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Cee Cee Ah Creek Westslope Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project Jason Olson

Cee Cee Ah Creek Westslope Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project Jason Olson. A partnership of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington State University Extension. Why Restoration of Westslope Cutthroat?.

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Cee Cee Ah Creek Westslope Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project Jason Olson

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  1. Cee Cee Ah CreekWestslope Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project Jason Olson A partnership of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington State University Extension

  2. Why Restoration of Westslope Cutthroat? • Important to the Kalispel Tribe and WDFW • KT and WDFW have a goal to recover native fish • WCT are Species of Concern, additional ESA listings unwarranted (Petitioned for ESA listing in 2002)

  3. Why Cee Cee Ah Creek • Lower end of Cee Cee Ah Creek flows through the Kalispel Reservation. • Previous investment in instream habitat (structures, and planned culvert replacements and riparian improvements). • Decline of westslope cutthroat densities. - 1996 baseline fish surveys found 118 BKT and 1 WCT in snorkel stations upstream of the falls. - 1997 to 2004 instream restoration monitoring found 1,767 BKT and 3 WCT. - 2002 electrofishing to collect genetic samples – could not find any WCT. - WCT functionally extinct upstream of Cee Cee Ah Falls.

  4. Options For Brook Trout Removal in Cee Cee Ah Creek • Liberalized angling regulations • Physical removal via electrofishing • Dewatering • Explosives • Piscicides With the exception of dewatering, the other alternatives rarely result in complete eradication. Alternatives require much more time, labor and money.

  5. Advantages of Cee Cee Ah Creek for a Piscicide Treatment? • Suitable habitat for WCT to thrive • No grazing or range livestock nearby • No known domestic water rights that might be affected • Limited land owners downstream (U.S. Forest Service, Stimson Lumber Company, Riley Creek Timber and Kalispel Tribal land). • Little fishing in this section of the stream. • WCT are functionally extinct, so efforts to salvage WCT would not required. • Cee Cee Ah Falls to prevent reinvasion.

  6. Study Area

  7. Treatment Area • 5.2 miles of treatment • 31 drip stations • 1 hour travel time between stations • 4 hour treatment time • 37 staff members for first treatment

  8. Treatments • Total of 4 treatments - Two treatments 2 weeks apart in fall of 2008. - One treatment in the fall of 2009. - Final treatment in the fall of 2010. • Treatment 1,2 - removed approximately 6,700 BKT. • Treatment 3 - removed a handful of remaining BKT. • Treatment 4 - no fish were observed.

  9. Tools Used in Cee Cee Ah Removal Drip Station Detox Station 2008, 2009 Detox Station 2010 Backpack Sprayer

  10. Re-Introduction • Considerations - Genetics - Purity • Donor population - Size - Age structure - Spawning timing - Fecundity • Methods - Translocations - RSI (remote streamside Incubators) - Egg tubes (buried in the gravel) - Hatchery

  11. Re-Introduction of Cee Cee Ah • Middle Creek and East Fork Smalle Creek were both determined to be pure WCT and in close proximity of the Cee Cee Ah watershed. • Middle Creek was chosen as the primary donor population. • In 2011, initial collection began on April 1st and went until May 3rd. (n=14) • Collections were moved to East Fork Smalle Creek.(n=86) • In 2012, 39 WCT were collected to spawn from Smalle Creek, only 18 were spawned. • - Size ranged from 149 to 208 mm. • - Fecundity ranged from 66 to 291 eggs. • - Total egg take was 2,086 eggs.

  12. Tools Used in Cee Cee Ah Translocations Electro-fishing Spawning Transportation Otoliths

  13. Results • Brook trout were successfully eradicated from Cee Cee Ah Creek above the falls. • 100 WCT successfully translocated to Cee Cee Ah Creek in 2011. • 2,086 Eggs were collected and fertilized in 2012 producing 178 fry for release (despite poor flow conditions) • Natural recruitment documented in 2013.

  14. Lesson Learned • Education and outreach (the good, bad, and ugly) • Plan and strategize for challenges presented by complex channel habitats (beaver ponds, springs, and side channels) • Staffing ability to implement project with less staff - Treatment one 30-36 people. - Treatment two and three 25 people. • Weather and stream flows – unpredictable however we now know that we can have success in the worst case conditions.

  15. Questions?

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