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 Snake US 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)

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

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

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

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.

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

 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 = < 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.

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

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?