Hood River Fisheries Project PDF Download

This progress report describes work performed by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs' (CTWSRO) portion of the Hood River Production Program Monitoring and Evaluation Project (HRPP) during the 2007 fiscal year. A total of 36,523 hatchery winter steelhead and 127,829 hatchery spring Chinook salmon smolts were acclimated and released in the Hood River basin during the spring. Thus the HRPP met program goals for a release of 125,000 spring Chinook but fell short of the steelhead release goals of 30,000 summer steelhead and 50,000 winter steelhead. Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT) tags were implanted in 3,813 hatchery winter steelhead and 10,560 hatchery spring Chinook to compare migratory attributes and survival rates of hatchery fish released into the Hood River. Water temperatures were recorded at seven locations within the Hood River subbasin to monitor for compliance with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality water quality standards. A pre-season spring Chinook salmon adult run forecast was generated, which predicted a return adequate to meet escapement goal and brood stock needs. As a result the tribal and sport fisheries were opened. A tribal creel was conducted from May 1 to July 31 during which recorded 51 spring Chinook were harvested. Sixty spring Chinook salmon redds were observed and seventeen carcasses were inspected on the West Fork Hood River spawning grounds during 2007. Annual salvage operations were completed in two irrigation canals resulting in the liberation of 2,810 fish back to the Hood River.