Publications

In 2009, we used radio and acoustic telemetry to evaluate the migratory behavior, survival, mortality, and delay of subyearling fall Chinook salmon in the Clearwater River and Lower Granite Reservoir. We released a total of 1,000 tagged hatchery subyearlings at Cherry Lane on the Clearwater River in mid August and we monitored them as they passed downstream through various river and...

The gastrointestinal tracts of 37 juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) captured from the upper part of Lake Roosevelt during October 2008, were examined to identify prey taxa and to determine if the fish were consuming smelter slag along with other sediments. Histological examination of the gastrointestinal tract tissues and comparison with similar tissues from hatchery...

Different removal strategies are described for dams in three diverse drainage basins (Wind River, White Salmon River, and Elwha River basins) in the State of Washington (USA). The comparisons between the strategies offer the opportunity to track the effects of sediment resulting from dam decommissioning in the Pacific Northwest and to determine possible effects on socio-economically...

We used a two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic model to simulate and compare the hydraulic characteristics in a 74-km reach of the Columbia River (the Bonneville Reach) before and after construction of Bonneville Dam. For hydrodynamic modeling, we created a bathymetric layer of the Bonneville Reach from single-beam and multi-beam echo-sounder surveys, digital elevation models, and...

In 2006 and 2007, we surveyed the occurrence of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), the relative distributions of bull trout and redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and stream habitat conditions in the East and West Forks of the Jarbidge River in northeastern Nevada and southern Idaho. We installed passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag interrogation systems at strategic locations...

Predation by pinnipeds, such as California sea lions (Zalophus alifornianus), Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), and Stellar sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) on returning adult Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the Columbia River basin has become an increasing concern for fishery managers trying to conserve and restore threatened and endangered runs of salmonids. As a result, Smith...

Screens are commonly installed at water diversion sites to reduce entrainment of fish. Recently, the Farmers Irrigation District in Hood River, Oregon, developed a new flat-plate screen design that offers passive operation and may result in reduced operation and installation costs to irrigators. To evaluate the performance (its biological effect on fish) of this type of screen, two size...

This report describes the results from the first year of a three-year investigation on the effects of different thermal regimes on incubation and rearing early life stages of white sturgeon. The Columbia River has been significantly altered by the construction of dams resulting in annual flows and water temperatures that differ from historical levels. White sturgeon have been...

We evaluated behavior, passage, and survival of juvenile salmonids at McNary Dam in relation to the temporary spillway weirs (TSWs) using acoustic telemetry during 2009. The TSWs were located in spill bays 4 and 20 during spring and in spill bays 19 and 20 during summer. Our objectives were to assess the performance of the TSWs as a fish passage alternative. We also examined how tailrace

In fisheries science, habitat use is often inferred when fish are sampled or observed in a particular location. Physical habitat is typically measured where fish are found, and thus deemed important to habitat use. Although less common, a more informative approach is to measure or observe fish behavior within given habitats to more thoroughly assess their use of those locations. While...

McNary Lock and Dam were completed in 1953, creating McNary Reservoir, or Lake Wallula. The shoreline of the reservoir is federally owned and as a result the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has certain land and fish habitat management responsibilities to balance with other multipurpose benefits. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of Columbia and Snake River salmon stocks has...

The introduction of American shad from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast of North America in the late 1800’s and the subsequent population expansion in the 1980’s resulted in the amplification of Ichthyophonus sp., a Mesomycetozoean parasite of wild marine fishes. Sequence analysis of the ribosomal DNA gene complex (small subunit and internal transcribed spacer regions) and Ichthyophonus