The Montlake Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and its biological research, 1931-81

Marine Fisheries Review, Fall, 1988 by Clinton E. Atkinson

Although Bonneville Dam was of major concern to the fishery agencies because it was the first dam to be encountered by anadromous fish in their ascent of the Columbia River, the real problem for the salmon fisheries of the Columbia occurred at Grand Coulee Dam located in the middle section of the Columbia River. The dam, claimed to be the largest man-made structure in the world, was some 320 feet high (forebay to tailrace) precluding any hope of either passing the adult salmon over the dam or the young migrants downstream. Thus more than 1,000 miles of spawning and rearing grounds for salmon above the dam were eliminated.

In 1939 a study was carried out by the Washington Department of Fisheries to determine the possible means of preserving the salmon runs that would be blocked by the dam. In due time a plan was developed, reviewed by a board of consultants, and finally approved by the various agencies. Since the U.S. government had jurisdiction over "navigable waters," the Bureau of Fisheries was given the responsibility for the salmon rehabilitation program-somewhat to the dismay of those who had developed the plan.

However, many of the state and Federal fishery biologists had gone to school together, had worked together on a number of other projects, and helped organize the informal meetings of the Pacific Fishery Biologists at which they met at least once a year. Thus, throughout the project there was much personal cooperation between the staffs of the two agencies.

As an amusing example, one night Wilbert Chapman, always an energetic and capable biologist, was apprehended for murder in Leavenworth, Wash., the center of the Grand Coulee project. There had been a murder in the area and the alert local constabulary noted blood trickling from the trunk of Wib's car. The blood, of course, was salmon blood but Wib had little identification with him and the local police simply could not believe that anyone would be interested in collecting dead salmon. Arnie Suomela, who was in charge of the Grand Coulee project for the Bureau and who just happened to be in Leavenworth at the time, had to convince the local authorities that Wib was really a state employee and the salmon were a necessary part of his work.

The Grand Coulee fish maintenance project continued for 9 years (1939 to 1948) and was the first attempt at massive transplants of salmon runs from their native streams to new, quite distant spawning and rearing areas. There were numerous problems, especially in the early years. The salmon were trapped at Rock Island Dam and hauled by truck to the new "home" streams which appeared to be best suited to the particular species: Nason Creek (Wenatchee River) for spring-run steelhead and chinook salmon, Wenatchee and Entiat rivers for summer-run chinook salmon and fall-run steelhead, and Lakes Wenatchee and Osoyoos for sockeye salmon. Biologists often accompanied trucks and ran chemical analyses for pH, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and methyl orange alkalinity on the water in trucks, rivers, and lakes. As reflected in the counts at Rock Island Dam, salmon that have returned to the area of transplant have generally not only maintained their original levels of abundance but have increased from two-to threefold.