Pacific Coast Steelhead Management Meeting

Pacific Coast Steelhead Management Meeting What Are Managers Required to Provide Their Constituents? March 9-11, 2004 Bob Leland

Steelhead Management • History • Management objectives • Where we are going • Some questions that need addressing • Summary

Washington State Steelhead Management Areas

Boldt Case Area • Tribal co-management • No ESA listing • Little supplementation of wild fish

Southwest Washington • No tribal co-management • Lower Columbia ESU steelhead were listed as “threatened” in March, 1998 • Wild Steelhead Release regulations initiated in 1986 for most of the ESU

Upper Columbia and SnakeUS vs. Oregon • Tribal co-management • ESA Listed as “Threatened” (3/98) and, in the Upper Reaches of the Columbia, “Endangered” (8/97) • Catch and Release (Wenatchee) in 1983 • Wild Steelhead Release for Upper Columbia in 1987, and in 1985 for the Snake River Basin • Section 10 Permit to Manage Excess Artificially Propagated Steelhead to Enhance Natural Origin Populations (10/03)

Management Objectives • Maintain healthy wild runs • Provide hatchery fish for harvest • Allocate harvestable surplus • Provide diversity of opportunity • Federal legal requirements • Co-management with Tribes

Management Objectives • Management by river systems • Estimate runsizes – wild fish focus • Set escapement goals • Monitor fisheries and escapement • Implement in-season management actions

Where We Are Going?

Review and Modify the SHMP • Complete SHMP in 2 yrs, under SEPA • Work with staff, constituents, advisory group and tribes • Escapement goals • Diversity of recreational opportunities • Hatchery production • Develop regional plans for diversity of opportunity and recovery needs

Review and Modify the SHMP • Incorporation of Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) Recommendations • Wild steelhead/salmonid mgt. zones, sanctuaries • Segregated Management Programs (discrete gene-pool that is segregated, genetically & reproductively, from natural spawners) • Use locally-adapted hatchery (early-timed) segregated broodstocks • Manage the hatchery stock to maintain early spawn timing

Review and Modify the SHMP • Incorporation of Segregated Program Recommendations continued: • Smolt release & adult harvest strategies that have minimal impact on wild populations • Mark all released hatchery-origin fish to max. harvest, assess stray rates and assess genetic risk to natural stocks • Release fish in a manner to minimize straying & opportunities for natural spawning • Returning hatchery adults constitute < 5% of natural spawners

Review and Modify the SHMP • Incorporation of Integrated Program Recommendations (maintain genetic characteristics of “wild” fish among hatchery-origin fish) • Good hatchery practices • 10-20% of broodstock is composed of natural-origin spawners • Determine proper size of hatchery programs releases based on goals of stock • < 1/3 of natural origin escapement should be hatchery-origin adults • Control hatchery spawners through harvest, trapping, etc.

Some Questions That Need Addressing • Returning hatchery segregated stock adults constitute < 5% of wild spawners • Determine proper size of hatchery programs releases based on goals of wild stock

Some Questions That Need Addressing • Hoh River – segregated stock • Esc. goal for wild = 2,400; 5 yr avg. = 2, 700 • Early timed smolt release target = 100,000 • Hatchery harvest 5 yr. avg. = 2,800 • @ 70% harvest rate = 4,000 hatchery runsize • 1,200 hatchery fish, potentially spawning with wild • @ 90% harvest rate = 3,100 hatchery runsize • 300 hatchery fish, potentially spawning with wild

Some Questions That Need Addressing • Hoh River - segregated stock continued – • @ Wild esc. goal = 2,400; only 120 hatchery should have potential to spawn with wild • @ 5 yr. avg. wild esc. = 2, 700; only 135 hatchery should have potential to spawn with wild • Too many hatchery fish have the potential to spawn with wild fish • From 180 to 1,080 hatchery fish • Too many early-timed fish!

Some Questions That Need Addressing • Can efficient enough traps be put into streams to remove excess hatchery fish? • Can methodologies be developed to better estimate total hatchery run sizes? • Should early-timed hatchery release numbers be lowered or totally eliminated? • Can both tribal and recreational fisher desires be addressed? • Economic/Social – tribal and recreational • Cultural – full season; November to March/April

Some Questions That Need Addressing • For integrated programs < 1/3 of natural origin escapement should be hatchery-origin adults • Determine proper size of hatchery programs releases based on goals of natural stock

Some Questions That Need Addressing • Hoh River – (numbers from current targets/data) • Esc. goal for wild = 2,400; 5 yr avg. = 2, 700 • Integrated stock smolt release target = 100,000 • Integrated stock harvest 5 yr. Avg. = 2,800 • @ 70% harvest rate = 4,000 integrated stock runsize • 1,200 integrated stock fish, potentially spawning with wild • @ 90% harvest rate = 3,100 integrated stock runsize • 300 integrated stock hatchery fish, potentially spawning with wild

Some Questions That Need Addressing • Hoh River continued – • Wild esc. goal = 2,400; @ < 1/3 up to 800 integrated stock fish could have potential to spawn with wild • 5 yr. avg. wild esc. = 2, 700; < 1/3 up to 900 integrated stock fish could have potential to spawn with wild • At 100,000 smolt release target, number of integrated stock fish that may spawn with wild fish is: • From 300 to 1,200 fish – is with-in/close to HSRG targets • Looks real good on paper!

Some Questions That Need Addressing • Will there be funding for facility improvements/ new facilities to implement properly? • Can efficient/weather resistant traps be put into streams to remove/separate excess hatchery fish? • Can methodologies be developed to better estimate total hatchery returns/run sizes? • Will funds be available to monitor the harvested portion of run? • What actually is harvested; wild/hatchery?

Some Questions That Need Addressing • What is left to spawn? • Hatchery or wild, and in guideline proportions? • We do not currently know? Hatchery fish esc. estimates are mostly mathematical • Can both tribal and recreational fisher desires be addressed? • Economic/Social – tribal and recreational • Cultural – full season; November to March/April • Non-selective gear used by tribal & non-treaty fishers, may have greater impact to wild than hatchery portions of run? Mortality estimates difficult to derive.

Some Questions That Need Addressing • Need to start over on pre-season estimations of tribal and sport impacts • After 25 years, have it nailed down • Within the up to 33% hatchery fish allowed to spawn with wild, what will the impacts be, 20 or greater years from now? How do we avoid a potential genetic monster? • How will the new hatchery/wild interactions be determined under this new set-of-rules? • We’ve learned a lot about early timed hatchery steelhead and their genetic impacts on wild.

Summary • WDFW has a lot of steelhead management history. • Maintaining wild fish is the top priority • Hatchery fish are for harvest • Provide opportunity for tribes and sport fishers • New SHMP will be completed in 2 years • How will HSRG recommendations be incorporated into the new SHMP.

Summary • Will adequate funding be available to monitor and evaluate incorporated HSRG recommendations: • Determine proper size of hatchery program for segregate and integrated programs • Wild fish are protected for the long term • Segregated program impacts • Continued hatchery/wild interactions • Integrated program impacts • Monitor the changing fisheries & escapement composition • Continued hatchery/wild interactions due to grater proportion of spawning hatchery fish (up to 33%) • Will tribal and recreational fishers accept changes in their fisheries, due to HSRG?

Pacific Coast Steelhead Management Meeting