Feds Put Oregon Coho Back On ESA List

Northwest Fishletter

February 7, 2008

NOAA Fisheries announced Feb. 4 that it was once again listing Oregon coastal coho for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency decided in 1997 that listing wasn't necessary because Oregon had developed a plan to recover the stock, but a federal judge said the fish agency was wrong because many of the state's measures were voluntary. So in August 1998, the stock was listed as "threatened."

Then in Sept. 2001, federal judge Michael Hogan ruled that NOAA Fisheries couldn't separate the ESU into wild and hatchery components, yet list the wild ones for protection. That effectively de-listed the stock.

The state began writing a new recovery plan that said the coastal coho populations were down, but still viable at lower levels than before. NMFS agreed and pulled its listing proposal in Jan. 2006.

But conservation group Trout Unlimited took the feds to court over the decision. Last July, another federal magistrate ruled that the Oregon assessment was not the best, available science, and in October, another judge threw out NMFS' decision not to list the ESU. This week, the federal fish agency officially listed the fish.

Regional NOAA Fisheries administrator Bob Lohn said a limited time frame ordered by the court didn't give his agency a chance to consider new information about the habitat and the benefits the fish are getting out of the state's plan. "Had it not been for these limitations," Lohn said, "we may have reached a different conclusion. I continue to believe that there is great value in the Oregon plan. It boosts salmon recovery through funding, protective regulations and--most of all--through the voluntary restoration efforts being undertaken by thousands of Oregon 's landowners. I think the plan is making an important difference."

The new listing means the feds are designating critical habitat and prohibiting certain activities that harm fish. It also may impact coastal timber harvests, which is one of the big reasons environmental groups have fought hard to keep the fish listed. But the feds say effects on landowners will be minor.

But other new information on the coho is not so upbeat. It has been reported that wild coastal coho returns were extremely poor in 2007.

By 2000, Oregon wild coastal coho spawners had climbed to more than 230,000 from only 30,000 in 1997, after the runs had been hammered by a combination of over-harvesting and poor ocean conditions. For five of the past six years, spawning numbers have been more than 100,000, higher than any year since 1971.

But in 2007, coastal coho returns plummeted to around 60,000 fish, which took managers by surprise. Their preseason estimate was 426 percent higher than the actual return.

NOAA Fisheries scientist Pete Lawson told NW Fishletter that the poor wild coho returns have everybody "scratching their heads" since ocean conditions had been pretty good during the stock's tenure in the ocean, and that the high pre-season prediction was based on those good conditions. "Obviously, something has decoupled," Lawson said.

There was an odd decline in coastal upwelling in the spring of 2006, after it started off with a bang in April. However, winds changed, and upwelling stopped altogether in May, but perked up again later in the summer.

The phenomenon likely led to the formation of a large "dead zone" off the Oregon coast that year, where dying plankton sank to the bottom and rotted, leading to a large region of oxygen-depleted water. But scientists saw most adverse effects on deep water species like crab and bottomfish.

It's still a matter of speculation what got the coho, Lawson said. He said others have guessed it could even be some new predator, possibly Humboldt squid that have moved north from southern California when Northwest waters warm. These squid are voracious eaters, live about a year and can weigh a hundred pounds. However, there has been no direct evidence collected that shows these squid prey on young salmon.

The following links were mentioned in this story:

Alsea Response Oregon Coast Coho, Feb. 4, 2008

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