15 February
2001
Media Contact:
Charles Hudson, Public
Information (503) 731-1257
WDFW
Bill Tweit (360) 902-2723 or Virginia Painter (360) 902-2256
ODFW
Guy Norman (503) 872-5252 or Anne Pressentin Young (503 872-5264
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Tribes, states reach multi-year
salmon protection and rebuilding accord for Columbia, Snake rivers
Portland, Oregon
- The Columbia River
Treaty tribes and the states of Washington and Oregon have reached
agreement on an unprecedented multi-year plan that establishes conservation
goals for weak wild salmon stocks on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
The agreement, reached after months of negotiations, is expected to
provide the cornerstone for a new, comprehensive Columbia River fisheries
management plan expected to be completed by December, 2003.
Leaders from the Yakama, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Warm Springs tribes
and the governors of four western states, including Gary Locke of
Washington and John Kitzhaber of Oregon, have called completion of
that plan pivotal if Columbia River wild salmon recovery goals are
to be met. A major objective is to begin the work necessary to achieve
rebuilding fish runs on the Columbia to 5 million fish within 25 years.
"This agreement has both logic and vision but, importantly, it provides
the resource and fishers some level of certainty, something they haven't
had much of in recent years," said Randy Settler, Yakama Nation Fish
and Wildlife Committee Chair. "If the forecast holds up, this will
be a year of celebration, but not without concern for the crisis we're
facing on the energy and water issues."
"The agreement reached this week is a milestone in that it marks the
first time we have had a coastwide, conservation-based approach to
wild salmon management," said Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Director Jeff Koenings. "This approach is a fundamental building block
in our diverse efforts to rebuild weak wild stocks. "We're truly entering
a new era in salmon management on the Columbia River."
"The conservation agreement comes at a critical time," Koenings said.
"The drought conditions we now face will create many difficult challenges
in the months ahead, not only for fisheries managers, but for hydropower
producers, farmers, business owners and many others. This agreement
protects fish, and now with that framework in place, allows us to
focus more clearly on these challenges and the need to balance diverse
needs of water users."
The multi-year plan focuses on rebuilding Snake River spring and summer
chinook, Upper Columbia spring chinook and Snake River sockeye. Under
the plan, harvest rates will be adjusted based on the number of wild
fish projected to return in a given year.
Tribal and state fisheries managers said that the agreement will provide
stability in both harvest and hatchery production arenas and will
allow managers to focus more of their efforts and time on addressing
the difficult hydro power and habitat issues that are impeding salmon
recovery, issues that are expected to be particularly challenging
this year because of drought conditions.
"The tribes are appreciative of Governors Locke and Kitzhaber and
their staffs for their diligence and commitment to get this agreement
done," said Rapheal Bill of the Umatilla Tribe and vice chairman of
the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
"The fishery managers should be commended for their diplomacy, flexibility
and sensitivity to changes in abundance. The resource is better for
it," said Olney Patt, Jr., CRITFC chairman. "Management of the other
Hs would do well to follow this lead."
Jerry McCormack, representing the Nez Perce Tribe in the negotiations,
summed up the spirit of the agreement. "We've taken a major step in
a positive direction in the salmon restoration effort. The key elements
to success are all here."
The accord also provides:
- A sliding scale of harvest, restricting harvest as necessary
to protect listed stocks, while providing opportunities for fisheries
to access harvestable spring chinook.
- Establishes levels of incidental impacts on wild stocks, while
fishing for steelhead, sturgeon and shad in select area fisheries.
- Agreement on a variety of hatchery issues.
The plan will allow tribal, commercial and sport fishers to fish on
an unprecedented return of 364,000 spring chinook this spring while
allowing the majority of wild spring chinook to pass through fisheries.
Hatchery fish will provide the bulk of the catch and are the focus
of these fisheries. Biologists expect nearly 300,000 of the returning
fish be adult fish that were released from hatcheries two and three
years ago.
"We should be mindful that this extraordinary spring chinook return
is a gift from nature and will occur on a more consistent basis only
if appropriate actions are taken to recover these wild fish," said
Ed Bowles, Fish Division director for the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife. "This fisheries plan fits into a recovery plan very
well but needs assistance from other factors affecting salmon survival
in order to be part of a successful recovery effort," he added.
The plan, which the federal government will endorse as consistent
with the conservation requirements of the endangered Species Act (ESA),
sets harvest rates depending on the annual abundance of wild chinook
salmon from the Snake and Upper Columbia Basin.
Scientists compared the abundance-based harvest plan with the National
Marine Fisheries Service's previous ESA fisheries management plan,
where the fishery impact on wild Snake River chinook was fixed at
9 percent. They concluded that the impact reduction when wild fish
runs are low in the new plan makes it at least as conservative for
fish recovery as the previous plan, yet provides more opportunity
to harvest hatchery fish in years of major abundance.
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About CRITFC
The Portland-based Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is
the technical support and coordinating agency for fishery management
policies of the Columbia River Basin's four treaty tribes: the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
CRITFC, formed in 1977, employs biologists, other scientists, public
information specialists, policy analysts and administrators who work
in fisheries research and analyses, advocacy, planning and coordination,
harvest control and law enforcement. |
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