Big White Salmon, and Klickitat Rivers, and 

 Eagle and Herman Creeks. A hatchery or some 

 type of spawn-taking facility exists on each 

 of these streams. Hood River and several 

 minor streams have small numbers of fall 

 Chinook salmon spawning in them. Estimated 

 numbers of fall chinook salmon spawning 

 naturally in major tributaries of Bonneville 

 pool are given in table 6. 



SUMMARY 



Fish counting at Bonneville Dam was initi- 

 ated in 1938, and reliable comparisons of 

 annual fall chinook salmon migrations are 

 available. 



During the period 1945-60 the estimated 

 number of fall chinook salmon spawning 

 naturally in streams on which hatcheries are 

 located in Bonneville Dam pool area was 

 approximately 104,000 fish. Of these, about 

 49,000 were females having a potential of 

 about 247 million eggs. Total fish spawning 

 naturally represent about 21 percent of salmon 

 handled at the stations and about 3.5 percent 

 of total Bonneville Dam counts of fall chinook 

 salmon from 1945 to 1960. 



During 1945-60 Spring Creek and Little 

 White Salmon hatcheries, together with the 

 Big White Salmon River station, have accounted 

 for about 389,000, or about 79.6 percent, of 

 all fall chinook salmon adults returning to 

 hatcheries in Bonneville pool area. In addi- 

 tion, approximately 394, 11 3,000 fry and finger- 

 lings, or about 69 percent of all hatchery 

 liberations, have come from these facilities 

 during the same period. Data on returns to 

 these stations are reliable except for certain 

 instances when estimates of females present 

 in Big White Salmon River have been deter- 

 mined from the numbers of eggs taken. 



Combined numbers of female fall chinook 

 salmon handled at hatcheries and those spawn- 

 ing naturally on hatchery streams during 

 1945-60 total approximately 263,000 fish, with 

 a potential of 1,317 million eggs. Total of all 

 fall chinook salmon counted in hatchery 

 streams during the same period is approxi- 

 mately 592,700. 



Best available data on adult fall chinook 

 salmon returning to the hatcheries in Bonne- 

 ville Dam pool area are in the 16-year period. 



1945-60. During this time 2,975, 127 fall chinook 

 salmon negotiated Bonneville Dam fish ladders. 

 Average annual count has been 185,945 (table 2). 



Annual returns of adult fall chinook salmon 

 to the hatcheries of the Bonneville Dam pool 

 area when compared to the annual counts of 

 fish passing Bonneville Dam show an upward 

 trend (fig. 2). In 1945, 5.8 percent of adult 

 fall chinook salmon ascending Bonneville Dam 

 fishways returned to the hatcheries. This 

 increased to 33.0 percent in 1958, and declined 

 slightly in later years (table 2). 



Fry-fingerling releases of 1944-brood-year 

 were first observed as 4-year-old adults in 

 1948 (table 3). From 1944 to 1956 a total of 

 401,695 million fry and fingerling salmon were 

 released by the hatcheries, and in period 

 1948-60, 431,659 fish returned as adults. 



Only the 4-year-old age group is considered, 

 since fish of this age are dominant in the 

 fall run. Brood year as used in this report 

 refers to calendar year of egg collection. 



Beginning with 1958 an increase of 3-year- 

 old fish appeared in numbers of fall chinook 

 salmon taken at Little White Salmon and 

 Spring Creek hatcheries.* 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

 Acknowledgement is made for the coopera- 

 tion given by hatchery and research personnel 

 of State fishery agencies and Bureau of Sport 

 Fisheries and Wildlife in providing operational 

 data used in this report. 



LITERATURE CITED 



U.S. ARMY, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, NORTH 

 PACIFIC DIVISION. 

 1960. Annual fish passage report, Bonne- 

 ville, The Dalles, and McNary Dams, 

 Columbia River, Washington and Oregon, 

 1959. Portland, Oregon, and Walla 

 Walla, Washington. P. 3-4. 



U.S. ARMY, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, PORT- 

 LAND DISTRICT. 

 1955. Summary report on the Indian fishery 

 at Celilo Falls and vicinity, Columbia 

 River, 1947-54. P. 7, 14, 15, and 16. 



* Junge, C. O., Jr. 1960. MS. Study of factors influ- 

 encing the return of faU Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus 

 tschawytscha. Fisheries Research Institute, College 

 of Fisheries, University of Washington. 



13 MS #1171 



GPO A3405I 



