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Location: Thompson, Merritt, BC Project Summary
Nicola Tribal Association will be addressing three critical information gaps that exist in the monitoring of juvenile salmon production from the Coldwater River. Coldwater River is a key indicator stream for the lower Thompson population of Interior Fraser coho, and there are serious concerns regarding current productivity levels of wild coho and early-run Chinook stocks in the river. Despite the importance of the Nicola River watershed, the river is one of the most threatened rivers in BC due to impacts from forestry, agriculture, irrigation and urban development. In early 2007, the Nicola Tribal Association and LGL Limited biologists met with the DFO program head of chinook and coho stock assessment and DFO representatives from the Spius Creek Hatchery, to discuss research objectives for a future Coldwater and Nicola Watershed Salmonid Productivity Assessment Program. This discussion led to the decision that any ongoing juvenile salmon assessment program should remain focused on the Coldwater River and in the short term research projects should be identified to fill information gaps and address key uncertainties that limit the merits of the Coldwater smolt monitoring program from continuing on an annual basis. These information gaps include: 1) the need for greater confidence in wild coho and chinook smolt population estimates that are currently generated by mark and recapture data using marked hatchery fish, 2) estimates of marine survival of wild coho , and 3) improved understanding of early migration and rearing life histories for Coldwater coho, Chinook and steelhead and the determination of the relative contribution that various rearing habitats within the Coldwater, Nicola and lower Thompson make to adult recruitment in the Coldwater. This project will have direct applicability to Wild Salmon Policy, Thompson Coho Recovery, Interior Chinook and Coho fishery management, Coldwater Recovery Plan, and the Nicola Water Use Plan. By closing existing information gaps, this project will be of significance for future habitat conservation, protection and restoration initiatives not just for Coldwater River, but for other systems throughout the Fraser Basin. Final Results The study resolved the three critical information gaps identified in the project objectives. More specifically, 2 potential sties were identified for the operation of an RST (rotary screw trap) to estimate emigrating wild smolt populations, coho trapping was identified as a sound method for capturing wild smolts for marking and release in order to estimate wild coho smolt production, and otolith sampling was identified as a robust analytical tool for differentiating between freshwater life history and emigration to the marine environment.
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