Smolt Monitoring at the Head of Lower Granite Reservoir and Lower Granite Dam, 1990 Annual Report.

This project monitored the daily passage of chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and steelhead trout Oncorhynchus mvkiss smolts during the 1990 spring outmigration at migrant traps on the Snake River and the Clearwater River. Chinook salmon catch at the Snake River trap was similar to 1987 and 1988, drought years, but considerably less than 1989, a near normal flow year. Trapping effort was the same during the four years. Hatchery steelhead trout catch was similar to 1988 and 1989. Wild steelhead trout catch was greater than in any previous year. Chinook salmon catch at the Clearwater River trap was slightly less than in 1987 or 1988 and considerably higher than in 1989. Hatchery steelhead trout trap catch was 3 to 26 times greater than in previous years. Wild steelhead trout trap catch was 2 to 11 times greater than in previous years. Fish tagged with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags at the Snake River trap were recovered at the three dams with PIT tag detection systems (Lower Granite, Little Goose, and McNary dams). Cumulative recovery at the three dams for fish marked at the Snake River trap was 64.4% for chinook salmon, 83.1% for hatchery steelhead trout, and 79.0% for wild steelhead trout. Cumulative recovery at the three dams for fish PIT-tagged at the Clearwater River trap was 54.6% for chinook salmon, 77.6% for hatchery steelhead trout, and 70.4% for wild steelhead trout. Travel time (days) and migration rate (km/d) through Lower Granite Reservoir for PIT-tagged chinook salmon and steelhead trout, marked at the head of the reservoir, was affected by discharge. Statistical analysis showed that a two-fold increase in discharge increased migration rate by 2.2 times for PIT-tagged chinook salmon released from the Snake River trap and 1.8 times for chinook salmon released from the Clearwater River trap. A two-fold increase in discharge increased migration rate by 3.1 times for PIT-tagged hatchery steelhead trout released from the Snake River trap. Not enough data were available to provide a migration rate discharge relations for hatchery steelhead trout released from the Clearwater River trap. A two-fold increase in discharge increased migration rate by 2.0 times for PIT-tagged wild steelhead trout released from the Snake River trap and by 2.2 times for PIT-tagged wild steelhead trout released from the Clearwater River trap.