Raising Salmon in an RSI

 

 

Volunteer Salmon Egg / Fry Rearing.  This article will try to document one man's effort to help mother nature.  His name is Errol Anderson.  He is running a Remote Site Incubator (RSI) & has been securing eyed Coho salmon eggs from the Washington State Salmon hatchery at Bingham Creek off the Satsop River in Western Washington since 1983.   He took over the project that was being ended by another person, & transferred the location to his area.  The first 4 years he took 50,000 eggs each year.   After that, he increased the number of RSI boxes to 3 & the quantity was upped to 100,000 eggs.   He is still operating the 3 sites on the same creek, plus adding another to a small tributary, but has replaced the original & replacement plywood boxes as they deteriorated.   In the late summer of 2006 he replaced 2 of the plywood boxes with plastic 500 gallon cattle watering tanks.   In the fall of 2007 he added another plastic tank site in a small side creek.

 

Now that he is retired, he a neighbor & a cousin watch over each of his egg boxes daily (sometimes 3 times a day when the water is up & muddy) during the incubation period to be sure there is no water problems when they are in the process of hatching out.

 

Initially when he saw that the returning salmon to the Deep Creek drainage in Lewis County were declining he wanted to see that they did not become a thing of the past.   Some of this was because of beaver dams, & or low water flow in the creek at the wrong time for salmon to pass upstream.  He was born & raised in this area & can remember years past when the upper reaches of this creek had many salmon spawning there around Thanksgiving time.

 

Over the years he has improved the the habitat, created riffles & better spawning areas & generally helped mother nature in stream restoration.

 

The Main Ingredient Needed : These eggs are obtained from returning Coho from the Bingham Creek salmon hatchery off the Satsop River, which is a tributary of the Chehalis River.   Deep Creek is also a tributary of the Chehalis River, only a lot farther upstream.  The hatchery will take an average of 2,800 eggs from each female Coho salmon.  They are fertilized & left in the incubation trays until eyed up.   Then they are hand sorted for dead or defective eggs.   At this point Errol gets a call & transports them home to the egg boxes.

 

For any RSI to function the main need is to have enough of a flow of clean water from the middle of December for about 2 months to where the eggs hatch & then get large enough that they naturally move out by themselves into the smaller streams. 

 

 

The eggs are procured by him from the hatchery about mid December, the 13th in the year 2005 & December 12th 2007.  The initial process to get these eggs thru WDFW Fish Management is quite involved.  It may even be near impossible for someone new to be able to start up a program like this in today's bureaucracy world. 

 

Once the eggs are eyed up, & the phone call is made to come pick them up, the hatchery workers will transfer them from the incubation trays to tanks where running water just covers the eggs.  As seen in the above 2 baskets, the front basket has been picked over & has had the dead or non-fertilized eggs removed, while the rear basket has not yet have not been picked over as evidenced by the lighter colored eggs.

 

 

They are transferred into wet burlap bags at the hatchery in preparation to transportation.   At the eyed stage, they are not as susceptible to to handling, & can be removed from the water for a short period of time, but still need to be kept wet during the transportation to the egg boxes.

 

Enter The RSI Boxes :  In use, for the RSI boxes, the intake water enters the bottom of the above blue plastic tank that is full of washed gravel about the size of  SMALL chicken eggs.   This acts as a collection tank & primary filter.   Here in the center picture, he is pointing to the clean-out plug, which flushes the inlet line & back flushes the collection tank also.  The outlet is on the top which then goes into the bottom of the main egg box.   The second PVC pipe going down, feeds water to a second box. 

 

The intake must have screening (shown below) to keep leaves & other debris or sediment from getting in & plugging up either the intake itself, or internally inside the boxes.  There has to be enough fall in the creek to allow for enough pressure to guarantee flow enough to keep the eggs covered with fresh water.   Some of his intakes are only 50' long, while another is 600'.

 

Above are pictures of the actual old style wooden egg boxes.   He has placed them in strategic locations where there is small streams off the main creek & yet on private property so as to avoid any chance of vandalism.   A few minutes by vandals could ruin a whole year's returns.  These original boxes were made from plywood, but he upgraded for the 2007 eggs with a new series being made from 8'  500 gallon oval plastic cattle watering troughs shown below.   

 

 

Inside the inlet bottom of the egg box, the main inlet line splits into 4 smaller 1/2" PVC lines that have hundreds of small holes drilled to dissipate the water over the whole egg box.  The egg box is then also filled with washed river rock the same as the collection tank.  It is filled with these rocks so that there is about 4" of flowing water over the rocks.  On the outlet end of the egg box, these 4 PVC pipes extend out with caps placed on them.   Here he can unscrew the caps, & again drain out any sediment.   The other large cap in the center is only used for draining the tank when the hatching season is over.  

 

 

If to much sediment gets into the box, it can smother the eggs.  This sediment can be somewhat of a problem if the water is discolored as even his filtering & flushing may not take all the fine sediment out.   If sediment to any degree settles over the unhatched eggs it then may be best to stir up this water above them & try to have the sediment float upwards & possibly out the overflow.  In the upper right picture the sediment is about maximum & still have the majority of the eggs survive.  Jan 4th, most of the eggs are hatched with the red being the egg sack attached to the young fish body.  When this picture was taken, about 80% of the eggs have hatched & have already moved down into the gravel.   It will take about another 3 to 5  weeks before they consume the sack & move up out of the rocks & then migrate out of the box.

 

 

February 18th fry were observed emerging from the rocks in 2005, but not until the middle of March in 2007.  The date of emergence was February 14th on one box & March 8th in another in 2008.  Water temperature is the factor here & one of his sites typically is about a week ahead of the other.   At this stage when they emerge, they are about 1 1/2" long.  If he wants for all of these fry to go into the creek, he just lets them go out the overflow & into the creek on their own.  

 

Move Fry To Better Rearing Areas :  However if he wants to transport some of them to other locations above this site, he then captures them in a catch basin.  The overflow from the rock egg box was ran into a cut off 50 gallon barrel which acts as a catch basin for when the fry voluntarily leave the box.    In this 1/2 barrel there are many small holes drilled around the top about 3" down from the top.   These holes let the overflow water (that carried the fry into the barrel) drain out but yet retain the fry.  When there are enough fish to transfer into 5 galloon buckets, they are then taken by a pickup truck or 4 wheel drive quads to the upper reaches of the same creek where there are small beaver dams & holding areas for the fry to make their home for a while.  Everything has to be ready & the distance to their new home can not be over a couple of miles as the quickness of getting them back into the water is paramount in that this many fry will use the available oxygen rather quickly. 

 

 

This small stream above the egg box area does not have many gravel locations to allow spawning to take place & or be very productive.   But it is good raising water for the fry, once they are transferred there.   There are cool alder shaded pools, beaver dams & excellent water for these fry to spend the next months in before heading for the saltwater.

 

 

Returning Fish : The first day salmon returned in 2005 was December 26th as shown in above LH picture after there had slightly over 5" of rain in the 8 days just prior.   The picture in the middle was taken 2 days later with another 1" of rain pushing the water higher & muddier.    The picture on the RH side was taken a year later.  When there are rains enough to have enough water for the fish to return & spawn,  it is many times higher & muddier than hoped for to take good pictures.

 

 

The above LH picture was taken about Thanksgiving, but there had been no rain for some time & the creek was so low that if the fish were in the main river there was not enough water for passage to the upper section of the creek.   These fish need a stream bed that has enough gravel for them to spawn in.  If it is just mud or silt, even if they do spawn, the eggs will smother & die.

 

The RH picture was taken Jan 4th, with most all the fish spawned out & dead, with this one lone female left kind of guarding her red (the depression she dug with her tail where she deposited her eggs).   She has a lot of whitish sores on her back & fins which about all you can distinguish her by.

 

Errol's home sits on the stream bank overlooking one of his egg boxes.  The day he called & said the salmon were back, from his porch we counted about 10 salmon in the process of spawning in the 100 yard area next to his house.   In these pictures, the red colored fish is the male.   These fish appear to be in good shape as there are no worn tails or dorsal fins that can start decaying & turn whitish.  However some of these pictures were taken 2 days later &  the whitish fins have began to show.  If there are more males than females, the males will fight over being able to fertilize the female's eggs.

 

The average return for his efforts may only result in 1% returning fish 3 years later.   One year he stood on the porch of his house & watched 14 fish spawning in the small stream below next to the tank that they originated from.   Other years only 3 fish were present that he saw.  The situation is that many times the rain & therefore the water flows are not enough at the right time to allow returning salmon to migrate as far up the creek as his location.  It is then hoped that these fish may find a place to spawn in the lower creek, although possibly not as desired as the upper smaller tributaries.   This is one of his reasons to do this in that many years there has not been the rains at the right times for salmon migration to the most desirable spawning gravel, thus diminishing the percentage of later returning fish.

 

It takes about a month for the eggs to hatch & they then burry themselves down into the rock crevices, & live on the nutrients of their egg sacs.   When they emerge from the rocks, they will be about 1 1/4" long.   They then on their own will swim, or be carried out the overflow & into the small stream.  If he wants to disperse these fry into a better rearing area upstream or downstream in the same stream, he can now catch some going out the overflow & plant them in his picked out locations.

 

These small Coho salmon will stay in the streams for another year, growing to about 6" long.   They then migrate out to the ocean in the spring, where they tend to turn right & head toward Canadian & Alaskan waters.  Usually 2 years after they enter salt water, they return to their home streams to mate.  The female finds a gravel bar to her liking, scoops out a depression in the gravel with her tail & deposits her eggs in this hole, known as a red.   When she lays her eggs, the male is always nearby (like side by side to her) & he fertilizes them as they lay in the red.   When the process is over she covers the eggs with gravel.  Many times the female will allow another male fertilize her eggs, just another mother natures methods of diversifying the gene pool.  When there are no more eggs, both of the salmon will die.   Their carcasses will decay & provide nutrients for water bugs or as food itself for the young fish after  they hatch & enter the stream.

 

They can find their home stream by a very good sense of smell.   They get imprinted by the water they grew up in & remember it's smell when they get ready to return.   Some salmon can detect 1 part in 8 billion.  Using this smell, they can find the same stream they originated from.

 

Errol spent time in a hospital the summer of 2005 which they finally diagnosed as rabbit fever & it looked bad for a week until they figured out what was going on.  He had time to think about what he has done & realized that he is not invincible, so has now added another volunteer name (me) as a secondary person to carry on his legacy if & when he may get sick or old enough that he can not function, or may pass on.   We fisherpersons owe a lot to the dedicated people who perform this type of work.

 

Plugged Culvert :  During the late summer of 2006 Errol found a 5' corrugated steel culvert which a logging road crossed over on a fork of Deep Creek above his egg boxes that had been plugged almost completely by beavers during the summer.

 

 

After contacting the landowners, Port Blakey Timber Co. & WDFW,  the landowners brought in a excavator & a crew that removed this blockage just in time before the fall rains began.  This blockage could have hampered some of his operation in that it would have blocked any chance of any of his possible returning salmon to migrate into this section of the creek & on to any possible upstream spawning gravel.

 

 Flood of 2007 : This major flood in the Chehalis basin was by some identified as a 500 year flood. (click here for link to article)   How did it effect salmon in the system.    Well not good.  It may well have wiped out the 2007 Chinook spawning & the Coho is questionable.   The 2006 flooding was not as bad, but again the fish took a hit.

Photos below are of log-jams in lower Bunker Creek with a before & after.  Deep Creek & Bunker Creek merge about a mile above this log-jams & the main Chehalis River is less than 1/2 a mile below.   The concern was that if this blockage is not removed, would the smolt be able to go downstream or the salmon trying to return, be able to get upstream thru it?

Washington Department of Natural Resources arranged for a contractor to clear this debris (03-05-08) at no charge to the landowner.  This logjam was so solid that a large excavator walked itself across the logs from the LH side to do the work on the RH bank, then left enough to go back across & then did the final cleaning from the LH bank.

 

Now The Downside Of The Project : The actual number of returning fish are very few in relationship to the number raised.  The time involved may even seen wasted as some years dismal returns showed back.   We have not done a daily stream count during the normal spawning season, (& probably need to) but usually do a weekly observation other than the small tributary by his house.  There is minimal spawning gravel in the main creek, possibly only 200 yards & upstream on the main creek in a timber company land & behind a gate.   Some years, like 2007 only 5 or 6 may be present while other years possibly 30 fish.  When taken into account 100,000 were raised & released that retuning low number is really hard to believe.

 

There are other RSIs in the upper basin that I am aware of.  One is on Dillinbaugh Creek southeast of Chehalis.  Another project just ended on Stearns Creek when the operator was old enough that he could not carry on & his son had no interest in doing so.   He could find no one who wanted to take over.   This one was shared with a local high school & he had them do clipping of the outgoing fry.   Another project is ongoing at the Onalaska High School, where the clipped fish are released into Carlisle Lake & the returning fish trapped at the weir there.   A few years ago WDFW wanted Errol to finclip his fry, but with his limited holding area & if 20,000 fry emerge in one night plus our big clumsy fingers don't help in the clipping process (been there -done that).  Then you look at the retuning numbers, yah for legal reasons, they should be, but is it really worth the effort?

 

Now why are the returns low?  There are probably many reasons.   One may well be the need for nutrient enhancement back in the small streams.  We have done this at times, but there is only two hatcheries low down on the Chehalis system & getting carcasses from them, plus over an hours drive one way & at the high gas price?   Another problem may well be predators.   I have observed for the last few years in the spring at the mouth of the Dillinbaugh, into the Chehalis River, many cormorants roosting in the cottonwood trees there.  This would be easy pickings for the young fry from that RSI just upstream from there.   Also mergansers along the river during the summer have increased in numbers.   Water quality does not appear to be an issue in that the dairy farmers all are required to have a manure lagoon as a holding area & can only pump it out onto the fields during good weather.   Both the cities of Chehalis & Centralia have new state of art sewage treatment plants.

 

During the late Steelhead season, if using bait, it is not uncommon to catch out-migrating Coho smolt.   However these encounters are small in that fishing access on the upper Chehalis is minimal, plus not many fishermen will come back for repeats of zero fish taken.   It is not worth the time & effort when the Quinault tribe gillnets are in the lower river for a considerable length of time each fall & spring.   Then with the 14" cutthroat minimum size limit in the Chehalis, with squawfish being the primary fish in the river, not much trout fishing is even done there anymore.  Sorry kids you will just have to play video games.

 

I do not see stream enhancement as an issue in this particular watershed, as the creek sides in the middle section has had no logging for over  40 years & mostly large alder alongside the creek.   The upper section has had some logging, but the creek has been preserved.    Culverts are large & kept open.  Down trees & some small logjams & an occasional beaver dam are occasionally seen making prime rearing areas.

 

For those who see his release of unclipped hatchery fish as a detriment for sportfishing, in that they contribute to the uncatchable sport numbers, well all I can say is if you are willing to come out & help set up a holding / feeding tank & help finclip, we are more than willing to accept your generosity.

 

Frustration :  I have sat on the WDFW Grays Harbor ad hoc advisory committee since it was formed in 2004.  It is frustrating to see the number of salmon dwindling.  Our unanimous concern/advise has for the most part been on ears where their hearing aids must have dead batteries.  The projected 2008 returns look dismal.  We need to be heard & something needs to be done.   Maybe with a new region 6 manager & new fish program manager, things have the appearance of looking up.   I sincerely hope so.

 

 Back to Ramblings