have placed a tremendous burden on artificial 

 propagation as a means of stemming a rapid 

 decline in fish populations. 



The situation became so critical that in 

 1949 Congress authorized initiation of a salmon 

 restoration program of a magnitude heretofore 

 unheard of. i Artificial propagation has played 

 an important part in the restoration program. 

 Some hatcheries have been successful in not 

 only maintaining, but also increasing, runs of 

 fish returning to their facilities. Adverse 

 water temperatures and disease problems 

 have contributed to limited production at other 

 hatcheries. A greatly expanding sport fishery 

 and an extensive commercial fishery have also 

 contributed to the decline. 



SEASONAL RUNS OF SALMON 



Columbia River chinook salmon, 

 Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, passing Bonne- 

 ville Dam between March 1 and May 31 are 

 referred to as spring chinook. Actually the 

 spring migration develops in the lower 

 Columbia River even earlier. Peak movement 

 at Bonneville Dam occurs between April 15 

 and May 31. Average size of adult fish is 

 about 15 pounds. 



Summer-run chinook salmon passing Bonne- 

 ville Dam from June 1 to August 15 generally 

 do not show a well-defined peak in movement 

 as do the spring fish. Large-sized indwiduals 

 migrating in early July and August are prize 

 fish, often weighing over 30 pounds. 



For convenience, the separation between 

 summer and fall runs of chinook salmon has 

 been arbitrarily set at mid-August. Total 

 period covered by the fall run is from 

 August 16 to December 31. Undoubtedly there 

 is some slight overlap of summer and fall 

 runs. Periods given for spring, summer, and 

 fall Chinook conform to Corps of Engineers' 

 procedure at Bonneville Dam (U.S. Army, 

 Corps of Engineers, North Pacific District, 

 1960). 



* 1959 Review Report. Columbia River Fishery De- 

 velopment Program, Vol. L U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv- 

 ice, Bureau ofCommercial Fisheries, Portland, Oregon, 

 May 1959. 



In numbers of fish, fall chinook salmon 

 represent the largest group of this species in 

 the Columbia Basin. Size of fish ranges 

 between 8 and 50 pounds and averages about 

 20 pounds. Many fall chinook salmon spawn in 

 the main Columbia and Snake Rivers. In recent 

 years many valuable spawning and rearing 

 areas have been inundated, thus precluding 

 their continued use. 



A review of 23 years (1938-60)of fall chinook 

 salmon counts at Bonneville Dam (table 1) 

 discloses several interesting facts. During 

 the first 11 years (1938-48) prior to advent of 

 the Columbia River Fishery Development Pro- 

 gram, the fall chinook salmon spawning run 

 averaged 270,175 fish annually, and only the 

 years 1939 (179,992) and 1944 (192,960) had 

 runs below 200,000. However, during the last 

 12 years (1949-60) the fall chinook salmon 

 spawning run averaged 152,517 fish annually, 

 and the annual count dipped below 200,000 nine 

 times. In addition, annual seasonal counts have 

 been less than 100,000 fish three times. 

 Cessation of the Indian fishery in the vicinity 

 of Celilo Falls did not substantially increase 

 spawning runs of fall chinook salmon, although 

 a considerable portion (approximately 38 per- 

 cent of 1947-54 Bonneville fall chinook salmon 

 count) was taken by the Indians prior to con- 

 struction of The Dalles Dam (U.S. Army, Corps 

 of Engineers, Portland District, 1955). 



HATCHERIES IN BONNEVILLE 

 DAM POOL AREA 



The salmon egg-taking and rearing stations 

 in Bonneville Dam pool area (fig. I) are 

 located as follows: in ^ ashington: Carson 

 National Fish Hatchery, on Wind River; Little 

 White Salmon and Willard National Fish Hatch- 

 eries, on Little White Salmon River; Big White 

 Salmon River egg-taking and rearing station, 

 on Big White Salmon River; Spring Creek 

 National Fish Hatchery, located on Columbia 

 River a short distance downstream from Big 

 White Salmon River; and Klickitat Hatchery, on 

 Klickitat River near Glenwood; in Oregon: 

 Ox Bow Hatchery, on Herman Creek; and 

 Cascade Hatchery, on Eagle Creek. 



During 1945-60 nearly 489,000 adult fall 

 Chinook salmon returned to the hatcheries 



