Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
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Our Klamath Basin
Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
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Letter to Irma
Largomarcino, Supervisor National Marine
Fishery Service Arcata Area Office, and
California Biodiversity Council,
from Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong regarding coho
genetics in the Klamath.
8/14/12 Irma, pursuant to our conversation at today's Board of Supervior's meeting, I find it difficult to believe that you are unaware of the issue of coho genetics in the Klamath. I have pointed this out at length in my formal coho comments over the years.
Marcia
Armstrong [
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications/techmemos/tm17/papers/moran2.htm Figure 2 from NOAA Technical Memorandum 17, Application of DNA Tecnology to the management of Pacific Salmon - Phylogeographic Structure of Coho Salmon Populations Assessed by Mitochondial DNA by Paul Moran and Eldredge Bermingham, indicates that Klamath River Iron Gate Hatchery stocks are genetically related to coho of South Puget Sound, North Oregon and Washington Coast cluster. (Ironically, the same biological kinship group as that of the Alsea decision.) Iron Gate Hatchery (IGH) coho were determined to be of an entirely different genetic cluster than the Rogue River and Cowlitz coho, which are in the SONCC biological ESU. Here are excerpts from some of my prior comments: These were among my 1995 comments in the coho status review. The citations are to the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force Long Range Plan
Chapter 5, pg. 2 History - "Upper basin stocking programs
were begun in 1890 by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries (Fortune et
al. 1966). No hatchery was established at this time...Coho
salmon were stocked in 1895..." (Note: it appears from the text
that these were of Sacramento River origin as were chinook fry
stocked during this period.)
Chapter 5, pg. 2 - "The U.S. Fisheries Bureau set up a fish
trapping facility at Klamathon in 1910. The Klamathon Racks
blocked upstream migration of chinooks and coho into the upper
Klamath drainage. Finally the Fisheries Bureau established a
hatchery at Hornbrook in 1912, and by 1914 chinook and coho
salmon of Klamath River origin were being raised and planted by
this facility. Operation ceased in 1919."
Chapter
5, pg. 5 Iron Gate Hatchery Returns - "Coho returns from
1979-1988 have ranged widely from a low of 289 in 1983 to a high
of 2,893 in 1987. Average run size has been 1,851...Coho from
Cole River Hatchery on the Rogue sometimes return to Iron Gate."
Chapter 5, pg. 6 Iron Gate Hatchery Planting Procedures,
Stock Transfer - "Coho yearlings have been released in March
and April. From 1986 to 1988 40% of the Coho yearlings were
planted at the hatchery. The remainder were transplanted into
Indian Creek, Elk Creek and Beaver Creek. Iron Gate coho were
planted in the salmon River in 1985. 450,000 and 850,000 surplus
coho eggs were shipped to the Mad River Hatchery in 1986 and
1987, respectively."
Chapter 5, pg. 13 "Iron Gate Hatchery Coho were outplanted in
Elk, Grider, and Beaver creeks in the Middle Klamath region from
1986-88. Smith et al. (1985) said similar programs in Oregon
"lacked biological benefit." Although stocked streams reared
more juveniles, researchers observed that native juveniles were
displaced by hatchery fish. Further, when hatchery adults
returned to spawn with native fish, juvenile recruitment was
greatly reduced due to less well-adapted offspring (Smith et al.
1985)."
Chapter 5, pg. 14 The Use of Non-Native Broodstocks - "Riesenbichler
(1988) found that the survival of transplanted coho salmon
decreased in a linear fashion with the distance planted from
their native watershed (Figure 5-2). The original coho
broodstocks at both major hatcheries in the Klamath Basin were
from Cascade Hatchery stocks in Oregon. The distance between
their stream of origin, the Columbia River, and the Klamath
River is over 800 km. The productivity of the stock is thus
predicted to be very low (Figure 5-2). Problems with low
productivity and erratic patterns of return of hatchery coho
after introduction may have been attributable to the
inappropriate adaptations of this stock. Recent improved
performance of this stock may reflect adaptations to the
hatchery environment (or domestication) allowing better survival
under these artificial conditions. Problems with interaction
with native populations may still occur, however."
Chapter 5, pg. 15 "Oregon hatchery programs used coho salmon
large central facilities for all of the Oregon Coast. As these
hatchery coho, lacking adaptations to local conditions, strayed
back to spawn with wild stocks, fewer viable smolts were
produced (Solazzi et al. 1983). The program of outplanting coho
fingerlings and yearlings in Elk, Beaver and Indian Creeks may
have had a negative impact on any wild stocks still remaining in
those basins. While this program is still being monitored to
determine if the planting has led to increased self-sustaining
coho production, Withler (1982), in a review of the literature,
found that the introductions of Pacific anadromous salmonids,
using non-native broodstock, have been unsuccessful in producing
new self-reproducing populations anywhere on the West Coast."
Chapter 5, pg. 15 The Use of Non-Native Broodstocks -
"The Klamath River has periodic high levels of the protazoan
disease organism Ceratomyxa shasta. Marsh areas and lakes
are thought to be optimal conditions for this protazoan although
the lifecycle of the organism remains unknown. All stocks of
rainbow trout in the areas above Iron Gate Dam are resistant to
this disease (Buchanan in press). Locally adapted steelhead
stocks in the vicinity of Iron Gate Hatchery should also have
evolved almost total resistance. Studies at the Nehalem River in
Oregon found that introductions of Trask River coho decreased
the viability of native Nehalem coho stock substantially because
the introduced Trask fish lacked resistance to Ceratomyxa
shasta (Kapuscinski 1984)..."
Chapter 5, pg. 6 Iron Gate Hatchery Broodstock -
..."Insufficient numbers of native coho were returning to the
hatchery site when Iron Gate Dam was completed, so coho stocks
were founded with eggs imported from the Trinity River Hatchery
[from Cascade Hatchery stock], Cascade Hatchery in Oregon, and
Mt. Shasta Hatchery (CH2M Hill 1985). Since Mt. Shasta Hatchery
is on the Sacramento, which does not have coho salmon, the coho
from this source may have been from another California stream,
such as the Noyo River (Bob Corn personal communication)..."
Chapter 5, pg. 8 Trinity River Hatchery - ..."From 1979
to 1988 the average number of coho juveniles planted was 670,531
annually. Plants ranged from a high of 1,198,696 in 1981 to a
low of 156,150 in 1984..."
Chapter 5, pg. 10 Trinity River Hatchery Broodstock -
"Coho stocks were derived from Cascade Hatchery in Oregon..."
Chapter 5, pg. 11 Trinity River Hatchery Disease and
Operational Problems - "Diseases present at Trinity River
Hatchery include enteric red mouth which is caused by the
bacteria Yersinia rickeri, bacterial kidney disease (BKD),
white spot and infectious necrosis (IHN), a viral disease. Seven
million coho eggs were found to be at risk to IHN in 1985 and
destroyed as a precautionary measure (Bob Corn personal
communication)..."
"Bartley and Gall (1990) recently reported that crosses between
chinook and coho salmon ("conooks") were occurring in the
Klamath River Basin and particularly at or below Trinity River
Hatchery. Chevassus (1979), in a review of the literature, found
natural crossing of chinook and coho to be extremely rare. The
earlier run timing of the hatchery strain of coho versus
original native coho stocks, the large runs of both coho and
fall chinook in recent years, and the limited amount of spawning
area below the hatchery may be the combination of factors that
led to this occurrence.
"Hendrick
et al. (1987) also noted the crosses occurring at the Trinity
River Hatchery and described changes in resistance to disease
that may be related to the hybridization. They noted that coho
were not susceptible to IHN at the hatchery or anywhere in their
range. Experiments were conducted by Hendrick et al. (1987) and
it was discovered that while pure coho were resistant to IHN,
chinook had some susceptibility, and the hybrid conooks had
almost no resistance to IHN. Hybridization could lead to
increased loss of fish at Trinity River Hatchery due to IHN.
Bartley (personal communication) indicates that hybrids may
retain external characteristics of chinook or coho but sometimes
have mixes of both. Thus, the problem of intermixing hybrids
into broodstocks could elude graders and continue to exacerbate
the problem."
Chapter 5, pg. 17 Disease Introductions a Side Effect of
Large Scale Fish Culture - "The introduction of broodstock
or eggs from outside the basin represents an increased threat of
introduction of non-endemic disease organisms (PNFHPC 1989).
Because native fish are not resistant to such diseases,
introductions can be potentially devastating. CDFG guidelines so
longer allow fish from outside to be introduced into the Klamath
drainage." HISTORICAL OCCURRENCE OF COHO SALMON IN THE UPPER KLAMATH, SHASTA, AND SCOTT RIVERS. California Department of Fish and Game Northern California and North Coast Region February 2002 Early Stocking History The earliest record of coho salmon being stocked in the Klamath Basin was of a plant made in 1895. Fortune et al. (1966) reports that 460,000 coho salmon were stocked in the Klamath River (300,000 fry and 160,000 yearlings). Further examination of the original records from the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries (1895) revealed those fish were raised in the Ft. Gaston facility in Hoopa and were stocked in the Trinity River and in Supply Creek, a tributary to the Trinity River. Those fish were reared from eggs taken at a facility in Redwood Creek (a substation of the Ft. Gaston facility) and also from eggs shipped from another facility not identified in the report (but were likely from out of the basin). Insight as to the purpose of this 1895 coho salmon plant may be found in the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries (1895) report that states; “Most of the salmon and steelhead eggs were taken at the [Redwood Creek] substation, as there was no run of either kind in the Trinity, all the fish having been taken at the cannery at the mouth of Klamath River”. Although the Ft. Gaston facility operated until 1898, 1895 was the only year coho salmon were stocked into the Klamath Basin prior to 1911 (Cobb 1931). In anticipation of the construction of Copco Dam, the “Klamathon Racks”, a fish egg taking station located near the old town of Klamathon, was built in 1910 and began operating that same year (Leitritz 1970). These racks extended across the Klamath River, effectively blocking the salmon runs. The Klamathon Racks were, “necessary that the supply of salmon may be maintained in the Klamath River...” (CFGC 1918). Fish trapping records beginning in the 1910-1911 season indicate that coho salmon were migrating upriver through that area, making it clear that their upstream migration encompassed areas upriver from where the Iron Gate and Copco dams now reside (Cobb 1931). Although the construction of the Klamathon Racks began in 1910, the racks were not completed on time. The Fiscal Year 1911 report (July 1, 1910 to June 30, 1911) of the U.S. Fish Commissioner states that: “....the racks were not completed in time to intercept the run of chinook salmon. Later in the season, before the completion of the silver salmon work, they were carried away, but not before satisfactory collections of eggs had been made”. The actual number of coho salmon eggs taken during the 1910-1911 season at the Klamathon Racks was not given in the records, however, 2,109,000 coho salmon eggs collected there were transferred to the California Fish Commission’s Sisson (Mt. Shasta) Hatchery (CFGC 1913). The resultant fry were subsequently stocked back into the Klamath and Sacramento rivers (CFGC 1913). This was the first effort made by the State of California to increase the runs of coho salmon (CFGC 1913). Beginning with the 1912-1913 season, coho salmon eggs taken at the Klamathon Racks were mostly reared and released from the US Bureau of Fisheries’ Hornbrook Hatchery on the Klamath River. Apparently, no coho salmon eggs were collected at the Klamathon Racks during the 1911-1912 and 1917-1918 seasons as coho salmon are not mentioned in the available federal and state records. However, coho salmon eggs were taken during the five consecutive seasons beginning with the 1912-1913 season (Cobb 1931). With two exceptions (1913-1914 and 1915- 1916), the numbers of coho salmon eggs collected each season at the Klamathon Racks are not available, however, the number of fry reared at the Hornbrook Hatchery from coho salmon eggs taken at the Klamathon Racks are provided (Cobb 1931, Fortune et al. 1966). Number of eggs collected and number of coho salmon produced from 1910 through 1917 are summarized in Appendix Table D-1. Klamathon Racks, we used the average number of eggs per female coho salmon (2,394 - see Coho Salmon Status Review, Chapter III, Biology - Life History and Unique Characteristics). Based on this, an estimated 881 females would have been required to obtain the number of eggs collected at the Klamathon Racks that were transferred to Sisson Hatchery during the 1910-1911 season. Greater numbers of females were required in subsequent seasons (1913-1914 through 1915-1916) (Appendix Table D-1). The 1912 -1913 and 1916-1917 seasons were drought years in which the take of salmon eggs, both chinook and coho salmon, was greatly reduced (Fiscal Year 1913 report of the U.S. Fish Commissioner, CFGC 1918). The relatively large numbers of coho salmon females required to yield the reported egg take and hatchery production indicates that significant numbers of coho salmon were in the Klamath River in the vicinity of the Klamathon Racks during those years. The Klamathon Racks were rebuilt during the fall of 1918 and ownership of the facility was granted to the State of California by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. It began supplying most of the eggs utilized by the State because production from other stations, such as the Baird Station on the McCloud River, was seriously curtailed due to impacts from ocean harvest, irrigation diversions and dam building (CFGC 1921). At this time, fish culture emphasis for the State focused on the production of chinook salmon and trout, and although many coho salmon were caught at the Klamathon Racks, it was the larger chinook salmon that were selected (Bryant 1923). Since the Hornbrook Hatchery was considered by the State to be ill-equipped to rear fry and because it had an unreliable water supply, the facility was abandoned in 1919 in favor of the new Fall Creek Hatchery (CFGC 1921). Appendix D Page 4 Fortune et al. (1966) indicates that hatchery coho salmon were stocked in the Klamath River on only four occasions between 1919 and 1959. Totals of 178,000, 73,380, 20,000 and 20,000 fry and fingerlings were planted in 1919, 1934, 1940 and 1941, respectively. A review of California Fish and Game Commission Biennial Reports for the years 1930 through 1950 reveals that additional plants totaling 476,000 coho salmon were made to the Klamath River (Siskiyou County) between 1930 and 1932 (CFGC 1932). These fish were reared at the Fall Creek Hatchery (CFGC 1932) and presumably originated from the Klamathon Racks, as was the practice of the day. Hatchery Stocks Historically, the practice of importing non-native fish was common, especially in systems where native fish had been extirpated or were in low abundance (also see Status Review, Chapter VII, Influence of Existing Management Efforts). Following completion of Iron Gate Hatchery in 1966, adult coho salmon returns were less than 500 fish. After the completion of Trinity River Hatchery in 1963, adult coho salmon returns at this facility rarely exceeded 1,000 fish prior to 1971. In an effort to increase returns to Iron Gate Hatchery, coho salmon from the Cascade River in Oregon were stocked in 1966, 1967 and 1969 (CDFG 1994). The first significant transfer of coho salmon to Trinity River Hatchery occurred in 1964 when Eel River coho salmon stock were brought in. This was followed by plantings of coho salmon originating from the Cascade River, Oregon in 1966, 1967 and 1969. Noyo River stock was also planted in 1969 and Alsea River stock was planted in the Trinity in 1970 (CDFG 1994). It appears the intent of these out-of-basin transfers was to augment already existing, albeit dwindling, natural coho salmon populations. Current California Fish and Game Commission policy now essentially prohibits all out-of-basin fish transfers. -------------------- http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications/techmemos/tm17/ http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications/techmemos/tm17/papers/moran2.htm _________________________ http://genome-lab.ucdavis.edu/people/Israel/pc_finalgenetics.pdf PacifiCorp Klamath Hydroelectric Project FERC Project No. 2082 February 2004 PacifiCorp Fish Resources FTR.DOC Fish Resources FTR Page 9-13 9.7.4 Review of Hatchery-Related Genetic Information on Klamath Salmonids 9.7.4.1 Coho Salmon Broodstock Practices Three significant genetic concerns remain for hatchery populations of coho salmon in the Klamath basins. First, the potential for domestication selection in hatchery populations, such as the Trinity River fish hatchery where there is no or little infusion of wild genes. Also, concern exists about out-of-basin straying by large numbers of hatchery coho. However, hatchery production of coho salmon at the Mad River and Rowdy Creek facilities was ceased after the 1999 brood year, thereby eliminating potential genetic introgression associated with hatchery releases from these facilities (NOAA Fisheries, 2003). The NOAA Fisheries is concerned about the origins of the current coho stocks in the Klamath River. The NOAA Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries, 2003) stated that there is evidence that several of the large river basins in the SONCCESU, including the Rogue, Klamath, and Trinity rivers, are heavily influenced by hatchery releases of coho salmon. Historical and reciprocal transfers of stocks between SONCC and the Central California ESU streams were common (see below), and SONCC streams also have received inter-basin plants from hatchery stocks in the Lower Columbia River/Southwest Washington, Puget Sound/Strait of Georgia, and Oregon Coast ESUs. Two of the four hatcheries still producing and releasing coho salmon in the SONCC ESU are Iron Gate fish hatchery and Trinity River fish hatchery. Iron Gate fish hatchery was founded in 1965 from Klamath River coho salmon returning to the hatchery. Cascade Hatchery (Columbia River) coho salmon stock were released in 4 of the first 5 years of the hatchery’s operation via Trinity River fish hatchery and Mt. Shasta fish hatchery. In 1977, two-thirds of the coho released from Iron Gate fish hatchery were planted from the Trinity River (Rushton, pers. comm., 2003). Since 1977, only Klamath River basin fish have been released from Iron Gate fish hatchery. Adult returns averaged 1,120 fish between 1991 and 2000, and an average of 161 females have been spawned at Iron Gate fish hatchery annually during the same period (NOAA Fisheries, 2003). Accurate estimates of the relative contributions of wild and hatchery-produced fish are not available for the Klamath River (CDFG, 2001). Beginning in 1995, Iron Gate fish hatchery coho salmon have been marked with left maxillary clips. Data on hatchery returns, which have only been published for 2000, indicate that 80 percent of the 1,353 adults returning to Iron Gate fish hatchery were marked as hatchery fish. Of those fish, 98 percent were Iron Gate fish hatchery releases and the remaining were from the Trinity and Cole River (Rogue River, Oregon) fish hatcheries. Fish from the Trinity River fish hatchery have right maxillary clips, while those from the Cole Hatchery have had their adipose fin clipped. Cole River fish have been verified by recovered pit tags (Iron Gate fish hatchery staff, personal communication in Hedgecock et al. 2002). Since Iron Gate fish hatchery is located near the upper end of accessible habitat, the significance of the high percentage of hatchery fish with respect to the total production in the Klamath basin is uncertain (NOAA Fisheries, 2003). Trinity River fish hatchery began releasing coho salmon in 1960. Originally, Trinity River fish were used as broodstock, although coho salmon from the Eel River (1965), Cascade River (1966-7, 1969), Alsea River (1970), and Noyo River (1970) have been reared and released at the hatchery as well as elsewhere in the Trinity basin. Outmigrant trapping on the lower Trinity River indicates that marked Trinity River fish hatchery fish comprised 65 to 97 percent of the catch between 1998 and 2000. In addition, an estimated 85 to 95 percent of the estimated coho salmon run upstream of Willow Creek weir between 1997 and 2001 were of Trinity River fish hatchery origin (Wade Sinnen, personal communication cited in CDFG, 2002). Additional analysis of carcass data suggests that straying of Trinity River fish hatchery coho is high and a large percentage of in-river spawners are of Trinity River fish hatchery origin. 9.7.4.2 Hybridization of Chinook and Coho Salmon at Trinity River Hatchery Bartley et al. (1990) identified Chinook and coho salmon hybrids from Deadwood Creek, a tributary to the Trinity River, and from rearing ponds at Camp Creek, a tributary to the Lower Klamath River. Forty alleged juvenile out-migrant (smolt) coho salmon were collected in August 1984 from Deadwood Creek. A sub-sample of 120 putative juvenile Chinook salmon was collected from rearing ponds at Camp Creek. Juveniles from the rearing ponds were the progeny of presumable Chinook salmon that had been captured at Camp Creek. The spawning location of the broodstock of these fish is unclear. Bartley et al. (1990) reported fish were spawned at Iron Gate hatchery and transported back to Camp Creek to be reared. Hatchery personnel reported that all Camp Creek broodstock were spawned at Camp Creek from 1986 to 1990 (Rushton, pers. comm., (2003). Previous analysis of populations of Chinook and coho salmon in California (Bartley, 1987; Bartley and Gall, 1990) revealed seven allozyme loci whose allelic products could be used to distinguish between the two species. Electrophoretic analysis of 21 allozymes was performed and the likelihood of hybridization for individuals expressing alleles of both parental species was evaluated using the hybrid index described by Campton and Utter (1985). Genotypes and hybrid index scores of the 40 juvenile salmon from Deadwood Creek suggested that 11 were Chinook salmon, 26 were coho salmon, and three were presumptive Chinook-coho hybrids. The hybrids were heterozygous for the common alleles of both Chinook and coho salmon at five out of seven distinguishing allozyme loci. Fourteen of 120 fish from the Camp Creek rearing ponds were heterozygous for the common alleles of both species at all seven distinguishing loci. Observed hybrids were considered to be first generation because all of the distinguishing loci, with the exception of one locus in a single individual, were heterozygous, containing one allele from Chinook salmon and the other allele from coho salmon. While a quantitative estimate of the level of Chinook-coho hybridization in California was not possible because of the non-random sampling of fish within populations, the Deadwood Creek and Camp Creek samples represented the only occurrences of putative hybridization revealed in an analysis of 36 Chinook populations and 27 coho populations from northern California (Bartley, 1987; Bartley and Gall, 1990). Moreover, no evidence of Chinook-coho hybridization was reported in a study of 86 populations of Chinook between the Babine River, British Columbia, and the Sacramento River, California (Utter et al. 1989). Bartley et al. (1990) suggest that the 14 hybrids from the Camp Creek rearing ponds were the result of hatchery personnel inadvertently crossing pure Chinook and coho salmon during spawning operations and hybrid offspring were placed with pure Chinook in the rearing ponds. Hatcheries designed to offset losses of salmon spawning habitat through artificial spawning could contribute to the erosion of the genetic resource of Chinook and coho salmon through direct or indirect production of hybrid salmon. All fish, including alleged hybrid individuals, held at the Camp Creek rearing ponds were released into the Klamath River system under the presumption they were pure Chinook salmon. If hybrid Chinook-coho salmon return to spawn, genetic resources within naturally spawning populations of both species may erode in the Klamath River system. Disruption of the natural spawning environment and crowded spawning sites may result in hybridization of fish (Hubbs, 1955). When interspecific mating occurs between coho and Chinook salmon, gametes (genetic information passed on to the next generation in one particular species or the other) and/or spawning sites are no longer available for other population members for each species (Utter, 1989). Since mating between coho and Chinook produce offspring that are sterile (Johnson, 1988), the genes those parents carried (that component of genetic diversity for the population as well as the species as a whole) are no longer perpetuated in generations subsequent to the sterile offspring produced. In addition, as the rate of hybridization between the two species increases, there will be fewer individuals in the population who will pass their genetic information further than one generation. Interspecific hybridization, when the hybrid offspring are sterile, lowers the numbers of successfully reproducing fish (individuals that produce offspring that return to reproduce successfully themselves) in the population. As the number of successfully reproducing fish relative to all breeding members (not necessarily reproductively successful) of the population decreases, the proportion of the entire gamut of genetic diversity harbored by that population and that is passed onto the next generation also decreases. This phenomenon is called genetic drift and may contribute to erosion of genetic resources of small, fluctuating populations like Pacific salmonids. _____________________ Excerpts from my Feb 21, 2002 comments on Federal Register Feb. 11 Vol.
67, No. 28, Proposed Rules, Page 6215-6220 : Historic Decline and Current Status of Coho Salmon in California, Larry R. Brown, Peter B. Moyle and Ronald Yoshiyama, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, May 1994:
From the final listing determination of SONCC coho (Federal Register Vol. 62, No. 87, Rules and Regulations May 6, 1997 pgs. 24588-24609):
NMFS-NWFSC-24: Status Review of Coho Salmon from Washington, Oregon, and California - Laurie A. Weitkamp, Thomas C. Wainwright, Gregory J. Bryant, George B. Milner, David J. Teel, Robert G. Kope, and Robin S. Waples:
[
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications/techmemos/tm17/figures/bermfig2.htm
] Figure 2 from NOAA Technical Memorandum 17, Application of DNA Tecnology to the management of Pacific Salmon - Phylogeographic Structure of Coho Salmon Populations Assessed by Mitochondial DNA by Paul Moran and Eldredge Bermingham, indicates that Klamath River Iron Gate Hatchery stocks are genetically related to coho of South Puget Sound, North Oregon and Washington Coast cluster. (Ironically, the same biological kinship group as that of the Alsea decision.) Iron Gate Hatchery (IGH) coho were determined to be of an entirely different genetic cluster than the Rogue River and Cowlitz coho, which are in the SONCC biological ESU. This exclusion of the IGH coho from the SONCC biological ESU is consistent with numerous narratives that indicate IGH coho broodstock originated from the Cascade hatchery in the Columbia River Gorge.
Apparently, IGH coho stocks were also subsequently fortified with stocks of Columbia River origin . Historic Decline and Current Status of Coho Salmon in California, Larry R. Brown, Peter B. Moyle and Ronald Yoshiyama, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, May 1994 states:
STATUS OF "NATURALIZED" IGH COHO or "OUTPLANTS" ? Chapter 5, pg. 2 of the Long Range Plan For The Klamath River Basin Conservation Area Fishery Restoration Program (William M. Kier Assoc. 1991) or LRP establishes that nonindigenous stocking programs commenced more than a century ago:
IGH records show that at least 40% of the juveniles released from IGH in the following years were outplanted directly into the tributaries of the Klamath River. Total juvenile releases 1986-87= 205,000; 1987-88=135,000; 1988-89=143,400. (Klamath River Fisheries Resource Plan, CH2M Hill, for USDOI, Feb 1985 ) We know that from 1979-1988, an average 119,796 coho yearlings were outplanted from the IGH annually. The LRP Chapter 4, pg. 13 states;
Chapter 5, pg. 6 Iron Gate Hatchery Planting Procedures, Stock Transfer states:
From the USFS report "Evaluation of Fish Habitat Condition and Utilization in Salmon, Scott, Shasta, and Mid-Klamath Sub-Basin Tributaries 1988/1989" states:
In addition the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Resource Plan CH2MHill Feb., 1985 states:
There is ample evidence that IGH coho, (descended from imported OCH coho,) were widely naturalized or outplanted in the mid-Klamath and its tributaries. It is highly probable that they returned to spawn and that their progeny populate the system. It is uncertain whether these fish are considered part of the biological ESU or the listed ESU. It is also uncertain how one can tell these progeny apart from any "wild" coho or naturally spawning Trinity River coho or their progeny.
STATUS OF IGH DRIFT? There is evidence to point to the a possibility of a significant drift in hatchery coho spawners. Historic Decline and Current Status of Coho Salmon in California, Larry R. Brown, Peter B. Moyle and Ronald Yoshiyama, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, May 1994, references a study of Trinity River hatchery (TRH) coho by (Rogers, D.W. CA DFG Anadromous Fish Branch, Admin. Rept. 73-10.). that determined "Significant numbers of fish (about 40% of adult escapement) apparently spawned naturally in the Trinity River or in the tributaries above the North Fork confluence during 1969 and 1970, mainly in the area between Lewiston Dam and Douglas City." The Federal Register Notice Vol. 62. No. 87, Tuesday, May 6, 1997 "Rules and Regulations" pg. 24588-24609 announcing the final determination of the Southern Oregon Northern Coastal Coho Salmon ESU as "threatened" states: ..." However, large hatchery programs, particularly in the Klamath/Trinity basin, raise serious concerns about effects on, and sustainability of, natural populations. For example, available information indicates that virtually all of the naturally spawning fish in the Trinity River are first-generation hatchery fish...." [at 24590] (Note, there is little information coho populations in the Klamath and its tributaries because fish weirs are inoperable and fish counts are not conducted during peak spawning times due to typically high flows at that time. Also, the IGH did not consistently tag its fish.)
TRH COHO ARE DESCENDED FROM EXEMPTED COHO -A CONUNDRUM
TRH COHO WERE WIDELY NATURALIZED OR OUTPLANTED Historic Decline and Current Status of Coho Salmon in California, Larry R. Brown, Peter B. Moyle and Ronald Yoshiyama, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, May 1994:
Chapter 5, pg. 8 of the Long Range Plan For The Klamath River Basin Conservation Area Fishery Restoration Program (William M. Kier Assoc. 1991) states:
Chapter 5, pg. 10 Trinity River Hatchery Planting Procedures, Stock Transfers states –
TRH COHO EXHIBIT EXCEPTIONAL INCIDENCE OF DRIFT (See above subsection entitled "STATUS OF IGH DRIFT?") Historic Decline and Current Status of Coho Salmon in California, Larry R. Brown, Peter B. Moyle and Ronald Yoshiyama, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, May 1994:
The Federal Register Notice Vol. 62. No. 87, Tuesday, May 6, 1997 "Rules and Regulations" pg. 24588-24609 announcing the final determination of the Southern Oregon Northern Coastal Coho Salmon ESU as "threatened" states:
NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NWFSC-24: Status Review of Coho Salmon from Washington, Oregon, and California - Laurie A. Weitkamp, Thomas C. Wainwright, Gregory J. Bryant, George B. Milner, David J. Teel, Robert G. Kope, and Robin S. Waples:
California Department of Fish and Game, National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Region Joint Hatchery Review Committee Final Report on Anadromous Salmonid Fish Hatcheries in California (Review Draft) June 27, 2001:
KLAMATH -TRINITY METAPOPULATION? From Salmon and Steelhead populations of the Klamath-Trinity Basin, California - Roger Barnhart, California Cooperative Fishery Research Unit April 1994 (Presented at the Klamath Basin Fisheries Symposium, March 24, 1994:
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