title: Comparing the survival rate of juvenile Chinook salmon migrating through hydropower systems using injectable and surgical acoustic transmitters.
abstract: Acoustic telemetry is one of the primary technologies for studying the behavior and survival of fishes throughout the world. The size and performance of the transmitter are key limiting factors. The newly developed injectable transmitter is the first acoustic transmitter that can be implanted via injection instead of surgery. A two-part field study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the injectable transmitter and its effect on the survival of implanted fish. The injectable transmitter performed well and similarly to the proceeding generation of commercially-available JSATS transmitters tested concurrently. Snake River subyearling Chinook salmon smolts implanted with the injectable transmitter had a higher survival probability from release to each of eleven downstream detection arrays, because reach-specific survival estimates were significantly higher for the injectable group in three of the eleven reaches examined. Overall, the injectable group had a 0.263 (SE = 0.017) survival probability over the entire 500 km study area compared to 0.199 (0.012) for the surgically implanted group. The reduction in size and ability to implant the new transmitter via injection has reduced the tag or tagging effect bias associated with studying small fishes. The information gathered with this new technology is helping to evaluate the impacts of dams on fishes.
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: Z D
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Harnish
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Woodley
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: McMichael
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99332, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Weiland
authors.affiliation: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 333 SW First Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, USA.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Eppard
authors.affiliation: School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 1820, Seattle, WA 98101, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Skalski
authors.affiliation: School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 1820, Seattle, WA 98101, USA.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Townsend
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D045483:Rivers; D012474:Salmon / Q000502:physiology*; D013686:Telemetry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*