Wind River in Washington has been im- 

 proved by stream clearance and fishway con- 

 struction. A joint effort of the Bureau of Sport 

 Fisheries and Wildlife and the Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries is now underway to bring 

 this stream into full salmon production. To 

 accomplish this, 500 adult spring chinook 

 salmon have been trapped each year since 

 1955 at Bonneville Dam and transferred to 

 Carson National Fish Hatchery, on Wind River. 

 Carson hatchery is located approximately 20 

 miles upstream from the recently constructed 

 fishway at Shipperd Falls, Eggs for artificial 

 propagation are taken from the fish hauled 

 from Bonneville Dam and from adults returning 

 to the hatchery, and the resulting fingerlings 

 reared for 1 year and released in Wind River. 

 This project provides an opportunity to deter- 

 mine whether the transfer of nonindigenous 

 and heterogeneous stocks of adult spring 

 Chinook salmon to a new watershed is a satis- 

 factory method for establishing a run of fish 

 that will be self-perpetuating in its new 

 environment. 



Complete success or failure of this transfer 

 of spring chinook salmon from Bonneville Dam 

 fishways to Wind River will not be known 

 until at least several cycles of fish have 

 returned to that river. 



The present program of transferring adult 

 spring chinook salmon from Bonneville Dam to 

 Carson hatchery is scheduled for completion 

 in 1965, at which time a more complete 

 evaluation of the project will be made. This 

 progress report has been prepared so that 

 other fishery workers considering such 

 methods of transferring runs of salmon may 

 profit from the data available to date. 



EARLY ATTEMPTS TO 



INTRODUCE SPRING CHINOOK 



SALMON INTO WIND RIVER 



Several early attempts were made to intro- 

 duce spring chinook salmon into Wind River, 

 but with little success. Releases of young 

 fish were as follows: 1938,91,700; 1939,91,700; 

 1940, 96,500; and 1953, 7,600. The first three 

 groups of fish were from eggs of spring 

 chinook salmon taken from the Clackamas River 



in Oregon. The fingerlings released in 1953 

 were from eggs provided by a Willamette 

 River hatchery operated by the Fish Commis- 

 sion of Oregon. Incubation and rearing of all 

 groups were at Carson hatchery. Apparently 

 these efforts were not successful, as no fish 

 were observed returning as adults. In 1943 and 

 1944, attempts were made with summer chinook 

 salmon trapped at Bonneville Dam. Eggs were 

 incubated and the young reared at Carson hatch- 

 ery and released into Wind River. As in other 

 years, fish from these releases were not 

 reported to have returned as adult spawners. 

 Chinook salmon passing Bonneville Dam 

 March 1 to May 31 and June Ito August 15 are 

 considered spring and summer fish, respec- 

 tively (U.S. Army Engineer Districts, Portland 

 and Walla Walla, 1960i). 



In 1945, approximately 35,000 spring Chinook 

 salmon eggs were transferred from Camas 

 Creek, Idaho, to Carson hatchery for incubation 

 and subsequent rearing. At release time in 

 October 1946, approximately 20,500 fingerlings 

 were released into Wind River, All fish were 

 marked by excision of fins. In 1949, 21 adult 

 spring Chinook salmon were observed in Wind 

 River below Shipperd Falls, Four carcasses 

 recovered at end of spawning were marked 

 fish released in 1946.' This was the first tangi- 

 ble evidence that upriver stocks might lend 

 themselves for transfer to lower river areas. 



PRESENT PROGRAM 



Material included in this report pertains to 

 the period 1955-61, and reports on trapping and 

 hauling; artificial propagation, which includes 

 holding and spawning of adult salmon, incuba- 

 tion of eggs, rearingof fingerlings, and disease 

 treatment; and enumeration of returning adults. 



^U.S. Army Engineer Districts, Portland and Walla 

 Walla. 1960. Annual Fish Passage Report, North Pacific 

 Division; Bonneville, The Dalles, and McNary Dams; 

 Columbia River, Oregon and Washington. U.S. Army 

 Corps of Engineers, Engineer Districts, Portland and 

 Walla Walla. 53 p., 102 tables. 27 plates. 3 maps. 

 5 photos. 



* Zimmer. Paul D.. 1950. Observations of 1949 return 

 of the experimental transfer of chinook salmon from 

 Camas Creek, Idaho, to Wind River. Washington. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service. February 1950, unpublished report, 

 Portland, Oreg. 



