Differential relative catchability of wild- and hatchery-origin steelhead in the Deschutes River, Oregon

Abstract Objective We assessed the relative proportions of wild- and hatchery-origin summer steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss caught by sport anglers in the Deschutes River, Oregon. Our objective was to evaluate if steelhead of wild or hatchery origin were equally or disproportionately captured by sport anglers relative to the overall run composition. Methods We conducted access-based angler creel surveys of the Deschutes River steelhead fishery during 2000–2019 and 2021 to observe reported catch of wild and hatchery steelhead. We collated fishery-independent hatchery-wild composition data from three locations (two dams and one fish trap) bounding the fishery area we creel sampled. We then used a series of mixed-effect logistic regression models fit to compare angler catch of wild- and hatchery-origin steelhead relative to their composition at the fishery-independent sampling locations. Result The best-fit model suggests that anglers were more than twice as likely to observe a wild steelhead in their catch as compared with the chance of the fishery-dependent sampling sites to observe a wild steelhead. Across all years, wild steelhead were 27–31% of the stock composition at the fishery-independent sampling sites yet averaged 65% of angler catch. Conclusion Disproportionately high encounter rates of wild-origin summer steelhead suggest that any adverse impacts associated with catch-and-release fishing may be magnified by this effect. We explore some potential mechanisms that could account for this difference and hypothesize that a difference in catchability between wild and hatchery steelhead is the most likely mechanism driving the observed patterns. Regardless of the mechanism, annual catch of wild steelhead is proportionally greater than expectations, given wild steelhead run size compared with that of hatchery steelhead.