Category Archives: Hatcheries

Central Valley Salmon Hatchery Release Strategies 2019 Some Good, Some Bad – Some Lessons Not Learned

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Federal and State hatcheries released 32 million juvenile salmon into the Central Valley, the Bay-Delta, and nearby coastal waters in 2019.1 The hatchery programs included spawning and rearing salmon from all four salmon races: fall-run, late–fall-run, winter-run, and spring-run. The hatchery programs have come a long way through decades of adaptive management, but some lessons were not learned. In this post I summarize and discuss the release strategies in 2019 of the seven hatchery programs. In most cases, release strategies were good for smolt survival. Some releases were made into poor flows and high water temperature conditions that would contribute to poor survival from slowed migration, heat stress, starvation, or high predation rates.

Federal Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek (Sacramento River)

The Coleman Hatchery released 11 million salmon to the Sacramento River and its major upper river tributary Battle Creek in 2019 (Figure 1). All but the 176,128 released to the Sacramento River near Redding were released at the hatchery into lower Battle Creek. All the fall-run were from brood year 2018 (spawned in fall 2018). The total late-fall-run release for brood year 2018 was 830,000 including 73,952 released in January 2019, with the remainder released in Nov-Dec 2018.

The Coleman hatchery continues to struggle with problems/conflicts associated with making releases too early or too late in the season.2 Early release of younger smaller pre-smolts has led to poor survival and return rates. Late releases can be a problem because of low flows and high water temperature in the lower Sacramento River (Figure 2). The early 2019 releases could have been made later in April, and the early May release could have been supported by a flow pulse from a near-full Shasta Reservoir in this near-record-high storage year.

Figure 1. Summary of Coleman NFH releases in 2019. Note 755,416 late-fall-run smolts from brood year 2018 were also released into Battle Creek in Nov-Dec 2018.

Figure 2. Spring 2019 river flow and water temperature in the lower Sacramento River at Wilkins Slough near Grimes. Red lines denote upstream releases of Coleman NFH fall-run smolts.

State Oroville Feather River Fish Hatchery

The Feather River Fish Hatchery released 9 million salmon smolts to the Feather River and the Bay in 2019 (Figure 3). All of the nearly 2 million spring-run were released into the lower Feather River in March and April. Six million fall-run smolts were released to the Bay. One million fall-run were released into the lower Feather.

Generally, all the smolts were released under favorable conditions. The release of fall-run into the lower Feather in early May occurred under marginal conditions (Figure 4). This late season fall-run smolt release into the Feather River was subject to potential high predation rates in the river and during their migration through the Delta.

The May releases of Feather River fall-run to east San Pablo Bay and the Napa River estuary (Mare Island) are problematic because that area is a major spawning and rearing area for longfin and Delta smelt during the period of releases, especially in wet years like 2019.3 Yearling or smolt-sized Chinook salmon are known to commonly feed on larval and juveniles fish in estuaries in winter and spring.

Figure 3. Summary of Feather River Hatchery releases in 2019.

Figure 4. Spring 2019 river flow and water temperature in the north Delta in the Sacramento River at Freeport.

State American River Nimbus Hatchery

The Nimbus Hatchery released 3.6 million fall-run salmon smolts to the American River and the Bay in 2019 (Figure 5). Approximately 2.2 million fall-run smolts were released to the Bay. Approximately 1.6 million fall-run were released into the lower American River (at Sunrise Boat Ramp).

Generally, all the smolts were released under favorable conditions. The lower American fall-run release in mid-May occurred under marginal conditions (Figure 4). This late season release into the American River was subject to potential high predation rates in the river and during their migration through the Delta.

The May and June releases to east San Pablo Bay (Conoco) and the Napa River estuary (Mare Island) are problematic because that area is a major spawning and rearing area for longfin and Delta smelt during the period of releases, especially in wet years like 2019.4 Yearling or smolt-sized Chinook salmon are known to commonly feed on larval and juveniles fish in estuaries in winter and spring. The early June releases to the Bay occurred under marginal conditions – high water temperatures stressful to young salmon (Figure 6).

Figure 5. Summary of American River River Hatchery releases in 2019.

Figure 6. Water temperature in spring 2019 at east end of San Pablo Bay near Mare Island release site of Nimbus Hatchery trucked fall run smolts.

State Mokelumne River Hatchery

The Mokelumne Hatchery released 6.6 million fall-run salmon smolts to the Mokelumne River, the west Delta, the Golden Gate, and the coast in 2019 (Figure 7). Approximately 4.5 million fall-run smolts were released to the west Delta near Sherman Island. Approximately 1.7 million smolts were released on the coast and near the Golden Gate5. The remainder (400,000) were released into the lower Mokelumne River.

Generally, most of the smolts were released under favorable conditions. One exception, the lower Mokelumne fall-run releases in mid–May, occurred under marginal conditions (Figure 4). This late-season release into the Mokelumne River was subject to potential high predation rates in the river and during their migration through the Delta. With the Delta Cross Channel closed, these lower river releases were further subject to potentially high risk conditions. In fact, no tagged smolts from the mid-May river releases were detected in south Delta salvage monitoring, an indication of poor survival within the Delta.

Another exception, the late-May releases to the west Delta, are problematic because they occurred under marginal survival conditions – subsequent high water temperatures stressful to young salmon in the west Delta and the Bay (Figures 6 and 8).

Figure 7. Summary of Mokelumne River Hatchery releases in 2019.

Figure 8. Water temperature in spring 2019 in Suisun Bay.

State Merced River Hatchery

The Merced Hatchery released 0.7 million fall-run salmon smolts to the west Delta near Sherman Island (Figure 9). Conditions were marginal in terms of water temperature for the May 1 releases (Figure 10).

Figure 9. Summary of Merced River Hatchery releases in 2019.

Figure 10. Water temperature in spring 2019 in west Delta in San Joaquin channel off Sherman Island at Jersey Point.

State San Joaquin Spring-Run Recovery Hatchery

The Salmon Conservation and Research Facility Hatchery near Fresno released 212,000 spring-run salmon smolts into the San Joaquin River in 2019 (Figure 11). Generally, most of the smolts were released under favorable conditions. The late release on May 30, however was problematic with river temperatures (Figure 12) and Bay-Delta temperatures (Figure 6, 8, and 10) being too high. The February releases were prone to being drawn into the south Delta and exposed to salvage through April (Figure 13). A similar problem occurred in 2018.6 Flow pulses or trucking/barging may help resolve this problem.

One very encouraging development was the return of 200 spring-run adults to the San Joaquin River near Fresno, including unmarked fish that were apparently born in the river (not hatchery-born) and successfully navigated the river from near Fresno out the Golden Gate.

Figure 11. Summary of San Joaquin River Hatchery releases in 2019.

Figure 12. Water temperature and flow in lower San Joaquin River at Vernalis in winter-spring 2019.

Figure 13. Spring-run hatchery smolt salvage at south Delta export facilities in 2019.

Federal Sacramento River Livingston-Stone Winter-Run Recovery Hatchery

The Livingston Stone Hatchery near Redding released 408,000 winter-run salmon smolts to the Sacramento River and Battle Creek in winter 2019 (Figure 14). Smolts were released under favorable conditions. Salvage of these smolts at south Delta export facilities (Figure 15) indicates some degree of risk probably from being diverted to the south Delta via Georgiana Slough.

Figure 14. Summary of Livingston-Stone Sacramento River Hatchery releases in 2019.

Figure 15. Salvage of hatchery winter-run sized smolts at south Delta export facilities in 2019. Collection includes some late-fall-run hatchery smolts from the Coleman Hatchery.

In Summary

Hatchery salmon releases in wet year 2019 were generally made under favorable survival conditions. However, some releases were made under unfavorable conditions that were avoidable either by altering release timing or location, or by providing pulsed flows to support smolt migrations. Note that it will be several years before we see the adult returns from these tagged hatchery smolts. However, based on past experience,7 the portion of fish that were released in 2019 under unfavorable conditions will likely have poor adult returns.

Klamath River Salmon – the Wrong Advice!

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In a June 2019 article in the LA Times , also posted in Maven’s Notebook, JACQUES LESLIE suggests that “hatcheries don’t belong in this picture” once the planned removal of four dams on the Klamath River is complete.  Based on my decades of work in the Klamath watershed, this post suggests a different approach.  A conservation hatchery could accelerate and improve the outcome of the recovery of Klamath River salmon.  I respond below to a few statements in the article.

“Allowing hatchery salmon to mix with struggling native salmon after removing the dams is like rescuing a dying man only to slowly poison him.”

Native salmon are nearly extinct or already extinct over much of the Klamath River watershed.  A small population of spring-run Chinook remains only in the Salmon River, and is about to be listed as endangered.  Small declining runs of listed Coho salmon remain in several tributaries.  Modest runs of wild fall-run Chinook continue in the Scott and Shasta Rivers, but they are not native to the upper watershed above the mainstem dams slated for removal.  Remaining salmon in the Klamath River are the progeny of hatchery salmon or of interbred hatchery and wild salmon.   Remaining wild Klamath River steelhead are also not native to the upper watershed, and many of them spawn in tributaries downstream of Iron Gate Dam, the lowest Klamath River dam.  Wherever they come from, salmon and steelhead that re-populate the upper watershed will not be native to the upper watershed, at least not initially.

“Salmon hatcheries don’t belong in this picture. They are relics of an outdated worldview that maintains that technology can conquer and control nature. They curtail salmon runs on the river, and instead of diverse stocks of fish that possess varied abilities enabling them to return to spawn — and die — at spots all along the river where they were born, hatchery fish’s birthplace is a single place: the hatchery. The identical life histories of these fish make them more susceptible to disease and predators than their native relatives.”

The modern view of hatcheries, and of conservation hatcheries in particular, is that they (and “technology”) can work with nature rather than controlling it.  One problem is that the life histories of salmon that have survived the dams are not lined up with the likely best life histories for the 400 miles of migration, spawning and rearing habitat of the upper Klamath watershed that will soon become accessible.   Existing life histories of Klamath salmon are lined up with the habitat that was left to them, largely in the few remaining large Klamath tributaries that enter the mainstem downstream of Iron Gate Dam.  Managers of a conservation hatchery can select from the few remaining fish that have the most desirable life histories.  Outplanting these hatchery-bred juveniles in the upper watershed and similar strategies can provide source stock for wild populations that can then better adapt to the habitats of the upper Klamath watershed.

“In fact, maintaining the salmon hatcheries amount to a federal subsidy for commercial and recreational fishing, a subsidy that is supposed to be justified by the fishery’s economic benefits.”

Hatcheries are mitigation for a loss to society and culture, not a “subsidy.”  Those who benefit from the loss commit to paying for the loss.  It is absolutely true that the mitigation has created its own set of problems.  That does not absolve the beneficiaries of responsibility, and it should not disallow the opportunity to improve or accelerate the transition to the robust self-sustaining wild fisheries that every responsible stakeholder seeks.

“The salmon hatcheries on the Klamath should be phased out as quickly as possible. Even if the post-dam comeback of wild salmon is slow, river managers should resist pressure to continue or even expand hatchery operations.”

The hatcheries as they now exist should be phased out if the need to mitigate ends.  Sad thing is that the hydro dams will leave a legacy of degraded habitat and species diversity loss.  It remains to be seen how far habitat restoration can go.  Conversion of the hatcheries to species conservation would help the recovery effort.

In conclusion, a conservation hatchery program could help to restore populations of coho, spring-run Chinook, fall-run Chinook, and steelhead to the areas of the watershed to which dam removal will restore access.  Recovery efforts for native green and white sturgeon, bull trout, redband trout, and suckers could also benefit from modern conservation hatchery programs.  Conservation hatcheries can also preserve the genetic diversity of these native fishes for the future when and if habitat is restored or altered by climate change.

 

 

Mokelumne Hatchery 2016-2018 Releases

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In a post last year I remarked on the progressive management of the Mokelumne River hatchery. The hatchery is a mitigation hatchery operated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in partnership with the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Its activities over the past several decades have led to the recovery of Mokelumne River salmon.

The hatchery’s 6 million smolt releases continue to survive well under present management practices (Figures 1 and 2). Escapement of adults to the river and hatchery below Camanche Dam have numbered from 10,000 to 20,000 in recent years,1 a remarkable improvement given that they were produced during the 2012-2016 drought period.

The hatchery is still learning under its adaptive management program. The program has a diversity of release strategies that provide valuable information about the program and what works and what does not. Table 1 shows a summary of their smolt releases from 2016.

Table 1.  Summary of Mokelumne Hatchery smolt releases in spring 2016.  Source:  https://www.rmpc.org

Release Date Release Location Smolts Released
4/20/16 Sherman West Delta 902,000
4/27/16 Sherman West Delta 470,000
5/05/16 Sherman West Delta 450,000
5/09/16 Mokelumne River 102,000
5/10/16 Golden Gate Bridge 202,000
5/12/16 Sherman West Delta 902,000
5/20/16 Sherman West Delta 920,000
5/25/16 Half Moon Bay (coast) 485,000
5/26/16 Mokelumne River 402,000
5/28/16 Sherman West Delta 915,000
6/03/16 Sherman West Delta 771,000
2016 Total 6,521,000

Returns from the 2015 spawn year (brood year 2015) from code-wire-tagged smolt groups released in below-normal/dry water year 2016 ranged from near zero to two percent (Figure 3). The half-million smolts released to the river had near zero returns to fisheries and river/hatchery, while the half-million releases to Half Moon Bay on the coast south of San Francisco had a good return of 2.2 percent. Returns from the remaining 5.5 million smolts released at Sherman Island in the west Delta ranged from 0.1 to 1.4 percent.

The wide-ranging survival rates provide clear guidance for future hatchery smolt-release management.

  • April releases do not fare as well as May releases, suggesting that the larger size of May smolts provides a survival advantage.
  • River releases in a below normal or dry year like 2016 have poor survival, especially with below average freshwater flows in the lower San Joaquin River (Figure 4) and low Delta outflow (Figure 5).
  • Releases at Sherman Island in the west Delta in early June had poor survival compared to May releases, coincident with rapidly falling flows (Figures 4 and 5) and rising water temperatures (Figure 6).

2017 and 2018 release strategies were similar, but weighted more heavily toward Bay and ocean releases.

  • Over one million smolts were released on the coast and at the Golden Gate in 2017; 730,000 in 2018.
  • Most of the 4 million smolts released at Sherman Island in 2017 were released in May.
  • Over 4 million smolts were released at Sherman Island in 2018 from mid-April to early June over a broad range of conditions.
  • Nearly 500,000 smolts were released in the Mokelumne River in 2017 and 2018. The 2017 smolts were released in June of a wet cool year, while the 2018 releases were in May of a drier, warmer year.2

If and when information on the tag returns from 2017 and 2018 releases becomes available, it may be possible to move toward a still more effective release strategy that increases smolt survival and contributions to fisheries and river escapement.

Figure 1. Escapement estimates to the Mokelumne Hatchery 1964-2018

Figure 2. Escapement estimates to the Mokelumne River 1952-2018.

Figure 3. Percent return of 2016 Mokelumne Hatchery tagged smolt releases. Source: https://www.rmpc.org

Figure 4. Inflow of San Joaquin River to the Delta in May 2016 along with long-term median flow.

Figure 5. Delta outflow in spring 2016.

Figure 6. Water temperature in lower San Joaquin River at Jersey Point in spring 2016.

  1. The American and Feather River escapement has been 20,000-30,000 and 40,000-60,000, respectively, for similar numbers of smolt releases. ↩
  2. Note that San Joaquin River flows and Delta outflows are most important to Mokelumne Hatchery smolts, as the closure of the Delta Cross Channel results in the Mokelumne River being a tributary of the lower San Joaquin River. ↩

Late-Fall-Run Salmon – Latest Update

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In a January update on late-fall-run salmon, I noted record low runs of late-fall-run Chinook salmon to the upper Sacramento River in 2015 and 2016. That trend continued in 2017 (Figure 1), as shown in recent data published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Spawning runs from 2015-2017, the product of runs from the 2013-2015 drought, were three lowest since year 2000.

As it was for spawning run 2013, the rate of return for 2014 spawning run of tagged late-fall-run hatchery smolts was very low (Figure 2).  I concluded in the prior post that low river flows and lack of flow pulses caused the poor return rate.  There were flow pulses in winter 2014-15 (Figure 3).  However, only the later season release group responded strongly favorably to a flow pulse (Figure 4).  This  suggests that later winter releases of fish from the hatchery, in combination with flow pulses, provides higher rates of returns for hatchery fish.  Prescribed flow pulses from Shasta Reservoir in dry winters like 2014-15 (Figure 5) appear to improve survival of late-fall-run hatchery smolts.

Figure 1. Spawner-recruit relationship for late-fall–run salmon. Number is log10-3.5 transformed escapement (recruits) for the fall of that year. For example, year “16” represents escapement for late fall 2016, which includes spawners from early winter 2017. Spawners represent escapement from three years earlier (brood year). In the example, spawners for year 16 were the progeny of escapement in 2013. Colors represent winter rearing condition two years earlier. In the example, red “16” represents dry winter 2014. Green represents normal years two years earlier. Blue represents wet years two years earlier.

Figure 2. Hatchery smolt survival for brood years 2008-2013 based on coded-wire-tag returns.

Figure 3. Winter 2014-15 Sacramento River flows downstream of Battle Creek along with 50-yr average.

Figure 4. Return rates by date of release for late-fall-run tagged hatchery smolt release groups from winter 2014-15. Source: https://www.rmpc.org

Figure 5. Winter 2014-15 Sacramento River flows downstream of Shasta Dam along with 50-yr average. Note short term reservoir water releases in December and February prescribed to support upper river hatchery smolt outmigration.

Poor 2018 Sacramento River Fall Salmon Run Prognosis for 2019 Run

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In an October 2018 post, I discussed the record low Sacramento River1 2017 adult fall-run Chinook salmon run and juvenile fall-run production index from winter-spring 2018. Both record lows were indications that something had gone wrong for brood year 2014. I also forecasted a poor adult run in fall 2018. The latest information on salmon runs for 2018, recently published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, indicates the 2018 fall run was indeed also poor (Figure 1). The run size in 2018 was 8980 (5th lowest in the record), as compared to 1822 in 2017, and 29,966 in 2014.

Despite a normal water year in winter-spring 2016 in the Sacramento River, the hangover from the critical 2013-2015 water-years drought (low reservoir levels) provided harsh conditions for brood year 2015 fall run that led to the poor adult run in 2018:

  1. Poor river conditions due to low streamflows during the spawning run in summer and late fall 2015 (Figure 2 and 3).
  2. Poor egg-embryo incubation in gravel redds due to low streamflow in late fall 2015 and early winter 2016 (Figure 2).
  3. Poor fry survival from low winter streamflows (February and early March) and poor smolt survival from low late spring streamflows (late April and May) in 2016 (Figure 3).

In addition, most of the 10 million Coleman Hatchery smolts raised for brood year 2015 were released at the hatchery in lower Battle Creek from April 7 to April 29, 2016, under sharply declining streamflows (Figure 3) and rising water temperatures in the lower Sacramento River (Figure 4). Their contribution to the 2018 spawning cohort was similarly low. Of the 10 million smolts released, only 14,000 adults returned to the upper river, as compared with 84,000 in 2012.

Based on the spawner recruit model, the 2018 fall run of 8980 adult salmon could have been three times as high or higher (similar at least to 2012 or 2014) if not for poor river flows and associated high spring water temperatures that exceeded water quality standards.

The prognosis for the upcoming 2019 run is mixed, but the run should show improvement. Early indications are good,2 despite very low numbers of spawners in fall 2016 (red 16 in Figure 1). Water year 2017 was wet (19 will be blue in Figure 1). Coleman Hatchery’s released 10-million smolt to the upper river in April 2017 under optimal conditions. There were stressful warm water (>20oC) and low flow conditions in July-August 2016 early in the 2016 spawning run (Figure 5), as well as low and sharply dropping flows in the fall spawning season that likely caused some redd dewatering and low egg/embryo survival. Maintaining less than stressful water temperature during the early run in summer will be important; conditions are already marginal during late spring when winter-run and spring-run adults are migrating (Figure 6). Flows in the 10,000-14,000 cfs range may be necessary to maintain water temperatures at or below 20oC through the summer. With Shasta Reservoir full and an abundant snowpack, that should be readily achievable.

Hopefully, the 2019 run can approach that of 2012 (green 12 in Figure 1) for that low level of spawners (09 and 16 were similar). The results for summer coastal and river fisheries will be the next indicator of success for the 2019 fall-run salmon.

Figure 1. Spawner-recruit relationship for Sacramento River fall-run in-river estimates of run size (transformed log10-3). The 2018 escapement is shown as large blue dot and associated green “18”. Number indicates spawner estimate for that year (y-axis) as derived from spawners three years earlier (x-axis). Color indicates winter-spring rearing and migration conditions for that brood (winter-spring 2016 for spawners in 2018). Red denotes dry year in first winter-spring. Green denotes normal years. Blue denotes wet years. The 2018 spawner (escapement) number should have been higher, similar to other normal water years. Source: http://calsport.org/fisheriesblog/?p=2333 .

Figure 2. Streamflow in the upper Sacramento River below Shasta/Keswick dams near Redding July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. Source: USGS. Note the low late fall and winter streamflows in the primary spawning grounds below Keswick Dam. The decline from 7000 cfs in late October to below 4000 cfs in late December led to significant redd dewatering and poor fry survival. Fall-winter flows should not fall below 5000 cfs.

Figure 3. Streamflow in the lower Sacramento River near Grimes, July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. Source: USGS. Note the low summer and fall streamflows in 2015, and low late spring flows in 2016. Poor pre-spawn and spawning season (summer-fall) flows lead to poor adult survival to spawning and poor egg viability. Low spring flows lead to high water temperatures and lower turbidities that increase smolt vulnerability to predation. Flows in the lower river should be maintained above 5000 cfs.

Figure 4. Water temperature in lower Sacramento River at Wilkins Slough in April-May, 2016. Note the Basin Plan water quality standard for lower Sacramento River water temperature requires temperatures no greater than 20oC, 68oF. High water temperatures lead to poor migrating smolt growth and greater vulnerability to predation. Spring water temperatures should not exceed 18oC, 65oF to minimize migrating smolt mortality.

Figure 5. Water temperature and river flow in the lower Sacramento River near Grimes from July 2016 to June 2017. Note that water temperature exceeds 20oC , the stress level for adult salmon and water quality standard, when summer flows fall below about 8000 cfs.

Figure 6. Water temperature and river flow in the lower Sacramento River near Grimes in May 2019. Note that in mid- and late May, water temperature reached near 20oC, the stress level for adult salmon and water quality standard, when flows initially fell to near 8000 cfs.