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A primer on habits, habitat, and health of Northwest chinook, steelhead, and sockeye

By Eric Barker of the Lewiston Tribune
January 17, 2020

The Snake River has four species of Pacific anadromous fish — spring and summer chinook, fall chinook, summer steel-head and sockeye.

Wild runs and some hatchery runs of all four are protected by the Endangered Species Act, with endangered sockeye having the highest level of protection. The fish were listed between 1991 and 1997, with steelhead the last to be protected. Idaho and northeast Oregon also have a run of coho salmon. This run was reintroduced to the state by the Nez Perce Tribe after being declared functionally extinct in 1986. Coho aren’t protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Spring and summer chinook, which are grouped into a single category, are the first to return in the calendar year. As their name denotes, they return from the ocean as adults in the spring, usually in April, May and June. They spawn in late summer in tributary streams or the upper reaches of main rivers such as the Middle Fork Salmon River and Main Salmon River, once those rivers become smaller and behave more like streams.

Sockeye return as adults in June. These fish are long-distance swimmers, traveling 900 miles and climbing more than 6,000 feet in elevation during their journey from the ocean to the Stanley Basin, where they spawn in big mountain lakes such as Redfish and Alturas. They are the most imperiled anadromous fish run in the Snake River Basin and nearly blinked out in the the 1990s, when no fish successfully made it to their spawning grounds in a handful of years. Federal, state and tribal authorities took the extraordinary step of bringing the fish into a captive breeding program following the perilously low returns. They have since taken a step back from the brink of extinction but still remain endangered.

Steelhead begin returning in the summer months, usually about July. They continue to return throughout the summer and fall. Many overwinter in the lower Snake River and complete their migration in the spring, spawning in tributary streams, typically from April through June.

There are two types of steelhead that return to the Snake River and its tributaries. A-run steelhead are first and are soon followed by B-run steelhead. A-run fish tend to spend just one year in the ocean, although some individuals spend two years. B-run steelhead tend to return after two years in the ocean, although some spend one year there. The B-run steelhead are larger and tend to return mostly to the Clearwater Basin, although some return to the Salmon River Basin. Fall chinook return in the late summer and fall. They spend the least amount of time in fresh water as adults. They spawn in late October and November in the main channels of rivers such as the Snake, Salmon and Clearwater.

All species of Idaho salmon and steelhead, as well as unprotected populations of Pacific lamprey, must pass eight dams on their migration to and from the ocean — the four Lower Snake River dams and four dams on the main Columbia River. The difficulty the fish have passing the dams and the reservoirs they create has been identified as a significant cause of mortality. The degree to which dams place the fish in jeopardy of extinction has been debated for decades and will be explored again with the release of the federal governments environmental impact state on the Columbia and Snake River Hydropower System. A draft of that document is expected next month.

Juvenile migration

Juvenile spring and summer chinook, steelhead and sockeye travel from their natal streams or hatcheries on high river flows that occur in the spring as mountain snow melts. Fall chinook migrate to the ocean in summer months. The fish tend to be pushed to sea with their noses in the current. The impounded rivers slow their travel time substantially. They pass the dams via spillways, turbines or fish bypass systems. Some of the fish are collected at dams like Lower Granite, loaded on barges and taken downstream for release below Bonneville Dam.

Although the fish survive transitioning from one side of the dams to the other in high percentages, often in the 90s, scientists say that fish also succumb to dam related mortality between the dams. For instance, the slower travel times leave them vulnerable to predators for a longer period of time. Some contend the fish also suffer injuries or stress during dam passage that causes them to perish in the Columbia River Estuary or in the ocean itself. Known as delayed mortality, the latent mortality is much debated.

Survival rates for the various species of fish through the entire hydro system of eight dams average less than 50 percent. Barged juveniles survive the downstream journey at much higher rates, near 100 percent, but, depending on species and whether they are of wild or hatchery origin, sometimes they don’t return as well as fish that migrate downstream in the rivers. Barging tends to lead to higher adult returns in years with low spring and summer flows but not as well in years with high flows, an issue that will be explored in more detail in future installments of this series.

Adult migration

When the fish return as adults, they climb ladders at each of the dams. The ladders — a series of steps in side channels around the dams — allow the fish to proceed upstream.

Elevated water temperatures in the Snake and Columbia rivers can impede the upstream migration of sockeye, steelhead and fall chinook. At times, high temperatures cause the fish to delay their migration. In extreme cases, it can cause the fish to die.

Hatcheries

Hatcheries help boost the abundance of salmon and steelhead. Some hatcheries are operated explicitly to produce fish for harvest in both the rivers and in the ocean. Others, known as conservation hatcheries, are operated to boost numbers of wild fish by producing salmon and steelhead with the goal that they will spawn in the wild. Some believe hatcheries pose a threat to wild fish by diluting the genetic traits that have allowed them to survive for thousands of years and making them less fit, despite adding to their abundance. The federal government has looked into this and set standards for harvest and conservation hatcheries that are designed to help protect wild fish.

Adult hatchery salmon and steelhead that return to Idaho beyond spawning needs are available to sport and tribal anglers. By court precedent, the two groups of anglers are entitled to a 50/50 split of fish in excess of spawning needs.

Harvest

Some wild fish also are harvested. Both groups of anglers, through permits with the federal government, are allowed to take a small percentage of wild fish through incidental catch. Sport anglers licensed by states can harvest only hatchery fish and must release most wild fish. Nonetheless, they often hook wild fish, and some of those fish die from the experience.

Tribal anglers are allowed to take some wild fish in seasons that allow fishing methods like gill nets or gaffs, that kill fish.

Habitat

Degraded habitat in fresh-water rivers and streams has also been identified as a limiting factor to Snake River salmon and steelhead. The federal government, along with states and tribes, has worked for decades to improve habitat where it has been degraded. However, the Snake River has vast areas where habitat is in excellent shape.

Survival yardstick

Smolt-to-adult return rates, sometimes called SARs, are the accepted standard by which salmon and steelhead survival through their life cycle are measured. A smolt-to-adult return rate of 2 percent is required for the runs to simply replace themselves. SARs of 4 percent to 6 percent are required to increase abundance and move toward recovery. Smolt-to-adult return rates vary by year, species and origin (hatchery or wild) but in most but not all years fall below the 2 percent threshold.

Survival is influenced by a number of factors. One of the strongest is ocean conditions. When the Pacific Ocean is considered to be in good shape — with abundant prey base for salmon and steelhead and upwelling currents that bring deep, cold water to the surface of the ocean — returns tend to do much better. In times with poor ocean conditions, return rates suffer.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

By Megan Magensky
January 13, 2020

PASCO, Wash. — The final panel discussing the potential removal of the snake river dams happened Monday night at the Pasco Red Lion.

Last month, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee released a draft of a report including several perspectives on the potential removal of the Snake River Dams.

“If there were easy solutions to this problem we would have done them already,” said Inland Northwest director for Save Our Wild Salmon Sam Mace.

Both sides of the dam argument agree the Snake River Dams impact our economy and agriculture, but several groups are pushing to have the dams removed

“It's not the only thing that we need to do, but it has to be a corner stone of an effective plan if we're going to bring back healthy, harvestable numbers of salmon,” said Sam Mace.

All species of salmon that use the Snake River are either threatened or endangered according to the Endangered Species Act. Supporters of the dam removal say the dams are responsible for a decline in salmon.

“The whole world depends on us for our fish, and I want to take our rightful place again,” said Carrie Shewster Matriarch of the Palouse Tribe.

The dams also create energy used by Bonneville Power Administration. According to Governor Inslee’s draft report, most of the energy goes to a reserve that helps in blackouts.

“Without these dams we would not have the ability to produce the renewable, reliable and affordable hydroelectric power we rely on,” said Representative Dan Newhouse (R-WA). “We would lose well-paying jobs and investment in our local economies.”

The dams also impact agriculture. Dryland farmers use the rivers for transporting their crops on barges. According to Inslee’s report if the dams were to be breached the water levels would be too low for barge travel. Farmers would have to use railroads or trucks.

The report also says irrigated farmland with crops like apples, onions, potatoes or corn would have to move locations or change the crops, which could put them out of business.

“Without these dams our region and the state of Washington would simply not be what it is today,” Rep. Newhouse said.

But the supporters of dam removal say there has to be a solution that benefits both groups.

“Can we find a way to have wheat and wild salmon on our plate going forward?” said Mace.

In Governor Inslee’s report, he stresses a need for more respectful conversations from all parties involved.

Workshops Aim To Get Past 'My Study Can Beat Up Your Study' On Snake River

By Courtney Flatt
January 10, 2020

Salmon need our help, but solutions aren’t going to come easy. That was the common thought from speakers Tuesday night in Clarkston, Washington.

The panel kicked off the first of three workshops to discuss issues that bog down the fate of four lower Snake River dams in Washington.

More than 300 people showed up to hear speakers talk about why it’s important to either keep or alter the dams. The panel stems from a Washington state study that will guide the state’s position on dam removal.

David Johnson, a member of the Nez Perce Tribe headquartered in nearby Lapwai, Idaho, said one of the biggest issues for the tribe is to have access to treaty fishing rights – a promise he says has not been kept.

“What really has been important is that some livelihoods have always been held as sacrosanct; whereas others have not been so, specifically with regards to tribes and the ability to harvest fish,” Johnson said.

Other panelists said it doesn’t have to be a choice of dams or salmon – that there could be ways to make both work. But, advocating for dam removal, Nez Perce members say a lot has been tried so far, without much success.

Dustin Aherin is an outfitter who guides trips that rely on Snake River salmon. He said people need to move beyond prickly attacks and work together to find a solution.

“We haven’t gotten very far into the recovery process by arguing with one another, and by developing different plans, saying my study can beat up your study,” Aherin said.

Dam advocates say the structures are integral to agriculture and the West’s most inland port in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. Those who want the dams breached say they’re standing in the way of healthier salmon runs.

Task Force

In 2018, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee convened a task force to find ways to save the dwindling orca population in Puget Sound and off Northwest coasts. Controversially, the group requested a report on the Snake River dams. It would look at people’s feelings about removing or altering them. It wouldn’t make a recommendation one way or the other.

Of the draft report, Inslee said in a statement: “I thank all the stakeholders from all over the state for weighing in on this crucial issue. I encourage Washingtonians to get engaged in the public comment period over the next month and share their input on what should be done. We need to hear from a variety of people from different regions and perspectives.”

Two more public workshops will take place soon: Thursday, Jan. 9 in Vancouver, Washington, and Monday, Jan. 13 in Pasco.

People can comment on the report through Jan. 24.

Washington’s report is separate from an environmental analysis by the federal government due out sometime this year. Removing or altering the dams would be up to Congress.

By Karina Brown
January 10, 2020

VANCOUVER, Washington — Farmers, fishermen and environmentalists sparred Thursday over a proposal to breach four dams on the Snake River to prevent extinction of salmon born there.

The time could be ripe for the proposal long favored by environmentalists, with requirements under decades-running litigation dovetailing with measures called for by a state task force bent on saving endangered killer whales.

The government is preparing to take an official position in February on whether breaching the four dams is necessary. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon ruled in 2016 that the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration must consider that action in their latest environmental impact statement on the operation of the 14 federal dams in the Columbia River System.

Despite decades of work and billions spent to save salmon from damage caused by the dams, Simon wrote that the Columbia River system was “still crying out” for a major overhaul. He criticized the agencies for their failure to consider breaching the dams and for insisting that measures similar to those already in place would work to recover salmon. The National Wildlife Federation filed the lawsuit in 2001 and Simon’s 2016 ruling was the fifth in the case to scrap the government’s plan after finding it too meek.

Washington state legislators earmarked $750,000 to produce a report on Washingtonians’ views on the potential removal of the four dams: Ice Harbor, Lower Monument, Little Goose and Lower Granite. The action was called for by Gov. Jay Inslee’s Southern Resident Orca Task Force, which determined that the main problem facing endangered orca is lack of the Chinook salmon the whales eat. The consultants’ final report will be out in March. It won’t make recommendations but will inform Inslee’s comments on the February environmental impact statement.

Jim Kramer, one of the consultants hired to produce the report, led Thursday’s discussion with 10 panelists, ranging from farmers, barge operators, and dam operators to river guides, fishermen and whale biologists.

The Washington Clean Energy Act calls for the state to be fueled by 100% clean energy by 2045. Sara Patton, former executive director of the Northwest Energy Coalition, said that would be possible with an increase in wind and solar energy, a transition to a smart energy grid and better efficiency standards.

But Birgit Koelher, policy lead for power at Bonneville Power Administration, said power produced at the four dams is an important part of compliance with the new law.

“There are times of year when Bonneville is struggling to just meet demand,” Koelher said. “The Snake River dams can pretty much instantaneously double their power generation when the conditions are right. For now, they’re a pretty darn valuable asset.”

For Joel Kawahara, salmon fisherman and vice president of the Coastal Trollers Association, breaching is the obvious answer.

“Wild salmon want undisturbed rivers to do their thing in,” Kawahara said.
But Alex McGregor, chairman of the Association of Washington Business Rural Economic Vitality Taskforce, said potential disruption to irrigation and transportation farmers rely on is a hard stop.

“For farmers, the issue is not a considerable amount of money,” McGregor said. “The issue is much deeper than that. Farmers love what they do, they believe in farming and so many people measure what the land was and want to see it better at the end of their tour of duty. I’ve yet to hear any way that that can be done with breaching.”

A 2019 economic study by ECONorthwest found that the economic benefits of breaching the dams far outweighed those of keeping them operating. The environmental impact statement will include updated calculations of the dams’ costs and benefits.

Dave Johnson, manager for the Nez Perce Tribe Fisheries Department, said tribes have been unable to harvest the salmon guaranteed in treaties in exchange for ceding their land.

“It always seems as if somebody else’s livelihood is more sacrosanct than others,” Johnson said. “And we are the only ones with a guaranteed livelihood. In the treaties it said, ‘You’re always going to have that livelihood.’ The U.S. got millions and millions of acres of land yet we haven’t really had any harvest for years.”

Sam Mace, inland Northwest director with Save Our Wild Salmon, said she hoped the discussion would create the meaningful action for salmon that litigation has failed to achieve.

“We’ve just lost so much time in the last 20 years,” Mace said. “There’s urgency for our orca and for our salmon. And there just haven’t been enough of those conversations happening between different interests to figure out some of these issues.”

Public comment on the draft report will be accepted until Jan. 24.

More than 300 people listen to panel talk about saving fish, fate of four lower Snake River dams

By Eric Barker of the Tribune
January 8, 2020

More than 300 people turned out to listen to a dialogue about the future of the lower Snake River, its dams, threatened salmon and steelhead runs, agriculture and power production at a meeting in Clarkston on Tuesday evening.

The burgeoning discussion between stakeholders representing various interests was the result of a 115-page draft report commissioned by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and his Orca Task Force that focused on the attitudes of Washington residents on the dams and fish.

The report will help guide Inslee’s comments on a coming federal Environmental Impact Statement on the Columbia and Snake River Hydropower System and its effects on protected salmon and steelhead. The EIS will examine, among other things, whether the dams should be breached to save the ailing fish runs.

Consultant Jim Kramer gave a brief summary of the report’s findings before overseeing the discussion between people who have often battled over the best way to save the fish. Much of that two-decade-plus-long debate has revolved around dam breaching, an action supported by salmon advocates. Breaching would help the fish migrate to and from the ocean, but would also end use of the river by farmers to get their crops to overseas markets and reduce the hydroelectric capacity of the Pacific Northwest.

Kramer asked panelists how the process might be moved forward. As the discussion evolved beyond normal talking points, some of the panelists began to open up and agree that listening to each other’s needs could produce results.

Bill Newbry, president and chief operating officer of the Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative, said if farmers and shippers are to be brought to the table and entertain the possibility of breaching the dams, they first need to see an upgrade in rail and highway infrastructure.

“We need the infrastructure and it’s not there,” he said. “Let’s start with some infrastructure changes and some low-hanging fruit and we can make some changes.”

Sam Mace, of the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, said face-to-face talks are helpful and she praised Inslee and other political leaders for recent leadership. But she said people at lower levels can also be effective by meeting face to face.

“I think that kind of dialogue is important,” she said.

Dustin Aherin, a river rafting outfitter from Lewiston who runs trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River that has some of the best salmon and steelhead habitat in the region, agreed that dialogue can move the dial.

“We haven’t gotten very far in the recovery process by arguing with one another and developing different plans,” he said. “People like us, the users and affected people, need to realize my actions can adversely affect someone else. We need to work together to find middle ground that keeps my industry whole and other industries whole.”

Birgit Koehler of the Bonneville Power Administration noted the Snake River dams are part of the region’s energy mix and are vital at certain times of year. She said people sometimes say it would be easy to replace the power produced at the dams with wind and solar sources but they don’t acknowledge that wind and solar is also being tapped to replace coal and natural gas-generating plants that are being retired.

“One of my concerns is we do have to have an understanding of what the trade-offs are,” she said.

But Nancy Hirsh of the Northwest Energy Coalition said the power puzzle can be reconciled.

“The energy piece is solvable, there are other sources, other ways to operate the system,” she said.

Joel Kawahara, a commercial fisherman from Quilcene, Wash., said people need to take a long view of the problem.

“We are lacking overall vision of what we want the region to be,” he said. “Do we want an economy to be accommodating to people on the east and west sides equally? I think yes.”

Alex McGregor of the McGregor Co. noted removing the dams and barge transportation would require 43,000 more rail cars and as many as 167,000 trucks. He stressed the need to follow sound science but expressed optimism that solutions can be reached.

“It’s too easy to oversimplify the issues, it’s too easy to try to take on the matter through lawsuits and angry dialogue. The more we can work together and recognize the challenge we face, the better off we are,” he said.

David Johnson, manager of the Nez Perce Tribe Fisheries Department, said a lot of good work has been done to improve imperiled habitat and to raise and release hatchery fish. But he also noted there are wilderness areas that hold pristine spawning habitat that is under used by the fish. He noted that tribal members have sacrificed more than other regional players who are now being asked to compromise.

“Some livelihoods have been held as sacrosanct while others have not been,” he said.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

By MATTHEW WEAVER

December 4, 2019

Stakeholders need to begin talking about the possible impacts to Northwest communities if four dams on the Snake River are removed, says the leader of a group that advocates their removal.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t make a transition to a free-flowing lower Snake River and do so in a way that leaves agricultural communities either whole or with additional opportunities,” Joseph Bogaard, executive director of Save Our Wild Salmon, based in Seattle, told the Capital Press.

Environmental groups have for years called for the removal of the Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams, citing their impacts on federally protected salmon and, more recently, orcas.

Bogaard said the conservation and fishing communities are committed to finding ways to help ensure greater certainty for all involved, including fishing and farming communities.

“I don’t think it’s something we do overnight, I don’t think it takes 10 years,” he said. “I think we can, with a plan and political leadership and support and buy-in of key stakeholders, this is something that can be done in three to five years.”

Bogaard pointed to “a lot of evidence, analyses and studies that have looked at the science and economics” around the dams, arguing that they are “high-cost and low-value dams with services that, while they’re important and there’s communities that rely on them, they are replaceable.”

“There’s quite a bit of evidence that suggests that some of the services, maybe all of the services currently provided by the dams, can be feasibly and affordably replaced, if we work together (and) put together the kinds of plans that involve timelines, dollars and programming to ensure the communities that currently rely on those dams or reservoirs can transition to alternative means of delivery, say irrigation water or moving transportation on land rather than on the river, or electricity,” he said.

Advocates for maintaining the dams argue that taking them out would not benefit salmon or orcas to the degree that environmentalists say, and would negatively affect trade. Barges use the Snake and Columbia rivers and pass through the locks at the dams to take grain to market downstream and supplies to farms upstream.

Pacific Northwest Waterways Association executive director Kristin Meira recently called environmentalists’ arguments simplistic, saying they are touting the idea that one action in one area would lead to species recovery.

https://www.capitalpress.com