CONTACT: Hal Alabaster FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(206) 526-6046 9/23/94
Brian Gorman
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said today it will not list mid-Columbia River summer chinook salmon as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
However, mid-Columbia chinook should benefit from actions taken to protect listed Snake River salmon in the same area, through increased water flows and ocean harvest restrictions.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service has concluded that the fish is part of a larger group that includes all late-run (summer and fall) Columbia River chinook from the main stem Columbia River, which is not currently listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The fisheries service was asked last year by environmental groups to list the mid-Columbia River summer chinook salmon and to designate critical habitat for the fish under the Endangered Species Act.
Will Stelle, director of the fisheries service's Northwest regional office in Seattle, cautioned, however, that the late-run chinook stocks are far from robust.
"Even though the mid-Columbia late-run is not at significant risk of extinction or endangerment, the run sizes are not as strong as they were in the mid 1970's," Stelle said. "This may indicate problems with habitat, dam passage, harvest rates or hatchery practices."
He added that the fisheries service will continue to work with the Tribes, state managers and other federal agencies to protect all stocks in the region.
The fisheries service has previously listed Snake River spring/summer chinook, Snake River fall chinook, Snake River sockeye and Sacramento River winter-run chinook. The agency recently proposed listing cutthroat trout from the Umpqua River in southern Oregon as endangered.
Earlier this year, the fisheries service reclassified two populations of Snake River chinook from threatened to the more fragile endangered.
Last week the fisheries service announced it was beginning the most far- reaching study of fish stocks ever undertaken by a federal agency with comprehensive status reviews of populations of pink, chum, sockeye and chinook salmon and sea-run cutthroat trout in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California.
There has been growing concern recently about Pacific Coast salmon and sea-going trout, whose numbers have been dwindling over the past century -- the result of a wide variety of human-caused factors and, more recently, a many- year drought and the effects of El Niño ocean conditions in the region.
The Endangered Species Act, a federal law passed in 1973 to conserve various species of fish, wildlife and plants facing extinction, defines species to include subspecies and distinct populations. If a stock of fish qualifies as a distinct population, it may be listed, even if the species is abundant elsewhere.
When a salmon species is listed under the Endangered Species Act, other federal agencies have to consult with the fisheries service to ensure their actions will neither jeopardize the species' continued existence nor destroy or adversely modify its habitat.