Pacific Coast Salmon: Stillaguamish Tribe Natural Resources

Stillaguamish Tribe Department of Natural Resources

Co-managing the Fisheries

Natural history and cultural significance

Life cycle – redds to estuary

Fish identification with live hatchery fish

Life cycle – to the sea and back

Life history requirements

Status of local stocks

Challenges and solutions

What We Will Cover

The Stillaguamish Tribe

Salmon evolved about 40 million years ago

following the end of the Cretaceous Period.

(Fish had been around since 400 million years ago.)

Raven 1986

Over the next 20 million years, global cooling shifted

productivity from fresh water to the oceans, and increased

food availability.

Pacific salmon ( ) separated from Atlantic salmon ( )

20 million years ago. Speciation occurred with emergence of different

types of water systems: lakes, rivers, small streams, etc.

For example: the

By Stanton Fink (left) and Ray Troll (right)

Extinct by the Pleistocene 2Million Years ago

Why care about salmon?

Food

CEREMONY

Sense of Place

Jobs

Food for wildlife

Watershed nutrients

Quinn 2005 (ecosystem services)

How are salmon different from 99% of

other fish?

Anadromous & Semelparous

Migratory fish that live mostly

at sea and breed in fresh water.

And breed once in their

lifetime.

The Salmon

lifecycle

Emergence Alevin

Fry

Parr

Smolt

Adult

Eggs and alevin

need cold,

oxygenated water in

the gravel.

Time to hatching

depends on

temperature & oxygen.

In general,

.

At 5°C 87 – 120 days,

depending on species.

At 10°C, 60 – 80 days.

Quinn 2005

Average eggs laid 2000 – 4000, largely depending on size.

Alevins with yolk

sacs in the gravel,

this is a very

sensitive stage.

Alevins tend to

burrow through

spaces between

gravel and orient

themselves

upstream.

Emerging Chinook fry

(in the Stillaguamish River, this happens in

about four to five months – so Feb to

March)

Survival rates

Eggs to hatching: pink 11%, Coho 25%, Chinook 38%

Egg to migrant Chinook survival based on Stillaguamish smolt trap data

averages 10%.

From alevin to fry – now what?

Pinks and chum

tend to head

straight to the

estuary.

Chinook will rear

upriver if suitable

habitat is available.

In Alaska, more

Chinook are

‘stream-type’.

Chinook spend

more time in

estuaries than pink

or chum (this can

mean Puget Sound

at large).

Quinn 2005

Coho tend to spend a

year in freshwater,

.

Trout may spend as

many as three years.

They feed on algae

and aquatic insects

found on stream

bottoms or in ponds.

As they grow they will

eat small fish.

They need places of refuge & well

oxygenated water. They can be territorial.

Quinn 2005

Chinook fry left and in the process of

smolting, right. (Quinn/Bell)

Ion regulation, color, thyroid hormones, shape. Fish

become silvery and elongated

Changes that Occur

Smolting

(Quinn/Bell)

Coho fry

Smoltification: (teenage fish)

Triggered by internal rhythms, size, day

length, temperature.

Let’s look at some live fish!

Credit: Laurie Weitkamp

Back to the fish lifecycle..

Optimal Out-migrant Habitat

Eelgrass beds

Salt marsh

Pocket estuaries

Small pocket

estuaries form

behind small spits,

often with

freshwater inputs,

are good food

sources and

protection from

predators.

Our salmon travel to the

North Pacific Ocean.

(Salmon tagged at sea and recovered in N Am or Japan. Quinn 2005)

At sea, salmon tend to stay in near surface waters

and move toward surface at night (as does

zooplankton).

Populations from other

rivers converge.

Gain 90% of their body

weight, eating fish, squid,

crustaceans.

Orient by using magneto-reception,

ocean temperatures.

N

Life at Sea

Life at Sea

Marine survival estimates: 5% or less

Overall survival is less than 1% - but given appropriate habitat

this may be enough to sustain a population.

Life at Sea

Salmon get caught and

we like to eat them!

The Return to the Estuary (pre-spawning)

Sockeye

Pollard et al 97

Chum Chinook

Different species spawn in different places

Different species spawn in different places

Life History

Requirements

Cold, clear gravel bottomed streams

surrounded by woods

Temperatures need to be below 8° Celsius or

46°F, water 30 – 60 cm deep, flowing 30 – 100

cm/second.

Nests or Redds made of gravel and rock

Buffers: Essential Healthy Salmon Habitat

Benefits

1. Water filtration &

transpiration

2. Insect habitat

3. Wood supply for

in-stream use

4. Shelter

5. Shade

6. Slows current at

banks

7. Predator

deterrent

Plus:

Carbon sink/oxygen

Wildlife habitat (birds, bees, mammals)

Fish Food

Sockeye

rear in lakes

eating

zooplankton

Left to right:

Daphnia,

Diaptomus,

Cyclops

Quinn 2005

In the estuary Chinook eat

zooplankton and invertebrates, small

fish, larval crabs and as they grow eat

larger fish.

Neomysis

top &

Corophium

amphipods

Crab

zoeae top,

Crab

megalop

bottom

By Greg Jensen

Ctenophore

Threats facing salmon today and

efforts at recovery

Habitat loss and degradation

Over fishing

Pollution

Changing ocean conditions

Puget Sound Chinook were listed as threatened

under the endangered species act in 1999.

At least 34% of Puget Sound salmon stocks are

depressed, in critical condition, or already

extinct.

In CA, OR, ID, & WA, salmon are now extinct in 40% of the

rivers in which they historically spawned. 30 – 50% of

remaining stocks are in jeopardy.

Local Threatened Stock Status

Less than 7%

historic estimates

North Fork Chinook: 1060

South Fork 188

(Includes Skykomish and

Snoqualmie rivers)

Chinook (Sky and Sno)

Bull trout (NF Sky, SF Sky, Salmon Creek,

Troublesome Creek)

1988-2012 Chinook Escapement

1988-2012 Chum Escapement

1988-2012 Coho Escapement

Local recovery efforts consist of groups focused

on habitat enhancement plus hatcheries.

• Stillaguamish Watershed Council

• Snohomish Salmon Forum

• Sound Salmon Solutions

• Local fish clubs and many more

• Stillaguamish Restoration hatchery

enhances spawning success and is not a

‘fish farm’

In the Stillaguamish River Chinook harvest is not

permitted for the public or the Stillaguamish

Tribe.

In 2009, the Tribe had their first ceremonial take

of Chinook in over 20 years.

They caught two.

Limited hatchery Chinook harvest is permitted in the Snohomish

Basin.

Following: photos of Stillaguamish Hatchery operation

‘Broodstocking’

Capture fish returning to spawn

Deliver to the hatchery

Ripen

Spawning The Stillaguamish Tribe restoration

hatchery releases tens of thousands

of Chinook fry each year, and

educates several hundred students.

Issues related to salmon decline

How you can help!

Over-fishing and

Poaching

Report suspicion

or evidence of

poaching to WA

Dept of Fish &

wildlife.

877-933-9847

Derelict Fishing Gear

2.6 million pounds in Puget Sound kill millions of animals each

year

Report all lost

gear to WA Dept.

of Fish and

wildlife.

800-477-6224

Report all spills

to the local port

authority.

Temperature

Availability

Pollution

Water Quality

Contributors to Poor Water Quality

Channelized

waterways with

hardened, eroded,

and/or defoliated

banks.

Or no banks at all!

Large scale urbanization

with non-existent

estuaries or natural

streams.

Excess sediment can come from bank erosion,

landslides.

Sediment can bury gravels, reducing available

spawning habitat.

Sediment smothers eggs and clogs fish gills.

Volunteer to help restore stream buffers

and instream conditions

Fence streams from livestock (good for our

water too!)

Report lost fishing gear

Restore salt marsh/estuary/nearshore

habitat

Restoration hatcheries

Practice good water quality behavior

Restoring stream buffers

Working

together as a

community to

rebuild

buffers and

keep

pollutants out

of water.

Replacing wood in streams and rivers.

Creates pools and slows water down,

Creates hiding places,

and attracts edible insects.

Vegetated side channels are excellent for Chinook and

Coho juveniles, but low in number due to bank hardening

2006 North Fork Stillaguamish project reopened this side channel.

Prevent salmon from returning to their

spawning grounds, or force juveniles

downstream prematurely.

Fish Barriers

Repair Culverts and Barriers

Restore Salt Marsh Habitat

Originally 4448 acres, 15% remains. Since

1968, 863 acres accreted, but it lacks the

diversity of original habitat.

Challenges for shoreline and near shore

restoration

Balancing the interests of:

Agriculture

Residential

Other wildlife such as waterfowl

Restore or protect near shore and

beach habitat

Shoreline 39% modified:

dike 15%

concrete 6%

rock 6%

wood 11%

Other <1%

Stewardship, education, vote, let your leaders know

you care, participate in local committees.

QUESTIONS???

Thank-you!

Greek for hook-snout

Steelhead salmon and/or Rainbow Trout

The most diverse life history. Can spawn multiple times

(iteroparous), can reside entirely in freshwater or migrate to

sea. Spawn in spring rather than fall.

Cutthroat trout

Spring spawner, found on both sides of Rockies, can

be freshwater resident, iteroparous. Have adfluvial

(live in lakes, spawn in streams) and sea-run types.

Female chum and female coho at sea

Pink and sockeye females at sea

Chinook or king or

blackmouth salmon

The largest and least

common Pacific salmon.

Mature at 4 – 6 years.

Favored food of orcas.

Charles Wood in Quinn 2005

2011 Forecast

Stillaguamish: 665

Snohomish: 589211

Chum or dog salmon

Oncorhynchus keta

Third most abundant

species, mature at 3, 4,

or 5 years of age.

2011 Forecast

Stillaguamish :11,314

Snohomish: 9,572

Coho or silver or

blueback salmon

Oncorhynchus kisutch

Mature from 2- 4

years.

2011 Forecast

Stillaguamish: 66,600

Snohomish: 180,000

Sockeye or red salmon

Oncorhynchus nerka

Second most abundant

species, live mostly in

lakes when in freshwater.

Pink or humpy salmon

Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

The smallest and most abundant

salmon. Mature at 2 years.

2011 Forecast

Stillaguamish: 657, 643

Snohomish: 1,332,388!!!

Get yer smokers ready!