So far, we had captured 363 fish via trap net and seining. Based on size chart assessments, these include 63 wild fall-run sized, 1 late-full-run-sized, 9 winter-run-sized, and 5 spring-run-sized Chinook salmon. We found/experienced 0 mortality of any non-fall-run wild Chinook salmon. Mortality was low. About 3.3% (12/363) mortality of all fish encountered by this time with fyke and seine. All of these were dead when they we encountered, no observed mortality during or shortly after handling by the team as of this time. Of the mortalities noted, 5 were PIT-tagged hatchery fall-run salmon, 3 wild fall run salmon, 1 shad, 2 mosquito fish and 1 sunfish.
After having introduced the 4,500 Fall run (all PIT tagged) and 100 Late-Fall yearlings (all PIT and JSATS tagged) into the fields Feb 9 and 10, respectively, emphasis had moved to monitoring the network of 7 PIT readers at the rice boxes to collect data on fish movements within the field and out the field drain. Related to this, the UC Davis team developed an interesting Fish Movement Shiny App that allows for analysis of each fish detected thus far to see where in the field they have travelled. A lot of data to click on but it’s fun to take a look at a few of these to get a sense of how the fish are moving. The 4,500 PIT-tagged Fall run seemed to have really settled into the field with less than 375 having exited the fields by this time.
Provided tour of the Project for Bob Simms, an avid salmon fisherman and host of the KFBK’s Outdoors Show for 33 years. Bob was very interested in the project and dedicated a segment of his February 25 show to discussing the project in Hour 3. His shows are available on podcast.
Held a successful Project Field Day on February 23 with morning and afternoon sessions. Considering the wind chill factor, it may have been the coldest day of the year for this event. Great day to throw a party! We had good attendance by many of the key agencies, a few donors, and conservation groups. The UC Davis team checked the fyke for them in the morning and pulled a seine in the afternoon, finding salmon with both processes. So, the attendees got to see how the salmon are handled and inventoried. We also inspected one of the specialized rice boxes, with hole boards for fish passage, that is wired with a PIT tag reader system. It was demonstrated how the design allows detection of when fish pass and/or just attempts to pass through these PIT-wired boxes.
