Ecotype Distinctions among Steelhead in Hood River, Oregon, Allow Real-Time Genetic Assignment of Conservation Broodstocks

Efforts to rehabilitate threatened summer-run (SR) and winter-run (WR) populations of steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss in the Hood River, Oregon, include operation of two conservation hatchery programs. Annual collection of discrete broodstocks relies on identification of SR and WR fish based on return time, reproductive state, and other physical and behavioral characteristics. An increased likelihood of misidentification occurs in the spring, when SR and WR return times overlap. The resulting interbreeding between ecotypes in the hatchery imposes serious genetic risks to wild SR and WR steelhead populations. We characterized life history differences between Hood River SR and WR steelhead and evaluated genetic structure using a suite of microsatellite loci. Significant differences in life history, including age at return and fork length, were corroborated by spatially influenced genetic structure among SR and WR fish; SR fish spawn in the west fork of the Hood River, while WR fish spawn in the east and middle forks. Temporal and spatial distinctions persist among Hood River steelhead ecotypes despite past operation of segregated hatchery programs utilizing out-of-basin stocks. We evaluated the feasibility of using real-time genetic assignment tests to differentiate SR from WR among candidate broodstock fish captured downstream of spawning grounds. Among adult steelhead of known origin, we observed 91.5% assignment accuracy for WR fish and 77.7% accuracy for SR fish. A rapid-response protocol was subsequently developed that provides hatchery managers with genetic assignment of broodstock to ecotypes within 24 h after interrogation of returning fish.