Puyallup Tribe’s new hatchery reaches production goal
PUYALLUP (November 6, 2008) - The Puyallup Tribe's Clark Creek salmon hatchery has reached its goal of collecting 1.1 million chinook eggs for the first time since it opened four…
Floods and Lack of Habitat Hurt Chinook, Good Weather Boosts Pinks
Fewer juvenile wild chinook migrated from the Puyallup River in 2007, likely because winter floods in the winter of 2006 washed away chinook redds – or nests – before the fish had a chance to emerge from the gravel. But, because of good weather this past winter, a record number of pink salmon are leaving the watershed. The Puyallup Tribe of Indians counts outgoing salmon with a smolt trap in the lower Puyallup River, enabling them to estimate the productivity of the entire watershed. A smolt trap is a safe and effective way to capture and count juvenile salmon. Smolt refers to the term “smoltification,” a physiological process juvenile salmon undergo that allows them to migrate from fresh to salt water. According to recently analyzed data, fewer than 10,000 wild chinook migrated from the Puyallup watershed last year, down from a peak of 60,000 fish in 2005. On the other hand, over 100,000 pink salmon have left the system so far this year.
Puyallup Tribe Building New Acclimation Pond
GREENWATER (September 19, 2007) – The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is building a new acclimation pond for juvenile chinook in the upper White River to replace two ponds that were destroyed during winter floods.
Every year the Puyallup Tribe transfers thousands of juvenile spring chinook from the Muckleshoot Tribe’s hatchery on the White River and raises the young fish in five acclimation ponds in the upper watershed. In some years the Puyallup Tribe transfers as many as 800,000 young chinook in the hopes that some will return as adults.
“Thousands of adult chinook return to the upper watershed of the White River,” said Blake Smith, hatchery biologist for the Puyallup Tribe. “There is a lot of great habitat up here, we want them to take full advantage of it.”
Puyallup Tribe Tracking Water Temperatures
As rivers and creeks warm during the summer, conditions can become unbearable for salmon. That’s why the Puyallup Tribe of Indians is monitoring water temperatures throughout the Puyallup River watershed to protect salmon. This summer the tribe established an extensive network of more than 50 thermisters – thumb-sized devices that record water temperature at 30 minute increments. “Water temperature is an important part of ensuring strong salmon populations,” said Char Naylor, water quality manager for the Puyallup Tribe. “If the water is too warm for salmon, even just by a few degrees, it can be lethal.” Fatigue and disease are two conditions that have been connected to salmon deaths in warm creeks and rivers.
First Pink Salmon Of The Year Counted On Puyallup Watershed
BUCKLEY (June 25, 2007) – The first pink salmon of the year was safely captured, counted and passed upstream by tribal staff at the White River fish trap in mid-June, nearly a month before pink salmon are normally seen in the watershed.
“We don’t normally see pinks until well into July, and not in big numbers until August,” said Russ Ladley, resource protection manager for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. “This could mean an even larger run.”
New Techniques Mean More Chinook On The Puyallup River
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is using two cutting-edge techniques at their new Clarks Creek hatchery to boost fisheries on abundant hatchery chinook in the lower Puyallup River watershed while protecting a weak wild chinook run. Tribal and state co-managers have reduced fisheries on abundant hatchery chinook to protect the wild fish. “The tribe’s new hatchery at Clarks Creek will produce more chinook returning to the lower river, away from where returning wild chinook congregate in the upper watershed, so both tribal and non-tribal fishermen should have better chinook fisheries in the upcoming year,” said Chris Phinney, harvest management biologist for the Puyallup Tribe. Last year, the tribe had no directed fishery on chinook.
Keeping An Eye On Water Quality In The Puyallup
Every month researchers from the Puyallup Tribe of Indians spend a few days traveling throughout the Puyallup River watershed to collect samples to gauge water quality throughout the basin. “The data we glean from these samples tell the ongoing story of water quality in the Puyallup River watershed,” said Char Naylor, water quality manager for the tribe. For almost 10 years the tribe's ambient water quality project has been providing baseline water quality information in the watershed. “
Tribes Saving Puyallup River Steelhead
ORTING (June 1, 2006) – Following the lowest steelhead returns in 50 years, the Muckleshoot and Puyallup tribes are launching a steelhead broodstock program to help save the imperiled stock. With help from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, the tribes are taking a portion of the steelhead that pass through a fish trap on the White River and spawning them in a hatchery environment.
“If steelhead native to this watershed can’t thrive in the wild, the only option is to raise some of them in a hatchery to ensure their survival and make sure their genetic traits aren’t lost,” said Blake Smith, enhancement manager for the Puyallup Tribe. Because certain conditions, such as water temperature, can be controlled, fish show a higher rate of survival in hatcheries than they do in the wild.
Puyallup Tribe Protects Elk Winter Habitat
PACKWOOD (February 9, 2006) – Every winter a 1,200 head elk herd migrates from upper alpine areas around Mt. Rainier National Park and Mt. Adams to the Cowlitz River valley in search of food around the town of Packwood. “Habitat in the upper alpine areas, such as the national park and the protected wilderness areas where this herd spends the summer, is the most protected and highest quality summer habitat available,” said Barbara Moeller, wildlife biologist for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. “Habitat outside those areas is not necessarily protected and may not be as high quality from year to year because forest management limits available food.”
Puyallup Tribe Chinook Season Limited
PUYALLUP (August 1, 2005) – The Puyallup Tribe of Indians has cut its chinook fishing season to a single 12-hour fishery to protect a run of weak, wild chinook salmon. That is a drastic drop from three 24-hour openings only last year.
The tribe agreed to shorten their season despite Puyallup tribal fisherman already having a small impact on federally protected wild chinook. “Non-treaty commercial and sport fishermen catch far more wild Puyallup River chinook because their fisheries are spread from Alaska to California and across the region,” said Chris Phinney, the tribe’s harvest management biologist. Non-tribal fisheries intercept Puyallup River chinook in so-called mixed stock areas, where salmon from more than one river are present. As a result Puyallup River chinook are caught along with other, healthier salmon stocks.