1. Performance of a New Steelhead Line Derived from Hatchery Parents Collected in Autumn in the Grande Ronde River Lance Clarke, Michael Flesher, Shelby Warren, and Richard Carmichael Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

2. Wallowa Stock Steelhead Wallowa Hatchery Joseph La Grande Union Troy

3. Wallowa Hatchery Broodstock Stock founded from adults collected in spring at Ice Harbor (1976) and Little Goose (1977 & 1978) dams Current broodstock sourced from spring returns to hatchery Substantial fishery in Grande Ronde basin from Sept.−April Stock founded from adults collected in spring at Ice Harbor (1976) and Little Goose (1977 & 1978) dams Current broodstock sourced from spring returns to hatchery Substantial fishery in Grande Ronde basin from Sept.−April

4. Snake River Hatchery Steelhead Stocks Lyons Ferry Dworshak B Sawtooth Pahsimeroi Hells Canyon Imnaha Wallowa Deschutes River basin

5. Dworshak B 0 Hells Canyon Imnaha Lyon’s Ferry Pahsimeroi Sawtooth 10 20 Wallowa Average Annual Deschutes River Straying By % STRAY RATE Snake River Hatchery Steelhead Stocks HATCHERY PROGRAM (Based on 11-24 Years of Data) Error bars = 1 SE

6. Objectives Create a new hatchery line from Wallowa stock returning to Grande Ronde in autumn.  Autumn Line may stray less and improve the autumn fishery. Create a new hatchery line from Wallowa stock returning to Grande Ronde in autumn.  Autumn Line may stray less and improve the autumn fishery. Compare performance of Autumn Line with the standard Wallowa Stock.  Is smolt outmigration survival similar?  Does the Autumn Line return earlier?  Are smolt-to-adult survival rates similar?  Does the Autumn Line stray at a lower rate?  Are contributions to fisheries different?

7. Upon landing, anglers placed hatchery fish in a tube –Oriented fish into flow, held up to 24 h –Fish PIT-tagged, transferred to Wallowa Hatchery, held for spawning Upon landing, anglers placed hatchery fish in a tube –Oriented fish into flow, held up to 24 h –Fish PIT-tagged, transferred to Wallowa Hatchery, held for spawning Broodstock Collection and Handling (Brood Years 2004 − 2007)

9. Acclimation Ponds

10. Juvenile Steelhead Releases  Coded wire tags were implanted into 100K of Autumn Line and Standard Line juveniles for estimating stray rates. Brood Year Number PIT tagged Autumn St andard 20043,7773,769 20053,5673,566 20063,5673,586 20073,5586,914 Gen- eration F1F1 2008 F2F2 3,5995,203 Number Released Autumn Standard 170K 373K 277K 308K 221K 258K 140K 345K 129K 241K F1F1 F1F1 F1F1

12. Survival (± CI) AutumnStandard 200477 (2.1) 77 (3.0) 2005 73 (6.6) 74 (5.3) 200671 (22.3)78 (41.0) 2007 84 (19.3) 84 (13.5) 77%79% Averages 23.5 (7.0) 21.6 (11.5) 30.8 (6.7) 31.3 (11.3) AutumnStandard 23.8 (7.6) 22.4 (10.8) 30.1 (8.7) 33.1 (12.9) Brood Year % Outmigration Travel Time (d; ± SD) Juvenile Performance 2008 82 (4.8) 80 (3.9) 18.3 (9.7) 17.3 (11.2) 25.1 25.3

13. Average Adult Steelhead Return Timing McNary Lower Granite MONTH PERCENT RECOVERED Bonneville AUTUMN LINE STANDARD STOCK Average Adult Steelhead Return Timing F1 Generation, (BY 2004-07) 0 5 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20 25 June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Aug. 5 Aug. 14 Aug. 31 Sept. 24 Sept. 11 Oct. 6

15. Smolt-to-Adult Survival to Bonneville Dam 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 20042005200620072008 BROOD YEAR PERCENT SURVIVAL Autumn line, F 1 generation Standard stock 68 50 69 62 65 47 211 326 66 82 Autumn line, F 2 generation (significantly different, P = 0.004)

16. 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 2004 2005200620072008 BROOD YEAR Smolt-to-Adult Survival to Lower Granite Dam (significantly different, P < 0.001) PERCENT SURVIVAL Autumn line, F1 generation Standard stock Autumn line, F2 generation 3626 4941 43 34 138 189 4161

17. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2004200520062007 BROOD YEAR % 1-OCEAN ADULTS Age At Return Standard stock (P = 0.062 ) Autumn line, F 1 generation

18. 0 10 20 30 200420052006 % STRAY RATE INDEX BROOD YEAR Percent of Steelhead that Strayed Autumn line, F 1 generation Standard stock 2007 239 46 49 14 113 51 32 24 94.0%76.0%47.0%41.0% And the Percent of Barged Fish Incomplete Data

19. 0 20 40 Kilometers Mouth (RK 0) Pelton Trap (RK 161) Sherars Falls (RK 69) Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery (RK 154) S p r i n g s W a r m R i v e r D e s c h u t e s R i v e r COLUMBIA RIVER Deschutes River Basin 0 0.5 1.0 FB SP % RECOVERED ABOVE RK 69 % TRAP RECOVERIES Before Feb. 1 SP 0.5 1.0 0 Total FB SP

20. Run Year Experimental Group Number Detected at Sherars Falls Number Later Detected at McNary or Above Percent Later Detected at McNary or Above 2007-08Autumn Line 50 0 Standard Stock 7571 2008-09Autumn Line 6117 Standard Stock 30 0 2009-10Autumn Line19421 Standard Stock15213 2010-11Autumn Line 5240 Standard Stock 50 0 Total Autumn Line35720 Total Standard Stock30723 PIT Tag Detections in Deschutes and at McNary

21. Compensation Plan Fisheries

22. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 SeptOctNovDecJanFeb MarApr PERCENT OF TOTAL HARVEST Lower Grande Ronde Autumn line Standard stock 37 250 184 69 82 266 26 Harvest Timing in the Grande Ronde Basin MONTH Wallowa (run years 2006-07 to 2008-09) 75 152

23. SeptOctNovDecJanFebMarApril MONTH Autumn line Standard stock Harvest in the Compensation Area Error bars = 1 SE 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 No. HARVESTED /1,000 SMOLTS

24. 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 200420052006Average BROOD YEAR No. HARVESTED /1,000 SMOLTS Autumn Line In Oregon Autumn Line Outside Oregon Standard stock Outside Oregon Standard stock In Oregon Harvest Contribution in the Compensation Area

25. Conclusions Autumn Line F 1 adults pass Lower Granite Dam earlier, provide increased autumn fishing opportunities in Grande Ronde River.  Will F 2 and subsequent generations continue to return earlier? Greater Autumn Line survival to adulthood.  Is it just because they return at an earlier ocean age?  Will the trend continue? No apparent straying benefit to Autumn Line.  Will stray rates remain low for all release groups?  Are there other broodstock, rearing, or release strategies that can be used to reduce straying. Autumn Line F 1 adults pass Lower Granite Dam earlier, provide increased autumn fishing opportunities in Grande Ronde River.  Will F 2 and subsequent generations continue to return earlier? Greater Autumn Line survival to adulthood.  Is it just because they return at an earlier ocean age?  Will the trend continue? No apparent straying benefit to Autumn Line.  Will stray rates remain low for all release groups?  Are there other broodstock, rearing, or release strategies that can be used to reduce straying.

26. Future Plans for the Autumn Line 1.Brood Year 2012: Increase smolt production to 240,000 smolts (30% of entire Wallowa stock production). Maintain current marking and tagging to assess whether F 3 generation performs similarly to F 1 generation. 2.Brood Year 2013 and beyond: Increase Autumn Line production to 320,000 smolts in BY 2013, 400,000 smolts in BY 2014.  Releasing both lines would benefit autumn and spring fishing periods, provided future generations perform similarly to the F 1 generation.  Autumn Line may require occasional refreshing with new broodstock collected via angling in the Grande Ronde in autumn.  During this time, straying information from F 1 and F 2 generations will continue to be collected and assessed.  The ability of the hatchery to concurrently spawn, rear, and release Autumn Line and standard production groups (each consisting of 400,000 smolts) will impact future decisions.

27. Acknowledgements Many thanks to the 192 anglers and volunteers for: –7,000 hours –111,000 miles of travel –2500 meals served ODFW Wallowa Hatchery and NE Region fish liberation staff Rick Madigan – Wenaha Wildlife Area Volunteers from local state and tribal agencies Many thanks to the 192 anglers and volunteers for: –7,000 hours –111,000 miles of travel –2500 meals served ODFW Wallowa Hatchery and NE Region fish liberation staff Rick Madigan – Wenaha Wildlife Area Volunteers from local state and tribal agencies