ESTABLISHMENT OF NONINDIGENOUS RUNS OF 



SPRING CHINOOK SALMON, ONCORHYNCHUS TSHAWYTSCHA, IN 



THE WIND RIVER DRAINAGE OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER, 1955-63 



Roy J. Wahle^ and Ed Chaney'^ 



ABSTRACT 



In 1955, cooperating agencies of the Columbia River Fishery Development Program embarked upon 

 a 9-year program to introduce nonindigenous spring chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, into 

 Wind River, a tributary of the Columbia River. The program consisted of: 1) construction of a fish way at 

 an impassable falls on the lower Wind River, 2) transplantation of nonindigenous adult spring chinook 

 salmon from the Columbia River to Carson National Fish Hatchery on the upper Wind River, and 

 3) rearing and release of juvenile spring chinook salmon into the Wind River. As a result of these 

 activities, approximately 66,000 adult spring chinook salmon returned to Carson hatchery during 

 1959-79. Additional nonindigenous adult fish annually utilized natural spavming habitat of the Wind 

 River drainage. Hatchery and naturally produced spring chinook salmon from the Wind River 

 contributed to marine and freshwater commercial and sports fisheries. Through 1979, about 46.5 

 million spring chinook salmon eggs and 3.5 million juveniles were transplanted from Carson hatchery 

 to other areas of the Pacific Northwest. 



The Columbia River Basin produces the world's 

 largest runs of chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus 

 tshawytscha, and steelhead, Salmo gairdneri; 

 major runs of coho salmon, O. kisutch; and lesser 

 runs of sockeye salmon, O. nerka, and chum 

 salmon, O. keta. Since the 1938 completion of 

 Bonneville Dam on the main-stem Columbia River 

 at river mile 146.1 from the Pacific Ocean, the 

 Columbia River Basin has been divided into upper 

 and lower river fishery management units en- 

 compassing areas above and below Bonneville 

 Dam, respectively. Chinook salmon produced in 

 the upper river area, particularly the spring and 

 summer runs,^ provided the bulk of freshwater 

 commercial catches which annually averaged ap- 

 proximately 29 million lb from 1866 to 1940, and 

 peaked at more than 40 million lb/3T during 10 yr 

 of that period (Beiningen^). 



'Environmental and Technical Services Division, National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 811 NE Oregon Street, RO. 

 Box 4332, Portland, OR 97209. 



^Northwest Resource Information Center, Inc., P.O. Box 

 427, Eagle, ID 83616. 



^Distinct runs of adult chinook salmon enter the Columbia 

 River from February through October of each year. Those 

 entering the river in late February through May are classed as 

 spring chinook salmon. Spring chinook salmon destined for 

 upriver spawning areas generally enter the Columbia in late 

 March through May with peak passage at Bonneville Dam in 

 late April or early May. Chinook salmon entering the Columbia 

 from late May through July are classed as summer chinook 

 salmon and are all destined for spawning areas above Bonneville 

 Dam (Chaney and Perry see footnote 5). 



■"Beiningen, K. T. 1976. Investigative reports of Columbia 



By the beginning of the 1940's, land and water 

 developments in the upper Columbia Basin had 

 eliminated or degraded major anadromous salmo- 

 nid spawning and rearing areas. The resulting 

 reduced production in combination with overfish- 

 ing had a significant diminishing effect on salmon 

 and steelhead runs originating in the upper basin 

 (Chaney and Perry ^). 



In 1949 the U.S. Congress appropriated initial 

 funds for a cooperative state-federal fishery devel- 

 opment effort which soon came to be known as the 

 Columbia River Fishery Development Program 

 (CRFDP). This program is now administered by 

 the Northwest Region Environmental and Tech- 

 nical Services Division, National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service, NOAA, Portland, Oreg. Operations 

 are largely conducted via contract with the U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and fishery manage- 

 ment agencies of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. 

 The program has two primary components: pro- 

 tection and improvement of stream environments 

 for anadromous salmonids, and hatchery produc- 

 tion of salmon and steelhead to partially offset the 

 loss of production from natural spawning and 

 rearing areas .^ 



Manuscript accepted April 1981. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 79, NO. 3, 1981. 



River fisheries project, Section E-Fish Runs. Prepared for Pa- 

 cific Northwest Regional Commission, Vancouver, Wash., 65 p. 



^Chaney, E., and L.E.Perry. 1976. Columbia Basin salmon 

 and steelhead analysis. Prepared for Pacific Northwest Re- 

 gional Commission, Vancouver, Wash., 74 p. 



^Program activities to date include clearing of obstructions 



507 



