Friends of the Cowlitz

Genetic Structure of the Cowlitz River Steelhead Run:
The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

The Cowlitz River is home to one or more populations of steelhead that have managed to persist over the last century despite the deleterious effects of hydro dams, habitat destruction, and a history of mismanagement. Decisions by the fisheries agencies about how many steelhead should be protected, how many fish should be reared and released from the hatcheries, and how many returning adults should be made available to sport fishermen, are not always based on sound science. Because they lack good information, managers often have to guess at the composition, distribution and number of adult steelhead that return to the river. As unbelievable as it may seem, they don't know whether the adult steelhead that swim up the Cowlitz constitute a single homogeneous run of fish, or if they represent a mixture of different populations, each bound for their own part of the system and more-or-less reproductively isolated from the others.

Several important questions remain unanswered. Is there one or many populations of steelhead? Has their relative abundance changed over time? What effect has habitat modification, fishing and the introduction of hatchery fish had on native Cowlitz steelhead? Does the long-term health of the run as a whole - the likelihood it will survive into the future - depend on the existence of separate populations, each uniquely adapted to conditions in their own part of the Cowlitz system? For example, steelhead that return early and spawn in the upper reaches of the Cowlitz face very different water quality and runoff conditions than those that spawn lower down in the system. If exposed to these conditions over many generations, the ancestors of today's returning steelhead would have passed on traits to their progeny that maximized their genetic fitness in these different habitats. By fitness we mean the probability that they will survive and successfully reproduce.

It seems logical that the viability of the steelhead run would depend on the relative abundance, genetic relationship and interaction between locally adapted populations. In other words, the whole would be expected to be greater than the sum of its parts.

To effectively manage steelhead so that a reasonable number can be caught by fishermen without putting the run at risk, we need to know how many separate populations exist, how they are organized within the river system, and how genetically similar to one another they are. This information, which is fundamental to good fisheries management, is lacking for Cowlitz River steelhead. For this reason, Friends of the Cowlitz has successfully lobbied for a genetics study that should lead to better management, it will help reverse the recent decline seen in the number of steelhead returning to the Cowlitz and increase the number of fish that can be caught by sport fishermen

Using seed money generously contributed by key FOC supporters, we contracted with Cleve Steward, a well-known fisheries biologist who has served as FOC's technical advisor over the past decade, to write a proposal that would definitively answer questions about the way steelhead populations are structured, or organized, in the Cowlitz basin. Working with WDFW fish geneticist Anne Marshall, Cleve proposed a study that would establish the genetic identity and relationship of steelhead collected from 3 hatchery winter and summer steelhead populations and up to 7 major tributaries to the Cowlitz and Toutle Rivers. The genetic samples taken from steelhead collected in the hatcheries and streams would be compared, and an index of the genetic "distance" or distinctiveness would be computed. The result would be a blueprint of the population structure of the Cowlitz steelhead run. The similarities and differences among the populations that make up the run would help managers make informed decisions about how to manage the different components. For example, if hatchery fish are genetically indistinguishable from one or more populations of native steelhead found in the lower Cowlitz tributaries, it may be possible to treat them as a single population. If, however, a unique strain of steelhead is found, then special measures may be taken to protect them.

A study to learn the true identity of the steelhead that populate the Cowlitz system is an ambitious but worthy goal. As an organization, Friends of the Cowlitz has always supported fisheries management informed by sound science. We believe a definitive genetics study of Cowlitz steelhead is long overdue. Without this type of information, Cowlitz steelhead are going to continue to be subjected to by-guess-and-by-golly fisheries management. Unless we arm ourselves with good information, the powers that be will continue to lead us by the nose.

We ask that you follow the lead of several committed FOC members who have contributed money from their own pockets to support this genetics study. We need approximately $15,000 a year for the next three years to ensure that it is done right, and that we get the answers we need. Having our own technical advisor help direct the study will ensure that no shortcuts are taken, that data quality and analysis are not compromised, and that the results of the study will be widely reported and used appropriately.

We will also be calling on volunteers from time to time to help us catch steelhead and take non-lethal tissue samples from steelhead for the genetic analyses. Please contact us if you would be interested in participating in the volunteer sampling effort. In the meantime, it is important to raise awareness and funding for this very important study.

WDFW RESEARCH PROPOSAL

We will be holding an open meeting with you, the concerned citizen, and Steward and Associates for further clarification regarding this study and to get volunteers to help gather data on February 29, 2008, 7:00 PM at Saint Mary's Academy, Toledo, WA
On the corner of Jackson Hwy and Spencer Rd.

Your dedication to the resource and fellow fishermen is much appreciated.

To make a financial donation or to volunteer for the sampling effort, contact Don Glaser, FOC President, at dhg@tds.net   Tel. (360) 748-7293.

Or, send a check made out to FOC Genetics Study to:
Friends of the Cowlitz
PO BOX 248
Salkum, WA 98582
Phone: (360) 748-7293