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Effects of Hatchery Strays On Recruitment of Steelhead in Mid Columbia Subbasins. Steve Cramer & Brent Lister Funded by Yakima Joint Board. S.P. Cramer & Associates, Inc. Fisheries Consultants www.spcramer.com. Mid – Columbia Study Area.
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Effects of Hatchery Strays On Recruitment of Steelhead in Mid Columbia Subbasins Steve Cramer & Brent Lister Funded byYakima Joint Board S.P. Cramer & Associates, Inc. Fisheries Consultants www.spcramer.com
Miles of stream inhabited by O. mykiss in subbasins of the Mid Columbia Steelhead ESU
Hatchery & Wild Interbreeding • Only Umatilla and Deschutes show >10% hatchery fish among natural spawners • % Hatchery spawners is much lower in key production areas than at passage monitoring stations.
Adult summer steelhead collected at the fish trap on Birch Creek (Umatilla River)
Average Wild Steelhead Recruits per Parent Spawner, 1978-97 broods
Average Wild Steelhead Recruits per Parent Spawner, 1985-97 broods
Warm Springs River as Control • Major tributary of Deschutes River • USFWS operates a weir where nearly all fish entering the river are trapped • Only unmarked steelhead are released above the weir
Correlation Matrix of Naturally Produced Steelhead Abundance Trends
Conclusions • Population productivity per wild spawner was not measurably affected by hatchery spawners • Trends in abundance of Mid-Columbia steelhead are driven by factors common to all populations • Hatchery strays do not fully mix with wild fish and produce fewer recruits • Hatchery strays should be treated as a separate population when estimating stock recruitment parameters