Lake Sammamish Kokanee Salmon Observed in 13 Streams

  Map of Lake Sammamish tributaries. Those
  in red are tributaries where kokanee have
  rarely been observed in recent years until
  2012. Those in black are the four main
  spawning tributaries.

This past year’s return of kokanee to Lake Sammamish tributaries saw several thousand spawners in the four main tributaries (Lewis, Ebright, Laughing Jacobs, and Pine Lake Creeks). In addition, kokanee spawners were unexpectedly observed in other tributaries--George Davis and Zaccuse Creeks on the east side; Issaquah, East Fork Issaquah, Tibbetts, Pickering, and Schneider Creeks in the south end; and Vasa and Idylwood Creeks on the west side of Lake Sammamish. For most of these additional creeks, spawning kokanee have been recorded in the past but have not been observed in recent years. In two of the creeks (Pickering and Schneider) kokanee do not appear to have ever been observed before 2012.

Agency staff members from King County, WDFW, and USFWS, as well as private landowners, conducted periodic surveys of these creeks in 2012. In addition to counting the live spawning fish, surveyors also collected kokanee carcasses in order to remove their otoliths (ear bones). The otoliths will be analyzed in the lab to determine if fish originated from Issaquah Creek State Hatchery or were naturally produced. Tissue samples were also taken from some of the fish to determine their genetic make-up.

This past year’s results indicate that Lake Sammamish kokanee are spawning in tributaries on all sides of the lake, underscoring the need to protect and restore as many tributaries as possible in order to sustain this native population.


   Kokanee spawning area in Schneider
   Creek. Prior to 2012, kokanee were
   not known to use this tributary.



 

Lake Sammamish Kokanee Partner Celebration



Lake Sammamish kokanee fry

On April 19, 2012, citizens and partners in Lake Sammamish kokanee conservation gathered at Hans Jensen Park in Issaquah, WA to commemorate another successful year of the kokanee supplementation program. This year over 60,000 kokanee fry will be released, which is more than the past two years combined. The juvenile kokanee that are just a few inches long are primarily released at night; however, a few were released at the event to mark the success of this year’s efforts.


Releasing kokanee fry into
Laughing Jacobs Creek

Lake Sammamish kokanee, a landlocked form of sockeye salmon, have greatly declined in recent years and were petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2007. Although the USFWS has determined that the species does not warrant listing, we continue to work with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), King County, local city governments, Trout Unlimited, Snoqualmie Tribe, and other local entities to rebuild its native population.  



Event attendees

Key elements of the Lake Sammamish kokanee strategic habitat conservation effort include protecting and restoring spawning habitat, reducing kokanee mortality in Lake Sammamish, and providing fish passage in tributary streams. The USFWS has provided funding and technical support for both short-term (supplementation program) and long-term (restoration) efforts and is designed to support these efforts for three kokanee generations (12 years). The supplementation program includes collecting wild spawners and using an innovative system of recirculating incubators at Issaquah Creek State Hatchery to increase egg-to-fry survival rates and maximize imprinting to natal streams.


Robyn Thorson, USFWS

Speakers at this year’s event included Dow Constantine, King County Executive; Robyn Thorson, USFWS Pacific Regional Director; Jim Scott, WDFW Assistant Director; and elected officials from Bellevue, Issaquah, Redmond, and Sammamish.

Click here to see a video of the fry release event.
 

Lake Sammamish Kokanee Return in Large Numbers



Kokanee salmon adult

Like an early holiday gift, kokanee salmon have been observed by the hundreds spawning in tributaries to Lake Sammamish during the month of November. Our partners at King County and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have been out counting the colorful red fish in Ebright, Lewis and Laughing Jacobs Creeks in order to keep track of their numbers and track the recovery of this native fish population. Click on this story and video as covered by King 5 News: http://www.king5.com/news/environment/Samamish-Kokanee--134291168.html 

As of November 28, our partners have counted 1575 kokanee along with 301 redds dug by the female kokanee in these three creeks. These large numbers are cause for celebration! In comparison, only 50 or so fish were estimated to have returned to the same creeks all of last fall. Click on this King County link for a video showing kokanee spawning in Laughing Jacobs Creek:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/salmon-and-trout/kokanee/sammamish-kokanee-video-2011.aspx
 

Collecting kokanee adults for hatchery broodstock

Our office, along with King County, have collected just over 200 of this year's kokanee adults from these three creeks in order to spawn them and rear their offspring within the safe confines of the Issaquah State Fish Hatchery. So far ,we have collected more than 50,000 eggs. We plan to keep on collecting 15% of the adults that return to the creeks during the coming weeks. In the spring, the fry will be released back into the same creeks where the adults were collected. 

Lake Sammamish kokanee hatchery fry

From there they will immediately swim downstream to Lake Sammamish and hopefully return to the creek as adults 3 to 5 years later. The current draft of the Conservation Supplementation Plan for Lake Sammamish Kokanee is available here: http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/salmon-and-trout/kokanee/documents/conservation-supplementation-plan.aspx

Documenting Fish and Habitat Trends with King County

Issaquah Creek

Over the past three summers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has worked on a field project with King County to survey habitat and fish populations in streams that feed into Lake Washington, a large lake in Seattle, WA. The main objective of this work is to assess and monitor habitats essential to Chinook salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The work is also part of a larger effort to monitor Chinook salmon habitat throughout the state of Washington by the Washington Department of Ecology. In addition to King County and USFWS, 27 other local government organizations have assisted in this project.

Collecting fish samples

This year's work team consisted of three King County employees and five USFWS employees. Four of the USFWS employees were students from The Evergreen State College, Eastern Washington University, and Oregon State University. We spent 4 days each week in July and August at various streams and creeks either collecting fish with electrofishing equipment or helping with habitat measurements. The primary fish species encountered during our surveys included cutthroat trout, juvenile coho salmon, and five species of sculpin. Fifty sites were completed in 2011 and each site will be resurveyed in 2012 and 2013. By repeating these surveys in future years, we will be able to determine whether fish communities and their habitats change over time as habitat restoration work is implemented to benefit Chinook salmon in the Puget Sound region.


Cutthroat trout collected during survey



Partnering for Conservation

Releasing young kokanee salmon

This week our office participated in the celebratory release of young kokanee salmon into Lake Sammamish tributaries. These fish, along with 14,000 more to be released in coming weeks, were successfully raised with the assistance of our partners at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Quilcene National Fish Hatchery, King County, the Cities of Redmond, Bellevue, Sammamish, and Issaqauh, Trout Unlimited, and the Snoqualmie Tribe in an effort to protect this native fish population from extinction.
 
Thanks to the mutual dedication and support for the hatchery supplementation program, we are offering this population some short-term insurance while we all work together to restore the kokanee’s home in the Lake Sammamish watershed.

Check out this link to the latest article in the Issaquah Press to learn more about how we are partnering to save Lake Sammamish kokanee from extinction:

http://www.issaquahpress.com/2011/04/18/kokanee-fry-released-in-historic-ceremony/#more-46744

 

Lake Sammamish Kokanee on the Move

Eyed eggs with ID tag

Over 150 miles . . .  That’s how far Lake Sammamish kokanee will travel before they ever hatch from their eggs.

Originally, eggs were collected from adults in small tributaries of Lake Sammamish to be incubated in a hatchery setting. To reduce risk, half of the eggs were transported to Quilcene National Fish Hatchery while the other half remained at Issaquah Creek State Fish Hatchery. Once the eggs at Quilcene NFH reached the eyed-up stage, they were safe to handle and final arrangements were made to transport them back to Issaquah. 



Eggs are wrapped in cheesecloth


Before the trip began, the eggs received thermal marks to help identify the hatched fish from different hatcheries and different tributaries. The eggs were then wrapped in wet cheesecloth to keep them moist and placed in racks in a cooler that had been designed specifically for the long trip.


Eggs in cooler baskets

Each batch of eggs was placed in a separate basket within the cooler. Ice was placed on a rack above the egg baskets and allowed to drip on them, ensuring that they would not dry out. As soon as all of the eggs were in the cooler, it was securely put into a vehicle and the eggs were on their way. After a bit of a drive and a short ferry ride, the eggs made it back to Issaquah. 

Ready to go!

Upon arrival, hatchery staff at Issaquah made sure that the eggs had made the journey unharmed. The eggs were unwrapped from the cheesecloth, quickly examined, and then dipped in disinfectant as a precautionary measure to ensure that they remain healthy. They will remain in the care of hatchery staff in Issaquah until they hatch and are returned to their parents' native stream. 

Here's a link to a recent article in the Issaquah Press describing the efforts being made to preserve this dwindling salmon species: 

http://www.issaquahpress.com/2011/01/18/effort-to-preserve-dwindling-species-is-a-team-effort/

Lake Sammamish Kokanee Salmon Supplementation Program

Our office, along with King County and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), has been working to restore the Lake Sammamish kokanee salmon population. This population once numbered in the thousands, but recent adult returns have been less than 100 fish. Currently, kokanee primarily spawn in three small tributaries: Laughing Jacobs Creek, Ebright Creek, and Lewis Creek.


Ebright Creek

One major component of the recovery effort is a supplementation program to improve survival rates from the egg stage to the fry stage. Adult kokanee will be spawned at the Issaquah State Fish Hatchery (SFH). Half of the eggs will be incubated at Issaquah SFH and half will be taken to Quilcene National Fish Hatchery where they will be reared to the “eyed-egg” stage of their life. After all eggs have reached the eyed-egg stage, they will be placed in experimental rearing systems at Issaquah SFH.  Each experimental rearing system will use water taken from their natal stream to provide adequate imprinting. Shortly after the kokanee fry have emerged from their eggs, WDFW and King County staff will then plant the kokanee fry back into their natal creek.

We began this year’s supplementation effort last week. King County and WDFW field crews looked for fish in the three spawning creeks. During the first week, crews captured 6 males and 1 female in Ebright Creek.  The female was successfully spawned with 2 of the males; the other males were saved for later spawning.  This week (week 2), an additional 6 females and 8 males were collected from Ebright Creek and 1 female and 2 males from Laughing Jacobs Creek; all fish were successfully spawned. Over the next 2 months, the crews will be collecting adults once or twice each week.

Female kokanee salmon



Male kokanee salmon