Squaxin NR Sample Coho Catch

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As the  2012 Squaxin coho fishery kicked off on Monday September 10th,  Squaxin Natural Resource staff starts commercial Coded Wire Tag (CWT) recovery sampling.  Using a specially designed wand to detect CWT’s, our Resource Technicians go through the commercially caught coho to recover the small tag that is implanted in to the snout of  roughly 2.5% of the coho that are released from Squaxin Net Pens.  Squaxin Net Pen Coho have a distinct CWT numbers, so we can find out when and where our fish are caught through all fisheries.  Commercial CWT recovery sampling data is a useful tool in salmon fishery management, hatcheries practices, migration timing, and stock assessment to name just a few uses.  Video of Squaxin Resource Technicians Commercial CWT Recovery Sampling (O’Connell 2009)

In the past two years Squaxin coho catches were at all time lows with 3,500 catch in ’10 and  5,200 catch in ’11.  There are some high hopes for a good coho fishery in 2012. Over the past few weeks we have been hearing good reports that the sport fishery has been very good in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and central Puget Sound.  Now we are seeing coho showing up in Peale and Pickering Passage.  It is still to early to project how well returns will be but the first four days of the fishery has been very consistent, with catches to date exceeding previous two years catches.  Current catch estimates  to September 13th are at 1,530 coho, averaging 6.85 lbs per fish.

Squaxin Coho

An estimated 41,373 Squaxin Island Net Pen coho are forecast to return in 2012, from 1.53 million net pen releases in 2011.  In the next eight weeks our Resources Technicians will sample the Squaxin commercial coho catch trying to sample at least 20% of the catch in an effort to recover CWT’s.

Michael West and Danny Snyder wand Squaxin caught coho to recover CWT's

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 South Sound Science Symposium Announced

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The next South Sound Science Symposium will be held on October 30th at the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Events Center.  It will be moderated by former congressman Brian Baird and feature a keynote by Millie Judge, author of the 2011 “Implementation Status Assessment” for Puget Sound Chinook.  Registration will open in August!  See you there.

History of the Deschutes River Estuary available

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How the Deschutes River estuary came to be dammed in the 1950s has been a heated topic locally the last few years. A history of the local efforts to dam the estuary and create Capitol Lake is now available.

The history covers the time from just after statehood when the first dam was proposed to just after World War II when the funding for Capitol Lake became available. The piece refutes the position that the lake was entirely inspired by the “City Beautiful” design of Wilder and White in the 1911 proposal for the capitol campus.

History of the Deschutes Estuary, 1895 to 1948:
Google docs format
PDF format

Also available is the total works cited for the history
Works cited
Other related materials

Finding low summer flows on the Deschutes

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The Squaxin Island Tribe is conducting a season long study to find out when the Deschutes’ flows get low:

In order to establish how much water salmon need to survive during the summer months, the Squaxin Island Tribe is starting a lengthy examination of streamflow in the Deschutes River. “We want to look at the relationship between flows and salmon habitat,” said John Konovsky, environmental program manager for the tribe. “As flows decrease, available habitat also decreases. We’re trying to identify the point when that lack of flow and habitat becomes critical for juvenile salmon survival.”

The end result of the tribe’s research will be set of minimum flow targets or standards for the watershed between April and December. A state-adopted standard would mean that if flows drop beneath the minimum, the state can take corrective action to bring flows back up. The state set a minimum flow standard over 30 years ago for the winter months, but didn’t address summer flows.

A historical analysis by the tribe shows that in recent decades summer flows have gotten lower and winter and spring floods more frequent and larger. The analysis points to an increase in impervious surfaces and a loss of forest cover as prime causes of the change in hydrology. Those changes have decreased flow during the summer months by at least 20 percent.

Read the entire piece here.

Working together to make sure shellfish stay safe to harvest

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The Squaxin Island Tribe and Mason County are forming a new partnership to protect one of the most productive shellfish growing areas in the world. The new working relationship will manage an enhanced Pollution Identification and Correction (PIC) program, as part of the state’s recently announced Shellfish Initiative.

“The enhanced program will bring a new emphasis to making sure cleaned up areas stay clean,” said John Konovsky, environmental program manager for the tribe. The tribe will monitor water quality after corrective actions are taken to make sure they’re working and continue to work. Corrective actions may be implemented through voluntary compliance or, as necessary, enforcement against polluters who fail to cooperate.

“We’re going to work with landowners to make sure they clean up pollution, and we’re going to keep on going back to trouble spots to make sure they stay clean,” Konovsky said.

The waters of Oakland Bay and the rest of South Sound are much more sensitive to pollution than the remainder of Puget Sound. “Our community must be more diligent than most in keeping waste out of the water if we are to continue to have the opportunity to harvest shellfish,” said Andy Whitener, natural resources manager for the tribe.

The shorelines of Mason County are among the most productive shellfish growing areas in the world. For example, 40 percent of the country’s manila clam production is from Oakland Bay.

Shellfish are also a large part of the tribe’s culture and economy. More than 20 percent of Squaxin Island tribal members make part or all of their income from harvesting shellfish.

“The Squaxin Island Tribe has always had natural resources, and especially shellfish, at the center of our economic and cultural way of life,” Whitener said. “Pollution that prevents us from being able to harvest is a direct threat to our treaty-reserved rights to shellfish.”

The Mason County Commissioners and the Squaxin Island Tribal Council will sign the inter-local agreement at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29th at the Squaxin Museum in Kamilche. All are invited to attend.

(END)

For more information, contact: John Konovsky, environmental program manager, Squaxin Island Tribe, (360) 432-3804. Emmett O’Connell, information officer, (360) 528-4325, eoconnell@nwifc.org

Coho Fry Released in Upper Deschutes

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The Squaxin Island Tribe in cooperation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife released about 100,000 coho fry in the upper Deschutes yesterday.   The purpose was not necessarily to increase the number of smolts leaving the system next year, but to identify key locations where the fry rear over the summer.  The information will be used to prioritize habitat protection and restoration actions.  The last time such a study was reported was in 1987, and the river has changed considerably since then.

Coho Fry Release

 

 

Monitoring Health and Growth of Net Pen Coho

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Each month Squaxin NR staff takes samples of coho from the net pens to monitor growth progress and fish pathology.   We select pens that are representative of the stocks we have and then seine a random sample of these pens.

George Krise seining coho smolt samples
George Krise dip netting a sample
Will Henderson and Joe Peters take fork length measurements.
Coho Smolt
Net Pen lethal samples of Skookumchuck fish to be sent off to NWIFC Pathology Lab

All photos above taken by Sarah Zaniewski

The sample is weighed and one hundred of them are measured.   Eight fish are taken from this sample as lethal samples to be looked at by Northwest Indian Fish Commission Fish Pathologists.

Squaxin Smolt Trapping Underway

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Cranberry Creek Weir Panel Smolt Trap
Fork length measurement of a coho smolt (photo taken by Sarah Zaniewski)
Goldsborough Rotary Screw Trap

Squaxin Island Tribe is entering the thirteenth year of monitoring downstream outmigration of Oncorhynchus kisutch smolts (coho salmon smolts) by using weirs, rotary screw traps and mark/recapture methodology.   The enumeration  data of outmigrating smolts is used to estimate natural coho salmon production and for forecasting returning adults for South Puget Sound.

Squaxin will install weir panel traps on Mill, Cranberry, and Skookum Creeks at a site below observed coho spawning locations thus, capturing all outmigrating smolts.  Also a rotary screw trap will be installed in Goldsborough Creek  to be used in standard mark/recapture methodology.  Outmigrating coho salmon smolts will be captured, enumerated and lengths measured.  Other species such as chum fry, cutthroat, rainbow trout, and sculpin are also seen in the trap.

 

Supreme Court Acts to Protect Senior Water Rights Including Instream Flows

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The Supreme Court upheld an important Thurston Superior Court decision yesterday.  The court majority decided that new subdivisions must secure water supplies during the planning stages–that step to determine water adequacy cannot wait until houses are actually built.

This ruling makes logical sense.  It eliminates the possibility that developers might make significant upfront investments and suddenly find when it comes time to actually build houses, that no water is available.   The early timing of the determination eliminates potential conflicts between multiple water users, and between water users and instream flows.

The ruling will serve as a powerful new tool to protect our water resources from further over-appropriation.  This is especially true when this ruling is coupled with another recent decision from Kittitas County.  In that latter case, the Supreme Court ruled that securing a water supply involves more than determining how productive a well is.   The evaluation must also include a legal determination that senior water rights will not be impaired.

In sum:  when planning a subdivision, an early decision that water is legally available must be made.  The early and legal nature of the decision will protect both the financial investments of the developers and senior water rights including instream flows.

The decision in Knight v. City of Yelm can be found here.

The Kittitas decision can be found here (pdf file).