Reproductive Success of Reconditioned Kelt Steelhead in the Yakima River Basin

Reconditioning of kelt (post-spawned) steelhead may be an effective strategy to mitigate for high mortality inflicted on this ESA listed species by the hydrosystem. We evaluated the effectiveness of this strategy by testing whether reconditioned kelts provide a demographic boost to the natural population in the Yakima River Basin. Specifically we compared relative reproductive success of reconditioned kelts to that of anadromous adult steelhead captured as either upstream migrants at Prosser Dam or downstream post spawn fish captured at the Chandler Juvenile Monitoring Facility. Successful reproduction by the reconditioned kelts has been confirmed and appears sufficient to provide a demographic boost for this species and to retain genetic diversity and its iteroparous (i.e. repeat spawning) life history.