Coastal Conservation Association (CCA)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 18, 2009
CONTACT: Bryan Irwin, 877-255-8772

Harvest Management Reforms Essential to Columbia River Salmon Recovery Efforts
Final spring Chinook count is half of pre-season forecast, but CCA-supported conservation buffer prevents overharvest of endangered stocks

Vancouver, WA – For the second year in a row, the heralded Columbia River spring Chinook season went from banner to bummer. In spite of predictions that the 2009 season would be the Columbia’s best run since 2002 at 298,000 returning adults, final counts -- as measured at Bonneville dam through June 15^th-- indicate that 147,489 actually passed upriver.

Fisheries managers on both sides of the Columbia are frustrated by the unpredictability of the runs, which have put the prediction of returning salmon in the same league as Wall Street hedge fund managers – off the mark and out of luck. Many of these spring Chinook are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), and require careful management to prevent overharvest and to meet salmon recovery objectives.

In 2008, with fish managers anticipating a much larger run than actually retuned, the non-treaty fishery below Bonneville was allowed to harvest 6,000 more salmon than permitted under ESA impact limits. This harmed wild salmon populations and reduced fishing opportunities for upriver tribal and non-tribal fisheries. This disparity between the pre-season forecast and actual returns led CCA to call for harvest management reforms to prevent a similar result prior to this year’s spring Chinook season.

With CCA’s support, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission demanded a buffer and fishery conservation reforms during joint Oregon-Washington Columbia River Fish Working Group (CRFWG) meetings. The Oregon Commission ultimately supported the buffer, which held back a portion of the allowable harvest impacts until actual returns could be confirmed. Unfortunately, Oregon voted not to support efforts to shift to selective harvest methods that target healthy hatchery stocks while reducing harvest impacts to ESA-listed wild salmon.

“This year, the lower Columbia, non-tribal spring Chinook fisheries will barely avoid exceeding their allotted ESA impacts, underscoring the importance of putting conservation over allocation and exploitation,” explained Bryan Irwin, Executive Director of Coastal Conservation Association in the Pacific Northwest. “Having a conservation buffer prevented these fisheries from exceeding their ESA impact limit.”

“Conservation buffers and selective fishing reforms are critical to reducing impacts on wild salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act,” continued Irwin. “While most of the debate around this year’s spring Chinook fishery focused on allocation between sport and commercial interests, CCA chose to advocate for a conservation buffer to protect endangered salmon and prevent overharvest by all user groups.”

CCA is calling for both state agencies to re-evaluate their forecasting methods. CCA is also asking that the Oregon Commission return to the CRFWG discussions with a renewed commitment to conservation, hatchery and selective harvest reforms, essential elements to the recovery of Columbia River salmon runs.

“If fisheries managers take action to reduce mortality to endangered salmon runs through selective harvest methods, the recreational and commercial fishing interests would see increased harvests of abundant hatchery stocks,” concluded Irwin. “Currently, when ESA impact limits are reached on listed fish, the entire commercial and recreational fishery is shut down, which results in the annual waste of many thousands of hatchery-produced fish.”

About CCA
Coastal Conservation Association is a non-profit organization comprised of 200 chapters in 17 coastal states spanning the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In 2007, CCA expanded into the Pacific Northwest and the organization has quickly grown to more than 9,000 members and continues to launch chapters in both Oregon and Washington. As the largest marine conservation organization in the country, CCA’s strength is drawn from its 100,000 members. Across the country, CCA’s grassroots influence is felt through state capitals, U.S. Congress and, most importantly, in the conservation and restoration of our marine resources. For more information, please visit www.ccapnw.org.

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