Monitoring riverine fish communities in the North Coast and Cascades Network: 2011 annual report
Brenkman SJ, Kerr LH, Boetsch JR, Kennedy PK. 2013. Monitoring riverine fish communities in the North Coast and Cascades Network: 2011 annual report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NCCN/NRDS—2013/463. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report summarizes the monitoring of fish communities at Olympic National Park (OLYM) in 2011. Specific monitoring objectives were to determine seasonal trends in: 1) fish species composition; 2) relative abundance; and 3) the extent of non-native and hatchery fish among rivers during summer months. Fish communities were monitored via intensive snorkel surveys within ~ five-km reference sites from May to December across eight park rivers. In 2011, 36 surveys occurred and biologists observed 18,226 individual fish and recorded 12 fish species. Seasonal trends in fish species composition were reported as the mean percent of each fish species per month in each river. In 2011, species compositions in west peninsula rivers exhibited similar patterns where mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) and cutthroat/rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii/Oncorhynchus mykiss) were the dominant fish species. No non-native fish were observed. Analysis of annual peak counts of fish species provided a gauge of relative productivity among rivers. Peak counts of mountain whitefish ((ranged from 52 to 359 per km) were orders of magnitude higher than those for other fish species in 2011. Adult summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were at critically low levels of abundance in all rivers within the five kilometer reference sites. We reported in proportions of hatchery versus wild salmonids were determined at each reference site. In 2011, hatchery steelhead were detected in the Bogachiel (23%, n=74), North Fork Quinault (50%, n=4), and South Fork Hoh Rivers (50%, n=2) and hatchery Chinook were observed in the Bogachiel (14%, n=7) and North Fork Quinault Rivers (100%, n=1). No hatchery coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) salmon were observed in any reference site in 2011. Only wild coho salmon were observed in the Sol Duc River.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Brenkman, Samuel; Kerr, Laruen; Boetsch, John; Kennedy, Phillip
- Date of Issue
- 2013-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NRSS , OLYM
- Keywords
- Abundance, assemblage, Bogachiel River, Bull Trout, Calawah River, Chinook Salmon, Chum Salmon, Coho, Community, Cutthroat Trout, dace, Dosewallips River, Elwha River, Fish, Fish Monitoring, Hatchery, Hoh River, Largescale sucker, Monitoring, Mountain whitefish, Pacific lamprey, Pink Salmon, Quinault River, Rainbow Trout, River, Skokomish River, Sol Duc River, Species Composition, Steelhead, Stream