Lance Clarke, Michael Flesher, Shelby Warren, and Richard Carmichael

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 Troy Wallowa Hatchery Joseph La Grande Union

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

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

5. Average Annual Deschutes River Straying By Snake River Hatchery Steelhead Stocks (Based on 11-24 Years of Data) 20 % STRAY RATE 10 0 Imnaha Wallowa Sawtooth Dworshak B Lyon’s Ferry Pahsimeroi Hells Canyon HATCHERY PROGRAM 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. • 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. Broodstock Collection and Handling (Brood Years 2004−2007) • 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

8. Washington Oregon Idaho

9. Acclimation Ponds

10. Juvenile Steelhead Releases Number Released Number PIT tagged Gen-eration Brood Year andard Autumn Autumn St Standard F1 2004 3,777 3,769 170K 373K F1 308K 2005 3,567 3,566 277K F1 221K 258K 2006 3,567 3,586 345K F1 140K 2007 3,558 6,914 2008 F2 241K 3,599 5,203 129K  Coded wire tags were implanted into 100K of Autumn Line and Standard Line juveniles for estimating stray rates.

11. Average Smolt Length and Condition Factor, Brood Years 2004-07 Fork length (mm) 25 Autumn Line, X =213.6 20 Standard stock, X = 212.0 15 10 5 PERCENT OF TOTAL 0 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 Condition Factor 25 Autumn Line, X = 1.03 20 Standard stock, X = 1.06 15 10 5 0 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40

12. Juvenile Performance % Outmigration Travel Time (d; ± SD) Survival (± CI) Autumn Standard Aut umn St andard Brood Year 23.5 (7.0) 23.8 (7.6) 2004 77 (2.1) 77 (3.0) 21.6 (11.5) 22.4 (10.8) 74 (5.3) 2005 73 (6.6) 30.1 (8.7) 30.8 (6.7) 2006 71 (22.3) 78 (41.0) 31.3 (11.3) 33.1 (12.9) 2007 84 (13.5) 84 (19.3) 18.3 (9.7) 82 (4.8) 17.3 (11.2) 2008 80 (3.9) Averages 25.1 25.3 77% 79%

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

14. F2 Generation Adult Return Timing BY 2008, 1-ocean from BY 2009 25 Bonneville 20 AUTUMN LINE 15 STANDARD STOCK 10 5 0 25 McNary 20 PERCENT RECOVERED 15 10 5 0 25 Lower Granite 20 15 10 5 0 June Sept July Dec Aug Nov Oct MONTH

15. Smolt-to-Adult Survival to Bonneville Dam (significantly different, P = 0.004) Autumn line, F1 generation 7 Standard stock 6 Autumn line, F2 generation 5 4 PERCENT SURVIVAL 3 2 62 326 68 69 65 211 82 1 66 47 50 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 BROOD YEAR

16. Smolt-to-Adult Survival to Lower Granite Dam (significantly different, P < 0.001) Autumn line, F1 generation 4.0 Standard stock 3.5 Autumn line, F2 generation 3.0 2.5 PERCENT SURVIVAL 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 36 26 49 41 34 189 43 138 41 61 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 BROOD YEAR

17. Age At Return (P = 0.062) 100 Autumn line, F1 generation Standard stock 90 80 70 60 % 1-OCEAN ADULTS 50 40 30 20 10 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 BROOD YEAR

18. 94.0% 76.0% 47.0% 41.0% Percent of Steelhead that Strayed And the Percent of BargedFish 30 Autumn line, F1 generation Standard stock 20 % STRAY RATE INDEX Incomplete Data 10 239 113 24 14 49 32 51 46 0 2007 2004 2005 2006 BROOD YEAR

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

20. PIT Tag Detections in Deschutes and at McNary

21. Compensation Plan Fisheries

22. Harvest Timing in the Grande RondeBasin (run years 2006-07 to 2008-09) 40 Wallowa Lower Grande Ronde 35 Autumn line 30 Standard stock 25 PERCENT OF TOTAL HARVEST 20 15 10 5 0 37 184 75 250 69 82 152 266 26 Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Feb Mar Apr MONTH

23. 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 Harvest in the Compensation Area Autumn line Standard stock No. HARVESTED /1,000 SMOLTS Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April MONTH Error bars = 1 SE

24. Harvest Contribution in the Compensation Area Autumn Line Outside Oregon Standard stock Outside Oregon Standard stock In Oregon Autumn Line In Oregon 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 No. HARVESTED /1,000 SMOLTS 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0 2004 2005 2006 Average BROOD YEAR

25. Conclusions • Autumn Line F1 adults pass Lower Granite Dam earlier, provide increased autumn fishing opportunities in Grande Ronde River. • Will F2 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 • Brood Year 2012: Increase smolt production to 240,000 smolts (30% of entire Wallowa stock production). Maintain current marking and tagging to assess whether F3 generation performs similarly to F1 generation. • 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 F1 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 F1 and F2 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