Further, by snorkeling in summer we were also able to identify additional adult coho salmon redds in upper Indian. Creek and a large beaver pond that we did ...
Fall 2012
The Confluence
WA-BC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
SCIENCE
AND
CONSERVATION
Unbuild
It
and
They
Will
Come:
The
Initial
Stages
of
Salmon
Recolonization
in
the
Elwha
River
By
John
R.
McMillan
(photo
left)1,
Raymond
Moses2,
Mike
McHenry2,
Larry
Ward2,
Kinsey
Frick1,
Sam
Brenkman3,
Pat
Crain3,
Phil
Kennedy3,
Heidi
Hugunin3,
Oleksandr
Stefankiv1and
George
Pess
(photo
below)1
1.
NOAA‐NWFSC,
2725
Montlake
Blvd
East,
Seattle,
WA
98112
2.
Lower
Elwha
Klallam
Tribe,
51
Hatchery
Road,
Port
Angeles,
WA
98363
3.
National
Park
Service,
Olympic
National
Park,
600
East
Park
Avenue,
Port
Angeles,
WA
98362
Introduction
Before
the
1900s,
the
Elwha
River
supported
one
of
the
most
diverse
and
abundant
populations
of
salmonids
on
the
Olympic
Peninsula,
including
all
five
species
of
Pacific
salmon,
resident
rainbow
trout
and
steelhead,
coastal
cutthroat
trout,
and
bull
trout.
However,
in
the
early
1900's,
the
Elwha
Dam
(river‐mile(R.M.)
4.9)
and
the
Glines
Canyon
Dam
(R.M.
13.5:
Figure
1)
were
constructed
without
fish
passage
facilities
(Duda
et
al.
2008).
Limited
to
the
lower
five
miles
of
river,
the
anadromous
portion
of
the
salmonid
population
dramatically
declined
in
abundance,
distribution,
and
diversity.
Then,
after
almost
100
years
and
decades
of
political
and
legal
wrangling,
deconstruction
of
both
dams
began
in
the
late
summer
of
2011
and
the
former
Elwha
Dam
site
was
passable
by
fish
in
late
April
2012
(Figure
2).
Removal
of
these
two
dams
opens
over
70
miles
of
high
quality
habitat
towards
the
goal
of
recovering
the
salmonid
runs
of
the
Elwha
River
(Pess
et
al.
2008).
18
Fall 2012
The Confluence
WA-BC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Figure
1.
Distribution
of
recolonizing
(a.)
adult
coho
salmon
and
(b.)
adult
wild
winter
steelhead
in
the
Elwha
River
basin
now
reaches
well
beyond
the
former
Elwha
Dam
site
after
only
seven
months,
but
not
beyond
the
remaining
Glines
Canyon
Dam
which
is
scheduled
to
be
removed
entirely
by
spring
of
2013.
As
part
of
the
recovery
process
the
Lower
Elwha
Klallam
Tribe
(LEKT),
National
Oceanic
and
Atmospheric
Administration/National
Marine
Fisheries
Service
(NOAA/NWFSC),
Olympic
National
Park
(ONP),
Washington
Department
of
Fish
and
Wildlife
(WDFW),
United
States
Fish
and
Wildlife
Service
(USFWS),
and
the
United
States
Geological
Survey
(USGS)
‐‐
hereafter
referred
to
as
the
'partners'
‐‐
collected
and
relocated
adult
coho
salmon
and
adult
winter
steelhead
into
the
middle
Elwha
River
valley,
which
is
located
between
Elwha
and
Glines
Canyon
Dams
(Figure
1).
The
objectives
were
two‐fold.
First,
the
partners
wanted
to
initiate
recolonization
above
Elwha
Dam
prior
to
full
19
Fall 2012
The Confluence
WA-BC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
restoration
of
anadromous
access.
Second,
deconstruction
released
sediment
stored
behind
the
dams
that
resulted
in
elevated
turbidity
levels
in
the
main‐stem
Elwha
River
that
were
stressful‐to‐potentially‐ lethal.
To
mitigate
this,
the
partners
wanted
to
move
a
proportion
of
the
fish
into
two
tributaries
in
the
middle
Elwha
that
were
directly
unaffected
by
the
sediment
release,
including
Indian
Creek
and
Little
River.
Figure
2.
Dam
gone:
former
location
of
the
Elwha
Dam
in
late
April.
Just
over
a
month
later,
at
least
a
few
wild
winter
steelhead
swam
past
this
area
without
human
intervention
and
were
documented
spawning
in
Little
River
and
Indian
Creek.
Photo
by
John
McMillan.
After
release,
the
partners
conducted
weekly
foot
surveys
to
count
redds
and
followed
up
with
summer
snorkel
surveys.
We
also
radio
tagged
a
sub‐ set
of
the
fish
to
better
understand
movements
prior
to,
during,
and
after
spawning.
Here
we
describe
some
of
the
preliminary
findings
of
those
colonizing
salmon
and
steelhead.
Fish
Relocation
and
Monitoring
Coho
salmon
The
adult
coho
salmon
used
in
the
relocation
efforts
were
mostly
hatchery
origin
and
were
captured
at
the
LEKT
hatchery
at
R.M.
2.0.
In
total,
approximately
600
adult
coho
salmon
were
relocated
above
the
Elwha
Dam
in
November
and
early
December
2011.
Of
those,
300
were
placed
in
the
main‐stem
Elwha
River
and
150
placed
in
Little
River
and
Indian
Creek.
In
addition,
45
of
the
coho
salmon
were
radio
tagged
to
determine
the
extent
of
their
movements.
We
conducted
a
total
of
62
redd
counts
over
40
miles
of
stream
and
documented
112
redds,
including
58
in
Little
River,
43
in
Indian
Creek
and
11
in
the
main‐stem
Elwha
River
and
its
floodplain
channels
(Table
1).
With
radiotelemetry,
we
were
able
to
determine
that
56%
of
the
coho
salmon
dropped
back
over
the
former
Elwha
Dam
site
and
20
Fall 2012
The Confluence
WA-BC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
returned
to
spawn
in
the
small
spring‐fed
creek
that
drains
the
hatchery
rearing
ponds.
Incredibly,
we
had
a
coho
(male
jack)
that
was
relocated
on
four
occasions
and
dropped
back
over
the
dam
and
returned
to
the
hatchery
each
time.
Applying
a
56%
fall
back
rate
and
a
50:50
sex
ratio
to
the
600
released
coho
salmon
would
mean
that
about
267
salmon,
including
133
females,
remained
in
the
middle
Elwha
River.
While
this
conclusion
is
preliminary,
if
133
females
did
remain
and
each
spawned
only
a
single
redd,
then
we
were
able
to
successfully
account
for
almost
all
of
the
spawning
females,
with
the
overwhelming
majority
of
the
spawning
activity
occurring
in
the
Indian
Creek
and
Little
River
(Figure
3).
This
suggests
that
the
elevated
turbidity
levels
in
the
main‐stem
Elwha
River
were
unfavorable
for
spawning.
Figure
3.
A
pair
of
coho
salmon
spawning
in
Little
River
in
late
November.
These
fish
were
relocated
above
the
Elwha
Dam
to
jump
start
recolonization.
Photo
by
John
McMillan.
Our
summer
snorkel
surveys
included
a
census
of
Little
River
and
extensive
sampling
of
Indian
Creek,
in
addition
to
a
few
main‐stem
Elwha
floodplain
channels
that
had
adequate
visibility.
The
counts
revealed
an
extensive
and
continuous
distribution
of
juvenile
coho
salmon
up
to
a
series
of
waterfalls
in
the
headwaters
of
Little
River
(Figure
5).
We
also
found
juvenile
coho
salmon
throughout
Indian
Creek
and
up
into
its
source
in
Lake
Sutherland.
Further,
by
snorkeling
in
summer
we
were
also
able
to
identify
additional
adult
coho
salmon
redds
in
upper
Indian
Creek
and
a
large
beaver
pond
that
we
did
not
observe
in
winter
because
of
limited
access
due
to
high
flows.
As
a
result
of
the
recolonization
by
adults
and
the
dispersal
of
juveniles,
coho
salmon
were
documented
throughout
almost
the
entire
middle
Elwha
River
(Figure
1).
21
Fall 2012
The Confluence
WA-BC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Steelhead
While
some
wild
winter
steelhead
used
in
the
relocation
efforts
were
captured
at
the
LEKT
hatchery
and
in
a
screw
trap
and
a
weir
in
the
main‐stem
Elwha
River,
most
of
the
steelhead
were
captured
while
attempting
to
spawn
in
the
WDFW
hatchery
outflow
creek
and
pond
that
provided
the
only
easily
accessible
source
of
relatively
clear
water
below
Elwha
Dam.
We
released
36
of
these
adult
winter
steelhead,
of
which
80%
were
female
(28
females,
8
males),
and
six
resident
rainbow
trout
(1
female,
5
males)
into
Little
River
and
11
adult
winter
steelhead
into
Indian
Creek
(6
females,
5
males).
Of
these
fish,
46
were
radio
tagged,
including
35
females
and
11
males,
which
was
representative
of
the
source
population.
Figure
4.
Pair
of
wild
winter
steelhead
spawning
in
Little
River
in
early
June.
The
Elwha
Dam
was
removed
by
this
time
and,
just
a
few
days
after
this
photograph,
at
least
one
large
male
steelhead
made
its
way
past
the
former
dam
site
and
into
Little
River.
Photo
by
John
McMillan.
We
conducted
28
surveys
and
counted
50
steelhead
redds,
nearly
all
of
which
were
found
in
Little
River
where
most
of
the
steelhead
were
released
(Table
1).
Unlike
coho
salmon,
we
did
not
document
any
fall
back
behavior
with
the
wild
steelhead.
All
remained
in
the
tributaries
until
spawning.
A
total
of
18
steelhead
(~40%
of
these
tagged,
16
female,
2
male)
moved
past
a
main‐stem
Elwha
River
telemetry
receiver
at
river
mile
2.5,
presumably
trying
to
migrate
back
to
the
ocean
to
repeat
the
spawning
cycle.
In
early
June,
LEKT
and
NOAA
surveyors
documented
at
least
four
steelhead
in
Little
River
without
radio
tags
or
floy
tags
that
were
different
in
appearance
and
size
from
the
fish
that
were
relocated.
These
fish
made
it
past
the
former
Elwha
Dam
site
on
their
own
(Figure
4).
Three
such
“volunteer
colonizers”
were
also
documented
in
Indian
Creek.
22
Fall 2012
The Confluence
WA-BC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Table
1.
The
number
of
redd
surveys
conducted
(i.e.
7
/
7
=
7
for
coho
salmon/
7
for
steelhead)
for
coho
salmon
and
wild
winter
steelhead,
the
total
length
of
stream
surveyed,
the
number
of
coho
salmon
and
wild
winter
steelhead
redds,
and
the
number
of
wild
winter
steelhead
documented
to
naturally
colonize
each
stream
based
on
field
observations.
Surveys Site
Coho salmon redds
Winter steelhead redds
Natural colonizing steelhead
#
Length (miles)
Little River
7/7
9.1 / 9.1
58
43
4
Indian Creek
14 / 3
8.8/ 2.8
43
7
3
Mainstem Elwha floodplain channels
39 / 15
17.8 / 6.0
8
0
0
2/3
85.3/ 0.8
3
0
0
Mainstem Elwha River
The
spawning
surveys
and
observations
revealed
three
interesting
points.
First,
we
counted
more
redds
than
females,
even
if
we
accounted
for
the
voluntary
colonizers,
suggesting
that
females
were
excavating
more
than
one
redd.
Second,
male
rainbow
trout
were
commonly
observed
interacting
(presumably
spawning)
with
female
steelhead
in
the
lower
Elwha
River
at
the
hatchery
outflow.
Similarly,
numerous
male
rainbow
trout
were
observed
interacting
with
female
steelhead
in
Little
River,
and
we
captured
mature
male
trout
as
small
as
4"
in
length.
We
assume
this
behavior
reflected
the
fact
that
male
steelhead
were
far
less
numerous
than
females
in
our
samples.
Lastly,
steelhead
spawned
from
May
through
July
27,
2012
and
possibly
later
as
a
female
kelt
was
caught
at
the
weir
in
the
lower
river
on
August
4,
2012.
It
was
a
cold
spring
and
early
summer,
but
so
was
2011
and
fish
did
not
spawn
as
late
in
2011.
We
hypothesize
the
very
late
spawn
timing
was
partly
related
to
high
suspended
sediment
levels,
which
ranged
from
200‐1,200
NTU's
through
the
breeding
season.
23
Fall 2012
The Confluence
WA-BC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Summer
surveys
indicated
that
young‐of‐the‐year
(YOY)
steelhead
were
widely
distributed
throughout
the
Little
River
and
into
lower
Indian
Creek
(Figure
5).
However,
we
could
not
always
be
certain
that
YOY
were
from
steelhead
and
not
resident
rainbow
trout.
Nonetheless,
prior
surveys
of
Little
River
during
similar
times
and
monitoring
of
YOY
steelhead
and
trout
size
in
previous
years
at
several
locations
suggest
most
of
the
YOY
were
probably
offspring
of
steelhead.
We
are
in
the
process
of
identifying
non‐lethal
methods
‐‐
including
size‐at‐age
‐‐
to
accurately
and
efficiently
distinguish
YOY
trout
from
YOY
steelhead.
Ultimately,
the
overall
spatial
distribution
of
wild
winter
steelhead
in
the
middle
Elwha
River
was
not
as
expansive
as
that
of
coho
salmon
(Figure
1),
but
it
is
certainly
greater
than
what
would
have
existed
without
the
relocation
efforts.
Figure
5.
Juvenile
coho
salmon
(foreground)
and
a
juvenile
steelhead
(upper
left)
holding
in
the
large
cobble
that
is
common
in
the
relatively
steep
channel
of
Little
River.
Photo
by
John
McMillan.
24
Fall 2012
The Confluence
WA-BC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Implications
With
the
Elwha
Dam
removed,
and
Glines
Canyon
Dam
partially
removed,
it
is
expected
that
the
entire
basin
will
be
accessible
to
salmonids
by
the
spring
of
2013.
In
the
mean
time,
recolonization
of
the
middle
Elwha
River
is
well
underway
by
coho
salmon
and
wild
winter
steelhead,
along
with
all
of
the
potential
interactions
between
the
old
and
new
Elwha
River
ecologies.
The
ecology
of
the
streams
in
the
middle
Elwha
River
have
long
supported
populations
of
resident
salmonids.
What
is
different
is
the
ecology
in
and
along
the
stream.
For
example,
we
have
observed
non‐native
brook
trout
feeding
on
coho
salmon
eggs,
otters
dragging
steelhead
and
Chinook
salmon
carcasses
back
into
the
trees
and
underwater,
and
Harlequin
ducks,
Dippers
and
blue
herons
feeding
on
the
YOY
coho
salmon
and
steelhead.
These
are
first
steps
and
there
are
more
unique
discoveries
expected
to
be
made.
During
the
summer
and
fall
of
2012,
approximately
200
Chinook
salmon
redds
have
been
documented
in
the
middle
Elwha
and
its
tributaries,
indicating
that
adult
Chinook
salmon
have
made
it
past
the
former
Elwha
dam
site
without
human
intervention,
just
as
a
few
winter
steelhead
did
this
spring.
Small
numbers
of
pink
salmon
and
possibly
summer
steelhead
have
also
recolonized
habitats
above
the
former
Elwha
Dam
as
well.
Fish
have
also
probably
passed
downstream.
The
LEKT
caught
O.
mykiss
smolts
in
its
screw
trap
in
Little
River
this
spring,
and
they
were
free
to
go
to
the
ocean.
The
main‐ stem
Elwha
River
is
still
too
turbid
to
see
fish,
so
we
cannot
be
sure
of
what
fish
are
where.
What
is
clear
is
this:
Unbuild
it
and
the
salmon
will
come,
just
as
they
have
through
their
long
evolutionary
history
in
the
geologically
active
Pacific
Northwest.
References
Duda,
J.
J.,
J.
E.
Frelich,
and
E.
G.
Schreiner.
2008.
Baseline
studies
in
the
Elwha
River
ecosystem
prior
to
dam
removal:
Introduction
to
the
special
issue.
Northwest
Science
82
(Special
Issue):1‐12.
Pess,
G.
R.,
M.
L.
McHenry,
T.
J.
Beechie,
and
J.
Davies.
2008.
Biological
impacts
of
the
Elwha
River
dams
and
potential
salmonid
responses
to
dam
removal.
Northwest
Science
82
(Special
Issue):72‐90.
25
