Protecting (Klamath &) Columbia ESA Stocks Prompts Lower Ocean Quotas

Sport and commercial salmon fishing opportunities off the Oregon and Washington coasts will limited this summer as compared to recent years with one alternative under consideration that would close all fisheries from the north Oregon coast to Cape Sur just south of San Francisco.

The closure option is intended to avoid fishery impacts on Klamath River fall chinook salmon. A forecast return to the river of only 29,000 naturally spawning Klamath fish is well below the threshold level called for in the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Salmon Fishery Management Plan. The plan calls for the protection of stocks that fall below prescribed conservation levels. The stock, which has both hatchery and natural components, is not listed under the Endangered Species Act.

NOAA Fisheries last week advised that the late spring-summer seasons south of Cape Falcon, near Manzanita, Ore., be closed to chinook and coho salmon fishing. The PFMC on March 10 released a set of fishing options for the period between May 1 and October 31 that included the closure alternative. Two fishing options are also under consideration that would allow fisheries similar or with slightly smaller quotas than last year.

The Council's three options, as well as three options for the area from Cape Falcon north to the Canadian border, are now out for public review. The PFMC, and will make a final decision during its April Council meeting in Sacramento. Those PFMC rules apply from three miles to 200 miles offshore. NOAA Fisheries, with Commerce Department concurrence, makes the final decision when it implements recommendations May 1.

All of the options allow a range of spawning escapement for Klamath fall chinook between 13,800 and 25,400, according to the PFMC. "Escapement" is the number of fish reaching the spawning grounds after the fishing season.

The options for north of Falcon allow from about two-thirds to one-third of last year's quotas.

Those reductions reflect the need to protect Columbia River wild chinook and coho, listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, said Phil Anderson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife special assistant to the director. The options also meet the state's commitment to limit the harvest of coho returning to British Columbia's Thompson River, he said.

"Conservation of wild salmon stocks is paramount," said Anderson. "Restricting salmon fishing along the coast and in the Columbia River is a necessary step toward protecting the long-term health of wild salmon."

Anderson said the options also take into account significantly smaller hatchery chinook returns to Columbia River's Spring Creek and lower river hatcheries -- salmon runs that have traditionally been the backbone of the recreational ocean chinook fishery. WDFW and TAC preseason forecasts are for a Spring Creek return of 50,000 tule fall chinook, down for last year, 93,100 actual return.

The proposed ocean options are lower than last year's recreational fishing quotas, which allowed the harvest of 43,250 chinook salmon and 121,800 coho. This year's proposed ocean recreational fishing options are:

17,500 chinook and 42,000 coho;

25,000 chinook and 67,200 coho; and

32,500 chinook and 92,400 coho.

Most Columbia River salmon stocks migrate north as juveniles and return through the North of Falcon area on their return to the river to spawn.

For the area north of Cape Falcon, the average state-level income impacts for 2001-2005 were $13 million (inflation adjusted) and income impacts associated with the 2005 fishery were $12 million. Some portion of this income is likely to be affected by the need to conserve northern ( Columbia River and Fraser River ) salmon stocks, according to the PFMC.

While additional restrictions will be in place on the coast and in the Columbia River, salmon fisheries for anglers in Puget Sound are still being developed, said Anderson.

"Puget Sound salmon fisheries will reflect WDFW's commitment to protecting wild salmon stocks listed under the federal ESA," Anderson said.

The PFMC recommended that NOAA Fisheries Service take in-season action to suspend the scheduled March 15 through April 30 openings for commercial fisheries in the Fort Bragg area and the Oregon coast from Cape Falcon to the Oregon/California border, and the April 1 through April 30 California recreational fishery from Point Arena to Point Sur. Those moves again are being made to reduce impacts on the Klamath River stock.

The proposed summer closure south of Falcon created an immediate firestorm. A complete closure could mean millions in lost revenues for commercial salmon fisheries, as well as a lack of local wild salmon in stores and restaurants. This comes after a difficult year in which commercial salmon fisheries along the coast were reduced by about half, resulting in significant losses to fisheries and supporting businesses, according to the PFMC.

In response, National Marine Fisheries Service said last week it would work to bring federal disaster relief to salmon fishing businesses.

For the area south of Cape Falcon, the average state-level income impacts for 2001-2005 were $64 million (inflation adjusted) and income impacts associated with the 2005 fishery were $57 million, according to the PFMC. Almost all of this income may be affected by the need to protect Klamath River fall chinook.

For the third year in a row, the number of mature chinook spawning naturally in the Klamath River is expected to fall below 35,000, the conservation objective listed in the Council's plan for salmon. Even without additional ocean fishing, only 29,000 chinook would be expected to return to natural spawning grounds in 2006.

Biologists estimate that there are now 110,000 adult Klamath River fall chinook in the ocean. Prior to last year's season, the estimate was 185,700. The lowest forecast on record was 96,000 fish in 1992.

Although the three years of diminishing Klamath returns could result in NMFS designating the Klamath fall Chinook stock as "overfished," other factors are thought to be primarily responsible for the depressed condition of the stock. The Council has written several letters to federal agencies including the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation pointing out the negative effects to salmon populations below Iron Gate Dam from upstream agricultural water withdrawals and hydroelectric projects.

Among other things, the dams are blamed for raising water temperatures, reducing or eliminating spring floods that rush fish to the sea, and allowing the river to become infested with parasites. In 2002, 70,000 adult Chinook salmon in the lower Klamath River were killed by a combination of environmental factors including low river flows.

For more information, please see:

Salmon management agenda items in the Council's March 2006 Briefing Book:

http://www.pcouncil.org/bb/2006/bb0306.html#salmon

Public hearings on the salmon options will also be held on Monday, March 27 at the Chateau Westport hotel in Westport, Wash., and the Red Lion Hotel in Coos Bay, Ore.; and on Tuesday, March 28 at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa, Calif.

All hearings begin at 7 p.m. For location details, please see the Council website at www.pcouncil.org/events/2006/salproc06.html#hearings