Table 4. — Estimated average numbers of spring- and suminer- 

 run Chinook salmon entering tributaries of the Columbia 

 River^ 



Stream 



Cowlitz River. 



Willamette River 



Sandy River 



Wind River 



Klickitat River 



Deschutes River 



Snake River tributaries : 



Tucannon River 



Grande Ronde River 



Salmon River 



Imnaha River 



Powder River (Eagle Creek). 

 Weiser River 



Yakima River 



Wenatchee River.., 



aitiat River 



Methow River 



Okanogan River.... 

 Total. 



1952-62 



{') 

 1960-61 

 1950-60 



(') 



1950-60 



19i8-60 



1957-60 



1948-60 



194-8-60 



1951-59 



1957-61 

 1957-60 

 1957-60 

 1957-60 

 1957-60 



Number 

 of fish 



Thousands 



10 



56 



1 

 1 

 5 

 5 



2 



10 



104 



5 



2 



2 



6 



16 



1 

 11 



1 



238 



^ Estimates of numbers entering individual tributaries 

 are based on counts in spawning areas. 



^ Period of years on which estimate is based. 

 ■* Specific years lanknown. 



State and Federal fishery biologists made the 

 estimates after surveying or observing spawn- 

 ing in tributaries of their respective districts . 

 I believe (as do many other biologists) that 

 most of the streams are capable of supporting 

 more Chinook salmon than are listed in the 

 table. Estimates in the Willamette River are 

 based on a combination of fish counts at the 

 Willamette Falls fishway (1952-62), the sport 

 catch below Willamette Falls, and the run into 

 the Clackamas River. Above the main stem 

 dams--Bonneville, The Dalles, and McNary-- 

 average counts for the 4 years, 1957-60 (U.S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers, 1964), were used 

 to determine the numbers of fish available 

 for spawning above each dam. For example, 

 the average count of spring- and summer- run 

 Chinook salmon for the 4 years at McNary 

 Dam was about 160,000 fish. Major"* estimated 

 that runs to the Yakinna River averaged 6,000 

 on the basis of surveys and counts at dams 



for 1957-61. Counts of fish at Rock Island 

 Dam provided a record of populations above 

 the mouth of the Yakima; these counts averaged 

 about 29,000 for the same period. The sum of 

 the above figures was subtracted from 160,000 

 to leave an average of about 125,000 for the 

 Snake River. 



Figure 3 shows that the differences of 

 spring- and summer- run chinook salmon 

 counted at McNary and Bonneville Dams dur- 

 ing 1954-56 vary from 62,000 to 162,000 

 fish. The difference during 1957- 6 1 was 25, 000 

 to 51,000 fish. The greater numbers lost 

 between the two dams before 1957 was due to 

 the take at Celilo Falls by the Indian dip net 

 fishery. Construction of The Dalles Dam in 

 1958 inundated the Celilo Indian fishery and 

 allowed a greater number to pass McNary 

 Dam. An Indian gill net fishery was estab- 

 lished above Bonneville about 1961, which 

 again widened the gap between numbers counted 

 at Bonneville and McNary Dams. 



Distribution and size of present spring- 

 summer runs of chinook salmon are given 

 in map 3. 



U.240 - 



Figure 3. — Total counts of spring and summer chinook 

 salmon at Bonneville, McNary, and The Dalles Dams, 

 1954-66. 



^ Personal communication, Richard L. Major, Fishery 

 Research Biologist, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 Biological Laboratory, Seattle, Wash. 98102, October 26, 

 1961. 



15 



