Pelton Ladder Master Plan.

Rearing additional fish in Pelton Ladder provides fishery managers with a low-cost alternative to making major financial investments in new formal hatchery facilities. Adult chinook returning from this rearing program will help bolster the dwindling runs of upriver spring chinook, thus assisting the Council's goal for increased production of this species. The Deschutes River Subbasin Plan envisions need for additional return of hatchery-produced spring chinook in order to meet goals for increased harvest opportunity. Spring chinook released from Pelton Ladder will contribute little to offshore fisheries, as we can account for only about 1 percent of the RBH contribution in offshore fisheries. Based on past performance, we expect 6 percent of the adults produced will be caught in sport, commercial, and tribal subsistence fisheries in the Columbia River. Most benefits of the extra adults produced will be realized in the Deschutes River in the form of increased sport and tribal harvests and increased returns to RBH. Adults collected at Pelton Ladder above production needs will be provided to the CTWS. Return of more adults to the Deschutes River will continue the trend of increased abundance of spring chinook noted since 1985. Rearing of fish in the ladder under the proposed program will provide ODFW and CTWS co-management opportunity, and the associated monitoring and evaluation studies will refine ODFW's ability to effectively manage the RBWPelton Ladder rearing program and will provide inferences about the ability to further employ the fish-rearing potential of unused sections of the fish ladder