This project is providing important information about the wild production of Chinook salmon in the Salmon River.

Other projects conducted around the Basin by agencies, universites and other partners are documenting wild reproduction of salmon and trout, and providing managers with other scientific knowledge needed to effectively manage this highly-valued diverse fishery.

Natural Reproduction of Chinook Salmon in the Salmon River, NY

Research Activities and Results of 2004
Hydroacoustic technology enables us to track and count migrating salmon 24 hours per day for the entire migration period in the Salmon River. To determine the migration timing and abundance of adult salmon, we recorded acoustic data from September 6- November 1 and used special software to identify and count all salmon size targets moving through the site (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Image of Hydroacoustic echogram showing salmon-sized fish migrating in the Salmon River on October 11, 2005
Preliminary analyses and results
Migration occured in three waves with progressively more fish migrating in each run (figure 2).	Figure 2. Total number of fish per day migrating upstream in the Salmon River, New York
An early run occured during late August through early September. We did not have our equipment in place prior to September 9 to count these fish , however we estimate that the number of uncounted fish was less than 5 percent of the migration total. This early run peaked on September 15. A second, more significant run of salmon (mostly Chinook) occurred during the 3rd week of September and then declined. We are currently exploring which factors may trigger migration timing (e.g., river flow, temperature). Most salmon (including Chinook and Coho) migrated between September 28 through October 12, peaking on October 7 (~3000 fish migrating per day) and ceasing by October 15. Fish migrating after October 15 were probably Steelhead trout based on information obtained in the creel survey (figure 11) .

Project Cooperators

New York
Department of Environmental Conservation