June
2000: viable nests nests w/o eggs
2001: viable nests
2002: viable nests
118 test nests

14. Egg viability Egg viability varied between 58 and100% On average
86% of eggs were viable
Pacific lamprey egg viability similar to sea lamprey

15. Larval abundance
Larvae sampled by electro shocking 31 sites in the Umatilla River and 3 sites in the Meacham Creek
Larval density at each site estimated and larval lengths measured

16. Larval densities before outplanting
In , larvae were found in the lower reach of the river below river kilometer 37
Mean density of all sites was
1) in ind.m-2
2) in ind.m-2
3) in ind.m-2

17. Larval densities after outplanting
2001
The mean density of all index sites was 5.6 ind/m2
The mean density below river km 100
(sites 1-19) was 0.1 ind /m2
The mean density above river km 100
(sites 20-34) was 12.6 ind /m2

18. Larval densities after outplanting
2002
The mean density of all index sites was 8.0 ind/m2
The mean density below river km 100
(sites 1-19) was 0.2 ind / m2
The mean density above river km 100
(sites 20-34) was 18.0 ind / m2

19. Length distributions
In 2001 length distribution was unimodal and the median length was 63 mm
In 2002 length distribution was bimodal and the median length was 76 mm

20. Larval abundance after adult outplanting
Larval densities increased above river kilometer 100
Larval growth rate is high
Natural production in the middle and lowermost part of the river is low

21. Outmigration of lamprey
Between outmigrating larvae and metamorphosed lampreys caught by:
Rotary screw trap (RST) from November-March in lower Umatilla River
Bypass channel trap (BCT) April-October in lower Umatilla River
Trapping efficiency of RST was studied by mark-recapture method in 2000 and 2001

22. Number of lamprey caught

23. Length distribution of outmigrants

24. Outmigration of lampreys
Natural production of lamprey in the Umatilla River produces tens of thousands of metamorphosed individuals annually
A large proportion of lamprey may metamorphose in the Columbia River
The mean size of outmigrating lampreys were higher than earlier studies

25. Upmigration of adults Number of upmigrating adults counted by:
portable assessment traps in 1999, and 2002 at the Three Mile Dam (284 trap nights)
fyke nets in 2002 in the lowermost end of the Umatilla River ( 28 trap nights)
Number of upmigrants entering Three Mile Dam fish ladder estimated by video recordings

26. Upmigration of adults
In one adult lamprey caught by assessment traps
No lampreys caught by fyke net in 2002

27. Upmigration of adults
Number of upmigrating adults in the summer and in the fall is negligible
Why?
Number of adult lampreys in the Columbia River is low
No flow in the Umatilla River during the best migration season
Attracting pheromones in the Umatilla River are not reaching the Columbia River

28. Upmigration of adults
During the peak of adult migration, flow in the Umatilla River is very low due to irrigation

30. Summary
Outplanted adults spawned successfully and produced ammocoetes which haven’t yet dispersed below river km 100
Number of outmigrating lampreys is still low and number of upmigrating adults is negligible

31. Current Research
MSU,USGS,CTUIR-Pacific and Western brook lamprey larvae contain petromyzonal sulfate in gallbladder and liver. Both species release this compound into water. Do not produce Allocholic acid nor petromyzonal (known bile acids in sea lamprey).
USGS-Pacific lamprey adults can detect Petromyzonal sulfate in water. Detection of compound throughout freshwater migration. Pacific lamprey do not produce 3 Keto Petromyzonal sulfate-(known sex pheromone in sea lamprey).

32. Current Research
CTUIR, MSU, CEFAS,- Novel stress steroids in Pacific Lamprey. Lamprey adrenal tissues incubated with 3H pregnenolone and progesterone metabolized into unknown possible stress steroids. Currently using Fab/mass spec to identify structures. In addition, using radioimmunoassay to screen lamprey plasma. Once compound structures identified we will develop specific RIA for new stress steroids.
CTUIR,MSU,- Pacific lamprey population genetics. Micro satellite markers screened. 30 existing loci screened for polymorphism(from sea lamprey markers). 2 loci found to be polymorphic. From only one loci, there are population differences. However, this is preliminary! We are trying to explore this further.

33. Future studies
Dispersion of ammocoetes and larval production in the middle and lower part of the river
Growth of larvae (location, competition)
Number of outmigrants (method developing)
Upmigration of adults during the summer, fall, and spring time
Flow regime

34. More future studies Spawning habitat requirements
Effect of dams on adult migration using radio telemetry
Attraction of adult lampreys to pheromones in Umatilla river water
Larval production and metamorphosis in the Columbia River reservoirs
Develop assays to detect stress in lampreys