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Genetic Analysis of Pacific Salmonids in the Northeast Pacific and the Russian Far East

This U.S./Russian collaboration will investigate genetics and life histories of Kamchatka Peninsula rainbow trout and steelhead (O. mykiss), and Dolly Varden, white-spotted, and arctic char (S. malma, S. leucomaensis, and S. alpinus, respectively). Both anadromous and resident forms of these generally occur in Kamchatka rivers that are free from More...

  • Shown are an adult Siberian white spotted char, or kundza (Salvelinus leucomaensis, top), and a pre-

Genetic Effects of Hatchery Supplementation on Productivity for Naturally Spawning Salmon

This study evaluates costs and benefits for alternative sources of broodstock for supplementation, and tests for domestication in hatchery programs. The study tests for genetic differences in the migration, growth, and survival of hatchery and wild steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and of hatchery and wild spring chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) in More...

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Vertical Distribution of Outmigrating Juvenile Salmon and Steelhead

Research biologists at the Columbia River Research Laboratory are using global positioning systems (GPS) in a study of the distribution of juvenile salmon in relation to dissolved gas supersaturation in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The study is being conducted between Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River and on the Columbia River, a distance of 42 More...

  • Image of global positioning systems (GPS) in use

White Sturgeon Restoration and Enhancement in the Columbia and Snake Rivers Upstream from Bonneville Dam

The goal of this work is to provide information to aid state, federal, and tribal managers in efforts to protect and restore the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Columbia River Basin Construction and operation of dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers for hydroelectricity, navigation, and irrigation have adversely affected white More...

  • White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus).

Olfactory Sensitivity of Pacific Lampreys to Petromyzonol Sulfate

Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata) populations are in decline or have been extirpated from much of their historical range in the Columbia River Basin. Evidence collected for sea lampreys suggests they may not home to natal streams, but instead may use their olfactory ability to detect the presence of larval and adult lampreys as discrete More...

  • Adult Pacific lamprey captured at Bonneville Dam and held in captivity for olfactory sensitivity exp

Ecological Interactions between Aquatic Macrophytes and Fish in Lake Onalaska, Pool 7, Upper Mississippi River

In the Upper Mississippi River, more than 80 species of fish use vegetated habitats during some portion of their life cycle. Fish depend on aquatic vegetation for abundant, high-quality food resources (plant-associated invertebrates) and refuge from predators. Vegetation abundance in the Upper Mississippi River substantially declined in the late More...

  • Image of a map from Pool 7 lock and dam 7, located near Dresbach, Minnesota upstream to Lock & Dam 6

Evaluation of Fish Movement and Water Velocities Near a Prototype Behavioral Guidance System at Lower Granite Dam

Since 1994, scientists from the Anadromous Fish Ecology Team have been assisting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in evaluating the migration behavior and passage of juvenile salmon and steelhead through Lower Granite Reservoir and Dam on the Snake River, WA. The goal of this study is to identify the behavior of individual juvenile salmon More...

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Xenobiotic Impact on Arctic Charr: Nutritional Modulation and Physiological Consequences

The Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in the northern most latitudes migrate to the ocean in the spring to feed and grow. This results in accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in their visceral fat. During the winter, the charr reside in freshwater lakes and do not feed. They do mobilize lipids from adipose tissue for energy, which More...

  • Photo of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus).

Survival Estimates for Migrant Juvenile Salmonids Passing Through the Bonneville Dam Using Radio-telemetry

As anadromous juvenile salmonids migrate from freshwater rearing habitats to the ocean, they are vulnerable to a host of factors that affect their survival. Direct effects associated with dam passage (e.g., instantaneous mortality, injury, loss of equilibrium, etc.) and indirect effects (e.g., predation, disease, and physiological stress) More...

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Brazos Field Research Station

The BFRS works cooperatively with team members from CERC and with faculty and graduate students of Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University in research areas represented by the branch structure of the CERC including toxicology, ecology, biochemistry and physiology, environmental chemistry, ecogeography, and information More...

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Assessment of the Downstream Passage of Juvenile Salmonids at John Day Dam

The National Marine Fisheries Services Biological Opinion on the Columbia River salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act sets guidelines for salmon recovery, many of which address salmon passage issues at hydroelectric dams operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), because fish passing via turbines do not survive as well as those More...

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Estimating the Residence Time and Lateral Distribution of Juvenile Chinook Salmon Passing Through the Spillway and Stilling Basin of The Dalles Dam

One possible cause of the relatively low spillway survival at The Dalles Dam is the pattern in which the water is spilled over the dam. To avoid passing fish through the spillway and into shallow areas downstream known to harbor piscivores, a juvenile spill pattern is used. This pattern, designed to pass fish through the northernmost spill bays More...

  • Image of stilling basin of The Dalles Dam