Passive Integrated Transponder Tag Monitoring Reveals Complex Migration and Life History Patterns in Mountain Whitefish in Upper Columbia River Tributaries

Abstract

Mountain Whitefish Prosopium williamsoni is a native salmonid distributed throughout the Columbia River basin, but little is known about the life history traits of tributary-specific populations. We captured and tagged 129 Mountain Whitefish with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags between 2010 and 2015 at a weir on the Twisp River, Washington, to assess migration patterns. Detection records suggested that two populations of Mountain Whitefish overlap in the Twisp River during spring: resident fish that spawn in the Twisp River (42% of fish) and migrant fish that spawn in the Okanogan River (58% of fish). The median entry day into the Twisp River was similar for resident (April 17) and migrant (April 16) populations, but median exit day was significantly earlier for migrant (July 2) than for resident fish (November 6). Migrant fish exited the Methow basin and traveled at 14.1 river kilometers per day, passing the lower Okanogan River PIT antenna with a median date of September 17. After spawning and overwintering in the Okanogan River with a median exit date of March 16, these fish returned to the Methow basin traveling at 22.1 river kilometers per day. These results improve our understanding of Mountain Whitefish life history and habitat use in tributaries upstream of Wells Dam, Washington.

Bidirectional connectivity in fishways: A mitigation for impacts on fish migration of small hydropower facilities

“…Most studies related to fishway effectiveness have focused on upstream pre‐reproductive movements (Noonan, Grant & Jackson, 2012; Bunt, Castro‐Santos & Haro, 2016; Hershey, 2021; Bravo‐Córdoba et al, 2021b), while downstream migration remains almost unexplored and mainly focused on anadromous salmonids or large dams in Neotropical rivers (Pelicice, Pompeu & Agostinho, 2015; Havn et al, 2017; Havn et al, 2020). The number of studies on bidirectional connectivity in the same stream is decreasing and continues to focus on the same type of location or species (Calles & Greenberg, 2007; Reischel & Bjornn, 2011; Celestino et al, 2019; Snow & Goodman, 2021). However, this does not stop researchers from hypothesizing about two‐way connectivity and it is possible to find many current works discussing the phenomenon (Katopodis & Williams, 2016; Fjeldstad, Pulg & Forseth, 2018; Silva et al, 2018; Pelicice, Pompeu & Agostinho, 2020), illustrating its interest and importance.…”

Colonization of a temperate river by mobile fish following habitat reconnection

“…Adult nonanadromous mountain whitefish (range: 21–34 cm total length; Kiffney, Cram, et al, 2018) and resident coastal cutthroat ( O. clarkii clarkii Richardson) and rainbow ( O. mykiss Walbaum) trout (range: 170–350 mm total length, unpublished data) are iteroparous, generally maturing at age 2–3 years for trout and 3–4 years for mountain whitefish (Wydoski & Whitney, 2003). These species remain in fresh water, but can migrate long distances for foraging, reproduction, and accessing overwinter habitat (Benjamin et al, 2014; Meka et al, 2003; Snow & Goodman, 2021). Restoration of fish passage also allowed for the upstream movement of adult sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka Walbaum) above Landsburg Dam; however, we do not discuss this species, as upriver migrating adults were trapped each year for brood stock at a local hatchery.…”