Trophic Feasibility of Reintroducing Anadromous Salmonids in Three Reservoirs on the North Fork Lewis River, Washington: Prey Supply and Consumption Demand of Resident Fishes

Abstract

The reintroduction of anadromous salmonids in reservoirs is being proposed with increasing frequency, requiring baseline studies to evaluate feasibility and estimate the capacity of reservoir food webs to support reintroduced populations. Using three reservoirs on the north fork Lewis River as a case study, we demonstrate a method to determine juvenile salmonid smolt rearing capacities for lakes and reservoirs. To determine if the Lewis River reservoirs can support reintroduced populations of juvenile stream-type Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, we evaluated the monthly production of daphnia Daphnia spp. (the primary zooplankton consumed by resident salmonids in the system) and used bioenergetics to model the consumption demand of resident fishes in each reservoir. To estimate the surplus of Daphnia prey available for reintroduced salmonids, we assumed a maximum sustainable exploitation rate and accounted for the consumption demand of resident fishes. The number of smolts that could have been supported was estimated by dividing any surplus Daphnia production by the simulated consumption demand of an individual Chinook Salmon fry rearing in the reservoir to successful smolt size. In all three reservoirs, densities of Daphnia were highest in the epilimnion, but warm epilimnetic temperatures and the vertical distribution of planktivores suggested that access to abundant epilimnetic prey was limited. By comparing accessible prey supply and demand on a monthly basis, we were able to identify potential prey supply bottlenecks that could limit smolt production and growth. These results demonstrate that a bioenergetics approach can be a valuable method of examining constraints on lake and reservoir rearing capacity, such as thermal structure and temporal food supply. This method enables numerical estimation of rearing capacity, which is a useful metric for managers evaluating the feasibility of reintroducing Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. in lentic systems.

Received April 24, 2016; accepted July 28, 2016 Published online October 11, 2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was funded by PacifiCorp Energy, the U.S. Geological Survey, the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Science at the University of Washington, and the Washington Lakes Protection Association. Erin Lowery was instrumental in the planning and execution of this project. Casey Clark was instrumental in field and lab data collection. Additionally, S. Burgess, I. Vincent, A. Wilson, K. Ellis, A. Fuller, D. Lombardo, and numerous others conducted field and lab work. Collaboration with Robery Al-Chokhachy, Heather Bowen, and Chris Clark provided valuable information on the lotic habitat in the basin. Expert local knowledge was provided by F. Shrier and J. Doyle. We thank T. Quinn and R. Zabel for reviewing earlier versions of this manuscript. The Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Washington, the Washington State Departments of Ecology, Fish, and Wildlife and of Natural Resources, and the Wildlife Management Institute. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.