This reports details the 1998 study results from an ongoing project to monitor the migration behavior of wild spring/summer chinook salmon smolts in the Snake River Basin. The report also discusses trends observed in the cumulative data resulting from this project; data has been collected from Oregon and Idaho streams since 1989. The project was initiated after 3 years of detection data from PIT-tags (passive-integrated- transponder tags) had shown distinct differences in migration patterns between wild and hatchery fish. Data showing these patterns had originated from tagging and interrogation operations begun in 1988 to evaluate a smolt transportation program conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1991, the Bonneville Power Administration began a cooperative effort with NMFS to expand tagging and interrogation of wild fish for this project. Project goals were to characterize the outmigration timing of these fish, to determine whether consistent migration patterns would emerge, and to investigate the influence of environmental factors on the timing and distribution of these migrations. In 1992, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) began an independent program of PIT tagging wild chinook salmon parr in the Grande Ronde and Imnaha River Basins in northeast Oregon. Since then, ODFW has reported all tagging, detection, and timing information on fish from these streams. However, with ODFW concurrence, NMFS will continue to report arrival timing of these fish at Lower Granite Dam.
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