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LIFE HISTORY MONITORING OF SALMONIDS IN THE WEST FORK SMITH RIVER, UMPQUA BASIN, OREGON
Citation:
Hansen, B., S. R. Hendricks, J L. Ebersole, B. Miller, AND S. N. Lampson. LIFE HISTORY MONITORING OF SALMONIDS IN THE WEST FORK SMITH RIVER, UMPQUA BASIN, OREGON. Presented at Western Division American Fisheries Society, San Diego, CA, April 14-17, 2003.
Description:
As a life-cycle monitoring basin for the Oregon Salmon Plan, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has estimated adult returns, distribution and smolt outmigration of coho, chinook and winter steelhead in the West Fork Smith River since 1998. In 2001/2002, the Environmental Protection Agency and USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station initiated research to assess factors influencing juvenile salmonid movement, distribution and growth within the basin. Objectives of this research are to 1) quantify seasonal movement between tributary and mainstem habitats (including passage through culverts), 2) relate seasonal movement to dynamic habitat conditions, and 3) relate movement and habitat quality to growth and survival of juvenile salmonids. All three agencies are collaborating to track the movements and growth of juvenile salmonids implanted with PIT tags throughout the basin. PIT-tagged fish are monitored with stationary PIT tag readers located in three tributaries and with portable PIT-tag readers throughout the watershed. These data will be used to determine seasonal movement, habitat utilization, survival and growth in tributaries and mainstem reaches of the West Fork Smith River. Empirical field data will inform spatially-explicit models of coho salmon life history-habitat interactions, and will help guide habitat protection and restoration of critical freshwater habitats for salmonids.