Movements of Bull Trout Relocated Upstream of Albeni Falls Dam, ID

Dams built without a means of fish passage such as Albeni Falls Dam (AFD), Pend Oreille River, ID, block fish migration to their natal tributary. Blockage of historical migration routes used by bull trout Salvelinus confluentus was a contributing factor to declines in their population. The objectives of this study were to provide bull trout passage around AFD, predict natal tributaries from genetic samples, and track the movements of the tagged fish to determine if the tributary entered during the spawning period matched the predicted natal tributary. To determine the most probable natal tributary of each bull trout, a genetic sample from each fish was compared a database including 37 known bull trout populations upstream of AFD.  Since 2004, twenty-one bull trout with surgically implanted telemetry tags have been relocated upstream of AFD. Sixteen returned to Lake Pend Oreille, one entered the Priest River, one remained in the Pend Oreille River, and three entrained at AFD. Nine fish entered tributaries, five in primary predicted, two in secondary predicted, and two in unpredicted. Providing passage upstream of AFD reduces losses to populations and protects genetic integrity of bull trout in the Pend Oreille Basin.