Juvenile coho salmon movement and migration through tide gates

approved: Guillermo Giannico Tidal marshlands in the upper estuary ecotone provide essential habitat for juvenile salmonids. In this environment, salmonids grow rapidly and acclimate to saltwater. Worldwide, tidal marshes have been diked and drained to provide agricultural and residential land. Tide gates are one-way doors integrated into dike systems that prevent saltwater flooding and allow upland drainage to the estuary during low tide. By preventing tidal exchange, tide gates have significant upstream effects on water temperature and chemistry, plant and animal community structure, and geomorphology. Since they are closed most of the day and may be difficult to pass when open, tide gates may act as fish passage barriers for juvenile salmonids. They may also affect juvenile salmon migration timing by altering environmental variables that influence emigration rate in upstream habitats. We conducted our research in Coos Bay, one of the many Oregon estuaries with extensive use of tide gates. We studied three streams, one with a top-hinged tide gate, one with a side-hinged gate, and one without any tide gates that acted as our reference site. Our study species was coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, which may encounter tide gates both in the subyearling and smolt life stages in our study streams. Our objectives were to: 1) quantify upstream and downstream fish passage occurrence at all three sites, 2) determine whether juvenile coho salmon passage is associated with a specific range of gate conditions, and 3) identify any associations between coho smolt emigration rate and environmental variables that are influenced by tide gates. We installed stationary passive integrated transponder (PIT) antennae around both tide gates and a tidal channel in the non-gated stream to record the movement of PIT tagged juvenile coho salmon. Coho salmon smolts passed upstream most frequently at the non-gated channel (48% of all smolts detected at the array), next the side-hinged gate (28%), and lastly, the top-hinged gate (3%). Juvenile coho salmon passed more frequently at a specific range of gate angles and tailwater depths at both top hinged and side-hinged tide gates. Smolts passed downstream more frequently at greater gate angles and tailwater depths than available on average at both tide gates. Subyearlings passed upstream more frequently during small gate angles and a narrow range of tailwater depths at the top-hinged gate but did not pass more frequently under a particular range of conditions at the side-hinged gate. At the top-hinged gate, conditions favorable for subyearling upstream passage occurred towards the end of the gate open period and therefore subyearlings were severely limited in their opportunities for passage. At multiple sites, emigration rate was associated with environmental variables that may be altered by tide gates. Increases in water temperature were associated with an increasing likelihood of smolt emigration at multiple sites. At a tide gate that allowed upstream estuarine influence, increasing salinity was associated with a decreasing likelihood of emigration. Our results suggest that tide gates may interfere with salmonid movement and migration by creating physical barriers to fish passage and potentially influencing migratory timing by altering environmental variables. When installing or retrofitting tide gates, these factors should be taken into consideration since a tide gate’s design may determine the severity of its effects on salmonids. Our work should be considered a case study and the findings should not be assumed to be transferable due to the great diversity of tide gate installations in use. We recommend further research, including a more in depth analysis of the affects of tide gates on subyearling coho salmon and an investigation of piscivorous predator exploitation of tide gates. c ©Copyright by Arthur Bass July 26, 2010 All Rights Reserved Juvenile Coho Salmon Movement and Migration Through Tide Gates