Determination of Swimming Speeds and Energetic Demands of Upriver Migrating Fall Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Klickitat River, Washington

摘要

This report describes a study conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the Bonneville Power Administration's Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program during the fall of 2001. The objective was to study the migration and energy use of adult fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) traveling up the Klickitat River to spawn. The salmon were tagged with either surgically implanted electromyogram (EMG) transmitters or gastrically implanted coded transmitters and were monitored with mobile and stationary receivers. Swim speed and aerobic and anaerobic energy use were determined for the fish as they attempted passage of three waterfalls on the lower Klickitat River and as they traversed free-flowing stretches between, below, and above the falls. Of the 35 EMG-tagged fish released near the mouth of the Klickitat River, 40% passed the first falls, 24% passed the second falls, and 20% made it to Lyle Falls. None of the EMG-tagged fish were able to pass Lyle Falls, either over the falls or via a fishway at Lyle Falls. The study also examined energy costs and swimming speeds for fish released above Lyle Falls as they migrated to upstream spawning areas.