Metolius salmon restoration takes another step

Deanne Drake, a fisheries biologist, releases salmon fry into the Metolius River.

Nearly 100,000 Chinook salmon were seen in the upper reaches of the Metolius River during the last few weeks. Of course, each fish was only about an inch and a half long.

Between January 24 and February 7, the tiny fish were released by members of the U.S. Geological Survey, Portland General Electric, and the Warm Springs Tribe.

The release is part of an ongoing cooperative study to help determine the potential viability for restoration of Chinook salmon runs in the Metolius basin.

The baby salmon, called fry, were provided by the Warm Springs Fish Hatchery, and the success of these fish may well determine whether the giant adult Chinook salmon will once again swim up the Metolius.

Dams, fishing pressure and other byproducts of civilization caused the Chinook runs to dwindle down to nothing in the 1960s.

Deanne Drake is a USGS Fisheries Biologist who hopes to reverse an aquatic obituary written before she was born.

She and several others have spent the last few weeks carefully spreading the tiny salmon fry through promising habitat near the headwaters of the Metolius.

"One third of these fish are from wild stock collected by the Warm Springs Tribe," Drake said. "Another third are from their hatchery stock, and the rest are hybrids."

The hybrids have one wild and one hatchery parent.

Part of the study is aimed at seeing whether any of the three groups have a significantly better survival rate and to what extent hatchery fish may affect wild fish populations.

Tribal member Stanley Simtustus, also known as Bear Tracks, was on hand to help oversee the project. The Warm Springs Tribe has been working very closely with PGE and government agencies to explore ways of enhancing the region's fisheries resources.

Last year's unusually large Chinook return to the Warm Springs River enabled the Tribe to share the available brood stock and help make this a relatively large scale project.

Visitors to the Metolius Headwaters Trail have occasionally spotted the fish planters with their hip waders and five-gallon buckets trudging through the shallows of the upper river. The biologists are always willing to take the time to explain about the project.

The final phase of this planting is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, February 7.

PGE Fisheries Technician, Eric Schulz, was also in the area working on a similar -- although smaller scale -- project of exploring the possibility of returning sockeye salmon runs to the river.

He was on hand to help with the Chinook planting as well.

Schulz said that, in taking the PGE job, he made a conscious career change in order to spend more time out-of-doors and doing the things he loves -- spending time on the waters with fish.

Drake felt the same way and said that this was exactly what she imagined when she chose to become a fisheries biologist.

Unfortunately, she said, there are also a lot of meetings, reports and planning that keep her out of the field.

However, looking up from the middle of the river, she said, "Doing this is the reward at the end of the road."

Last December, PGE, the Tribe and USGS installed two large fish traps at the Gorge Campground, about two miles downstream from Camp Sherman.

The traps will gather up some of the same fish to help biologists determine the progress of the young Chinooks as they grow and move down the river toward Lake Billy Chinook.

A method of fish passage around the dams is an issue that will be addressed when, and if, the current studies show that the river is capable of propagating and supporting the young salmon populations.

Samplings from the traps will also be able to provide information on the young salmon from the sockeye project.

The traps are being checked daily and will continue to be operated for another 15 months.

Predation, of course, always takes a heavy toll on young fish. No one doubts that the bull trout will have a field day with the planted fish, but that's the way of things in the wild.

Occasionally a voracious bull trout gets into the trap to dine on the captive salmon fry.

However, that doesn't always mean that the research specimens are lost. In one case last week, a bull trout was still in the trap and 16 little salmon were recovered from its stomach

Only time will tell whether the mention of "salmon fry" might one day refer to a salmon barbecue -- instead of the tiny fish swimming in the river today.