Effects of the Operation of Hungry Horse Dam on the Kokanee Fishery in the Flathead River System, 1984 Annual Progress Report.

Abstract

This study assessed the effects of the operation of Hungry Horse Dam on the kokanee fishery in the Flathead River system. This report covers the 1983-84 field season concerning the effects of Hungry Horse operations on kokanee abundance and reproductive success in the upper Flathead River system. This report also addresses the projected recovery of the main stem kokanee run under the flow regime recommended by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and implemented by the Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration in 1982. An estimated 58,775 kokanee reached spawning grounds in the Flathead River System in 1983. The 1983 spawning run was composed of 92% age III + fish, as compared to an average of 80% from 1972-1983. A total of 6883 kokanee redds were enumerated in the main stem Flathead River in 1983. A total of 2366 man-days of angling pressure was estimated during the 1983 kokanee lure fishery in the Flathead River system. Estimated numbers of fry emigrating from McDonald Creek, the Whitefish River and Brenneman's Slough were 13,100,000, 66,254 and 37,198, yielding egg to fry survival rates of 76%, 10.4% and 19.2%.