[ODFW-News] Nonpareil Dam fish trap serves as ODFW fish laboratory

[ODFW News]

For immediate release Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Nonpareil Dam fish trap serves as ODFW fish laboratory
 
ROSEBURG - Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists are using
the fish ladder at the Nonpareil Dam near Roseburg to help them learn
more about the relationship between hatchery and wild coho salmon in the
Umpqua basin.
 
ODFW and a team of local supporters converted the fish ladder to serve
as a fish trap, and biologists are trapping fish and collecting genetic
samples to determine whether hatchery fish can successfully be used to
supplement wild populations. The samples also help them understand the
effects hatchery fish have on wild fish.
 
The study is part of the Conservation Hatchery Improvement Program,
designed to improve and modernize coastal and Lower Columbia River
hatchery programs. A joint effort between ODFW and Oregon State
University, its purpose is to develop and evaluate new hatchery programs
that help restore wild populations. 
 
This year, as salmon move upriver to spawn, wild and hatchery coho are
funneled through the trap to the ladder. While the fish are in the trap,
biologists take genetic samples and check for known hatchery fin marks
to determine whether the fish came from hatchery or wild stock. 
 
"The genetic samples from these fish will tell us exactly what pair
produced which juveniles and whether the hatchery fish were released as
fry or smolts," said ODFW Project Crew Leader Dan Jenkins. 
 
After the fish have been checked for sex and size, the returning
spawners are released to spawn naturally in the upper Calapooya streams.
Comparing genetic samples obtained at the trap with the DNA of future
offspring helps fishery managers understand what hatchery strategies
produce the most offspring. 
 
"We want to find out what differences, if any, may exist between wild
and hatchery coho, if biologists choose to use hatchery fish as a tool
to rebuild wild populations," said Jenkins. "Also, in time we hope to
learn what effects on production have resulted from introduction of
hatchery fish into a wild population. These are important questions that
have been asked by many people involved in fisheries restoration."
 
The project, conducted in support of the Oregon Plan for Salmon and
Watersheds, began in 2001 when biologists obtained genetic samples from
all adult wild fish that returned to the Calapooya River and monitored
their progeny in following years. 
 
Biologists now are developing a clearer picture of which group had the
most returning fish and whether the returning fish were released as fry
or as smolts.
  
Information collected through the mid-point of the study suggests
spawner returns from fry releases, as predicted, are much lower than the
smolt releases. Hatchery-by-hatchery crossed smolts performed better
than wild-by-wild smolts, and hatchery brood fish fared better than wild
brood fish produced in hatcheries. 
 
"The preliminary results are from just one data collection point for
this experiment," said District Fish Biologist Jim Muck. "As fish
continue to return, we look forward to determining what correlation
exists among the different years."
 
The project will be completed in 2009, when all the hatchery fish have
returned to the system and the long-term results of overall fish
production can be compared. It is funded with $505,000 from the Oregon
Water Enhancement Board.
 
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