Colville Tribes Fish and Wildlife capture salmon in Sanpoil River

Editor’s note: The growing movement to restore Chinook salmon to traditional waters and to allow the migratory fish easier access to spawning grounds is gaining support as evidenced by a recent decision – pending approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - to demolish four dams on the lower Klamath River on the California-Oregon border. Another study currently in the news by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recommends removal of four Lower Snake River dams – Ice Harbor. Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite – to benefit salmon and steelhead recovery.

In light of these developments the following report documenting efforts of Colville Confederated Tribes and Upper Columbia River Tribes to reintroduce Chinook salmon to upper Columbia waters reports on the cutting-edge work by one group to pursue their recovery program.

NESPELEM -- In the past few months, thousands of juvenile chinook were captured in the Sanpoil River, a tributary of the upper Columbia. The juveniles were produced from 178 adult chinook that were released in the river in 2021.  These studies in the Sanpoil are part of a larger effort to reintroduce salmon in the blocked area.

Colville Tribes Fish and Wildlife (CTFW) staff set up a rotary screw trap in the Sanpoil River where the river meets the Lake Roosevelt reservoir to monitor out-migrating redband trout and Chinook salmon. Since early spring, they have been monitoring and tagging thousands of juvenile salmon.

“We started capturing salmon at the screw trap in mid-March,” said Aspen Nelson, fisheries biologist for CTFW. “We collected them in the trap almost every day with 5,278 chinook captured and 4,726 of those being PIT tagged as of November 8, 2022.” 

The fish that were captured do not represent the full outmigration of juveniles as the trap only samples a portion of the river.  CTFW staff will conduct further analyses this winter to estimate the number of juveniles that out-migrated in 2022.

Once the fish are tagged and begin their journey migrating downstream, they must survive both Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams, the two largest hydroelectric projects on the Columbia, as well as nine additional dams on their way to the ocean. Once they reach Rocky Reach Dam, biologists will be able to detect them as they continue their journey downstream.

The juvenile fish were produced from adult summer chinook that were released last August. Those surplus fish came from the Douglas County PUD’s Wells Hatchery. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) assisted with disease testing and transport permits.

“WDFW fully supports salmon and steelhead reintroduction efforts into the blocked area of the Columbia River, and we are eager to assist where needed with staff expertise and funding, when available,” said Chris Donley, regional fish program manager for WDFW. “We embrace the value of reintroduction both ecologically and culturally and continue to look for ways to be helpful to the Colville Tribe and our UCUT partners.”

“Releasing these fish in the blocked area met several purposes, including ceremonies, ecological restoration and scientific evaluations,” said Casey Baldwin, research scientist for CTFW.

From September to mid-October, CTFW staff surveyed about 22 miles of the Sanpoil River and during that time they counted 77 redds.

“Counting the redds is an important monitoring step because it provides documentation that the fish were able to successfully survive pre-spawn holding and construct the nests (or redds) where they lay their eggs,” said Baldwin.  “We only found two carcasses this year, which is fewer than what we see in high density spawning areas such as the Okanogan.”

“The carcasses are an important part of ecosystem restoration and add nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon that were accumulated while the fish were in the ocean,” said Baldwin.” It’s a tremendous boost to this watershed that has been deprived of marine nutrients for so many decades.”

While the staff conducted surveys, they observed bears, eagles, ravens, otters, and raccoons along the river, which is likely why so few salmon carcasses were found.

The Colville Confederated Tribes have been working closely with the Upper Columbia United Tribes and the WDFW to pursue a phased approach to reintroducing salmon in the blocked areas upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.  Phase 1 is complete and included science and feasibility evaluations. Phase 2 is currently underway. This phase will include multiple studies to test feasibility and determine the best path forward to continue reintroduction efforts of moving salmon into the blocked areas.