The primary objective of this project is to address U.S. Section priorities and recommendations to verify or recalibrate the estimated escapement of fall chinook within the grays harbor indicator…

This $176,327 Project Grant award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Pacific Salmon Treaty Program (CFDA 11.438) supports the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) in verifying and recalibrating the estimated escapement of fall Chinook salmon within the Grays Harbor indicator stock. The key objectives are to compare the current approach with three alternative methods: redd counts across the entire spawning distribution, total genetic mark-recapture, and carcass mark-recapture, as well as spatio-temporal modeling. The award will fund additional carcass recovery, genetic analysis, and modeling to generate spawner abundance estimates for the 2024 brood year. This work aligns with NOAA's priorities to support research and monitoring efforts that improve management strategies for endangered and threatened Pacific salmon populations.

The primary objective of this project is to address U.S. Section priorities and recommendations to verify or recalibrate the estimated escapement of fall chinook within the grays harbor indicator stock by comparing the current approach with three alternative approaches. The washington department of fish and wildlife (wdfw) already has an intensive salmon monitoring program operating in the newaukum river since 2019. We are requesting funding to support additional carcass recovery, genetic analysis, and spatio-temporal modeling to generate estimates of fall chinook salmon spawner abundance in the newaukum river for brood year 2024 using five methods: 1) the current method, 2) redd counts across the entire spawning distribution, 3) tgmr, 4) CMR, and spatio-temporal modeling.