Oregon Chub

Oregon chub Oregonichthys crameri are endemic to the Willamette Valley of western Oregon. This species was formerly distributed throughout the Willamette Valley in off-channel habitats such as beaver ponds, oxbows, stable backwater sloughs, and flooded marshes. These habitats usually have little or no water flow, silty and organic substrate, and considerable aquatic vegetation and cover for hiding and spawning. In the last 100 years, these habitats have disappeared because of changes in seasonal flows resulting from the construction of dams throughout the basin, channelization, revetments, diking, drainage of wetlands, and agricultural practices. This loss of habitat combined with the introduction of non-native species to the Willamette Valley such as largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and western mosquitofish has resulted in a sharp decline in Oregon chub abundance. The reduction of suitable habitat and the restricted distribution of the Oregon chub resulted in a determination of "endangered" status under the federal endangered species act in 1993.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted surveys throughout the Willamette River Valley in 1991-Present. The surveys provided information on the distribution and abundance of Oregon chub, life history characters, the distribution of native and non-native species, the characteristics of historic Oregon chub habitats, the characteristics of potential reintroduction sites, and the status of Oregon chub reintroductions.

Historically, Oregon chub were found throughout the Willamette River drainage from Oregon City to Oakridge. The historical records note collections from the Clackamas River, Molalla River, Mill Creek, Luckiamute River, North Santiam River, South Santiam River, Calapooia River, Long Tom River, Muddy Creek, McKenzie River, Coast Fork Willamette River, Middle Fork Willamette River drainages, and the mainstem Willamette River. Current distribution includes populations in the Santiam River, Mary's River, Long Tom River, Muddy Creek, McKenzie River, Coast Fork Willamette River, and the Middle Fork Willamette River drainages. Most populations are located in the Middle Fork Willamette River drainage.

The Oregon Chub Recovery Plan sets recovery goals for downlisting the species to “threatened” and for delisting the species. The criteria for downlisting the species to “threatened” is to establish and manage 10 populations of at least 500 adult fish. All populations must exhibit a stable or increasing trend for 5 years and at least three populations must be located in each of the three recovery areas: Middle Fork Willamette River, Santiam River, and Mid-Willamette River tributaries.

Map Source: USDA, Willamette National Forest, 1997. "A Rare Species... Oregon Chub".

Annual Reports and Publications:

Bangs, B. L., P. Scheerer, S. Tippery, M. Weeber, and S. Jacobs. 2008. 2008 Oregon Chub Investigations. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Fish Research Project EF-08, Annual Progress Report, Salem.

Scheerer, P. D.  2007.  Improved Status of the Endangered Oregon Chub in the Willamette River, Oregon.  In: Status, distribution and conservation of native freshwater fishes of Western North America: a symposium proceedings.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society Symposium 53:91-102.

Scheerer, P. D., M. Terwilliger, and S. E. Jacobs.  2007.  Willamette Valley Projects- Lookout Point- Oregon Chub (2007), Fish Research Project FW2007-01, Annual Progress Report, Corvallis.

Scheerer, P. D., P.S. Kavanagh, B. Bangs, and S. E. Jacobs.  2007.  2007 Oregon Chub Investigations. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fish Research Project EF-07, Annual Progress Report, Salem.

Scheerer, P. D.  2007.  Threatened fishes of the world: Oregonichthys crameri (Snyder, 1908) (Cyprinidae).  Environmental Biology of Fishes 80:493-494.

Scheerer, P.D., M. Terwilliger, and S. E. Jacobs. 2006. Willamette Valley Projects- Lookout Point- Oregon Chub (2006), Fish Research Project FW2006-02, Annual Progress Report, Corvallis.

Scheerer, P. D., P. S. Kavanagh, B. L. Bangs, and S. E. Jacobs. 2006. 2006 OPRD- Oregon Chub Population Monitoring on Oregon State Parks Lands in the Willamette Valley. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Contract OPRD #06-161, Annual Progress Report, Salem.

Scheerer, P. D., P. S. Kavanagh, B. L. Bangs, and S. E. Jacobs. 2006. 2006 Oregon Chub Investigations. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fish Research Project EF-06, Annual Progress Report, Salem.