Spawner Surveys

The Tulalip Tribes conducts spawning ground surveys for Chinook, coho, chum, and pink salmon in the rivers and tributaries of the Snohomish basin in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. These surveys supply vital data about adult fish that return to the spawning grounds to reproduce. Tribal and State technicians walk and use small boats to survey stream segments called index reaches, located throughout the Skykomish, Snoqualmie and Snohomish river basins, counting live and dead fish of all species, and sampling the spawned-out Chinook salmon carcasses for otoliths, DNA, scales, and coded-wire tags. Each female spawning area - called a redd, is also counted and marked by a GPS way point and a piece of flagging. GPS points help biologists to see how the changes in river hydrology affect suitable spawning habitat for Chinook salmon in the basin and show which areas are most productive when it comes to Chinook spawning.

With improved estimates of adult spawners and redds, Co-Manager biologists can more accurately estimate Chinook abundance and productivity (“replacement rate”) and thus better estimate the number of adults which may return in future years. Each fish that is raised and released from the Bernie Kai Kai Gobin Salmon Hatchery is otolith-marked by species and brood year. Analyzing tags and Chinook otoliths helps the Tribes to ensure that fisheries are principally targeting the hatchery production with minimal impacts on the nearby natural spawning populations in the Skykomish and Snoqualmie River basins of the Snohomish.