Cee Cee Ah Creek Westslope Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project Jason Olson

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Cee Cee Ah Creek Westslope Cutthroat Trout
Restoration Project Jason Olson

• A partnership of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians,
  the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,
  and Washington State University Extension

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Why Restoration of Westslope Cutthroat?

• Important to the Kalispel Tribe and WDFW
• KT and WDFW have a goal to recover native fish
• WCT are Species of Concern, additional ESA
  listings unwarranted (Petitioned for ESA listing
  in 2002)

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Why Cee Cee Ah Creek

• Lower end of Cee Cee Ah Creek flows through the
  Kalispel Reservation.
• Previous investment in instream habitat
  (structures, and planned culvert replacements and
  riparian improvements).
• Decline of westslope cutthroat densities.
• - 1996 baseline fish surveys found 118 BKT and 1
  WCT in snorkel stations upstream of the
  falls.
• - 1997 to 2004 instream restoration monitoring
  found 1,767 BKT and 3 WCT.
• - 2002 electrofishing to collect genetic samples
  could not find any WCT.
• - WCT functionally extinct upstream of Cee Cee
  Ah Falls.

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Options For Brook Trout Removal in Cee Cee Ah
Creek

• Liberalized angling regulations
• Physical removal via electrofishing
• Dewatering
• Explosives
• Piscicides

With the exception of dewatering, the other
alternatives rarely result in complete
eradication. Alternatives require much more
time, labor and money.
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Advantages of Cee Cee Ah Creek for a Piscicide
Treatment?

• Suitable habitat for WCT to thrive
• No grazing or range livestock nearby
• No known domestic water rights that might be
  affected
• Limited land owners downstream (U.S. Forest
  Service, Stimson Lumber Company, Riley Creek
  Timber and Kalispel Tribal land).
• Little fishing in this section of the stream.
• WCT are functionally extinct, so efforts to
  salvage WCT would not required.
• Cee Cee Ah Falls to prevent reinvasion.

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Study Area
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Treatment Area

• 5.2 miles of treatment
• 31 drip stations
• 1 hour travel time between stations
• 4 hour treatment time
• 37 staff members for first treatment

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Treatments

• Total of 4 treatments
• - Two treatments 2 weeks apart in fall of 2008.
• - One treatment in the fall of 2009.
• - Final treatment in the fall of 2010.
• Treatment 1,2 - removed approximately 6,700 BKT.
• Treatment 3 - removed a handful of remaining BKT.
• Treatment 4 - no fish were observed.

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Tools Used in Cee Cee Ah Removal
Drip Station
Detox Station 2008, 2009
Detox Station 2010
Backpack Sprayer
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Re-Introduction

• Considerations
• - Genetics
• - Purity
• Donor population
• - Size
• - Age structure
• - Spawning timing
• - Fecundity
• Methods
• - Translocations
• - RSI (remote streamside Incubators)
• - Egg tubes (buried in the gravel)
• - Hatchery

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Re-Introduction of Cee Cee Ah

• Middle Creek and East Fork Smalle Creek were both
  determined to be pure WCT and in close proximity
  of the Cee Cee Ah watershed.
• Middle Creek was chosen as the primary donor
  population.
• In 2011, initial collection began on April 1st
  and went until May 3rd. (n14)
• Collections were moved to East Fork Smalle
  Creek.(n86)
• In 2012, 39 WCT were collected to spawn from
  Smalle Creek, only 18 were spawned.
• - Size ranged from 149 to 208 mm.
• - Fecundity ranged from 66 to 291 eggs.
• - Total egg take was 2,086 eggs.

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Tools Used in Cee Cee Ah Translocations
Electro-fishing
Spawning
Transportation
Otoliths
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Results

• Brook trout were successfully eradicated from Cee
  Cee Ah Creek above the falls.
• 100 WCT successfully translocated to Cee Cee Ah
  Creek in 2011.
• 2,086 Eggs were collected and fertilized in 2012
  producing 178 fry for release (despite poor flow
  conditions)
• Natural recruitment documented in 2013.

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Lesson Learned

• Education and outreach (the good, bad, and ugly)
• Plan and strategize for challenges presented by
  complex channel habitats (beaver ponds, springs,
  and side channels)
• Staffing ability to implement project with less
  staff
• - Treatment one 30-36 people.
• - Treatment two and three 25 people.
• Weather and stream flows unpredictable however
  we now know that we can have success in the worst
  case conditions.

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Questions?