Manchester Spring Chinook Broodstock Project : Progress Report, 2000.

In spring 1995 the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) initiated captive broodstocks as part of conservation efforts for ESA-listed stocks of Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). The need for this captive broodstock strategy was identified as critical in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Proposed Recovery Plan for Snake River Salmon. These captive broodstock programs are being coordinated by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) through the Chinook Salmon Captive Propagation Technical Oversight Committee (CSCPTOC). Oregon's Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon captive broodstock program currently focuses on three stocks captured as juveniles from the Grande Ronde River Basin: the upper Grande Ronde River, Catherine Creek, and the Lostine River. Idaho's Snake River program includes three stocks captured as eggs and juveniles from the Salmon River Basin: the Lemhi River, East Fork Salmon River, and West Fork Yankee Fork. The majority of captive fish from each stock of the Grande Ronde Basin will be grown to maturity in freshwater at the ODFW Bonneville Hatchery. A minority of the Salmon River Basin stocks will be grown to maturity in freshwater at the IDFG Eagle Hatchery. However, the IDFG and ODFW requested that a portion of each group also be reared in protective culture in seawater. In August 1996, NMFS began a BPA funded project (Project 96-067-00) to rear Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon captive broodstocks in seawater at the NMFS Manchester Research Station. During 1997-1999, facilities modifications were undertaken at Manchester to provide secure facilities for rearing of these ESA-listed fish. This included construction of a building housing a total of twenty 6.1-m diameter fiberglass rearing tanks, upgrade of the Manchester salt water pumping and filtration/sterilization systems to a total capacity of 5,670 L/min (1,500 gpm), and installation of an ozone depuration system. Initial activities related to Project 96-067-00 are described in Flagg et al. (1997, 1998); related activities during the period 1998-1999 are described in McAuley et al. (2000). The current report summarizes NMFS activities on the Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon captive broodstock program at Manchester during FY 2000. In addition to husbandry activities, NMFS efforts also included participation in the CSCPTOC