Changes in the distribution and density of pink, chum, and Chinook salmon spawning in the upper Skagit River in response to flow management measures

We analyzed the abundance and spatial distribution of spawning pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, chum salmon O. keta, and Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha in a 27-mi section of the upper Skagit River, Washington, regulated by the Skagit Hydroelectric Project. Densities of spawning salmon were compared among three contiguous reaches of the upper Skagit River before and after the implementation of flow management measures in 1981. The measures were intended to minimize redd dewatering during the spawning and incubation periods and fry stranding during the emergence and outmigration periods. Field monitoring confirmed that increasing the minimum incubation flows created improvements in redd protection levels. Greater protection of fry from stranding was achieved by substantially reducing the annual number of downramping events and by reducing downramping during daytime, when fry are most vulnerable to stranding. Spawner abundance of all three species progressively increased in an upstream direction following implementation of flow measures; increases were greatest in the reach immediately below the hydroelectric project. The upstream shift in spawner abundance was highly significant based on factorial analyses of variance. The greatest increases in spawner abundance for Chinook salmon and chum salmon were observed during even years, when pink salmon did not spawn. Mean spawner abundance in the upstream-most study reach increased from 311 to 1,169 carcasses/mi (odd years) for pink salmon, from 6 to 115 fish/mi (odd years) or 58 to 462 fish/mi (even years) for chum salmon, and from 48 to 49 redds/mi (odd years) or 59 to 65 redds/mi (even years) for Chinook salmon. The total number of pink salmon and chum salmon spawners significantly increased within the study area after 1981. These increases were substantially greater than those observed concurrently in other areas of the Skagit River basin and in other northern Puget Sound rivers. The average number of Chinook salmon spawners remained unchanged in the study area after 1981, while substantially declining in other unregulated Skagit River subbasins and most Puget Sound rivers. The study area now possesses the greatest percentage of pink, chum, and Chinook salmon spawners within the Skagit River basin. The Skagit River presently supports the largest run of native Chinook salmon in the Puget Sound region and the largest runs of pink and chum salmon in the coterminous United States.