to modest runs of these fish are the: 

 Willamette, Wenatchee, Methow, Cowlitz, 

 Grande Ronde, Yakima, Imnaha, Klickitat, 

 and Deschutes Rivers. In recent years the 

 escapement to the Yakima River has been 

 seriously depleted by an intensive Indian 

 fishery. Small runs of this group of fish 

 migrate to the Tucannon, Sandy, Wind, Entiat, 

 Okanogan, Kalama, Clearwater, John Day, 

 Umatilla, and Walla Walla Rivers and sev- 

 eral smaller tributaries of the middle Snake 

 River. 



Spawning areas for spring- and summer- 

 run Chinook salmon have been taken out of 

 production by water-use developments in 

 nearly every tributary of the Columbia Basin. 

 Grand Coulee, Dexter, and Lewiston Dams 

 are notable examples of obstructions that cut 

 off large areas from access to migratory 

 fish in the upper Columbia, Middle Fork 

 Willamette, and Clearwater Rivers. Irriga- 

 tion practices were responsible for the loss 

 of runs in most of the John Day, Umatilla, 

 and Walla Walla Rivers in addition to a num- 

 ber of tributaries of the middle and upper 

 Snake River. 



Fall- run chinook salmon spawn in the fol- 

 lowing tributaries of the Columbia River: 

 Youngs, Grays, Elokomin, Clatskanie, Cowlitz, 

 Kalama, Lewis, Willamette, Washougal, Sandy, 

 Wind, Little White Salmon, Big White Salmon, 

 Hood, Klickitat, and Yakima Rivers; and Big, 

 Gnat, Mill, and Abernathy Creeks. They also 

 use spawning areas in the main stem of the 

 Columbia River above The Dalles pool to 

 McNary Dam, above the McNary pool to 

 Priest Rapids Dam, off the mouth of the 

 Wenatchee River near the head of Rock Island 

 pool, and in the main Snake River from above 

 the Ice Harbor pool to areas below Hells 

 Canyon dannsite. 



Fall chinook salmon runs in Tanner, Eagle 

 (Cascade), and Herman Creeks and Little 

 White Salmon River are maintained almost 

 entirely by State and Federal hatcheries be- 

 cause little natural spawning occurs in these 

 streams. Hatcheries also supplement natural 

 production in numerous other tributaries of 

 the lower Columbia River. A hatchery main- 

 tains all of the production in Spring Creek. 



Spawning areas for fall- run chinook salmon 

 have been lost in the Cowlitz, Lewis, 

 Willamette, Wind, Little White Salmon, and 

 Hood Rivers, in sections of the main Columbia 

 River inundated by reservoirs or cut off by 

 Chief Joseph Dam, and in the Snake River 

 above Hells Canyon damsite. 



The reservoir at John Day Dam, under 

 construction, will soon inundate all of the re- 

 maining spawning areas in the main stem of 



the Columbia River with the exception of the 

 I6l-km. stretch from the head of McNary 

 Pool to Priest Rapids Dam. Most of the spawn- 

 ing grounds in the nnain stem of the Snake 

 River also will eventually be inundated by 

 danas . 



The largest group--about 41,000--of fall 

 chinook salmon (based on 1957-60 averages) 

 migrated to the Snake River. The second 

 largest unit, a group of about 34,000 fall-run 

 chinook salmon, used the main Columbia 

 River from John Day damsite to McNary Dam. 

 Other current production areas in descending 

 order of estimated runs for the above period 

 are: Spring Creek (hatchery), Cowlitz, 

 Kalama, and Little White Salmon Rivers. 



Estimated size of the fall chinook salmon run 

 for 1938-66 ranged from 231,835 to 1,175,779 

 fish, and runs of spring and summer chinook 

 salmon for the same years ranged from 

 175,365 to 512,785. These estimates were 

 derived by converting the commercial catch 

 in pounds to numbers of fish and adding the 

 number of fish passing Bonneville Dam. Un- 

 known landings by the ocean troll fishery and 

 catches by sport fishermen (though believed 

 to be considerable) were not included. Trend 

 lines since 1938 indicate some improvement 

 in spring and summer chinook salmon runs, 

 whereas fall runs show a serious decline. 



Many tributaries of the Columbia and Snake 

 Rivers have spawning and rearing areas of 

 good quality. The key to increased production 

 probably lies in better survival of the eggs, 

 fry, and fingerlings--not to mention the safe, 

 timely migration of juveniles frona the rearing 

 areas to the ocean. If passage and rearing 

 conditions were improved in the main stems 

 of these rivers, the runs would increase and 

 eventually lead to a greater harvest by the 

 fisheries . 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Many State and Federal officials supplied 

 unpublished information on the location of 

 spawning gravel throughout the Columbia 

 Basin. The following fishery biologists either 

 reviewed the original draft or pointed out 

 chinook salmon spawning areas in their dis- 

 tricts: Henry O. Wendler, Washington De- 

 partment of Fisheries; Robert Rennie and 

 Dorian Lavier, Washington Department of 

 Game; Robert T. Gunsolus, Jack Van Hyning, 

 Lawrence Korn, and Jack Thompson, Fish 

 Commission of Oregon; Charles J. Campbell 

 and Jim Hewkin, Oregon State Game Commis- 

 sion; and Forrest R. Hauck, formerly with the 

 Idaho Department of Fish and Game. 



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