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2002 Pacific Coast Herring Workshop -
Good morning. I'm Dr. Jeff Koenings, and I am pleased to be director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
I'd like to thank all of you for taking time from your busy schedules to attend what I think is a very important and timely workshop, and welcome you to the state of Washington.
I, like Greg, would also like to thank the state of Washington's Department of Ecology for their help in organizing the workshop. They are a key partner in our efforts to achieve sustainable fish populations.
Looking at the agenda, I saw quite an impressive group of individuals that are scheduled to speak over the next several days, individuals from not only the United States but other countries including Canada and Japan.
This gathering of diverse individuals with diverse interests should provide us with a rare opportunity to share our work and ideas about a highly important species of forage fish - the Pacific herring. Herring are not only important in their role as forage, e.g. for T&E salmon, but also because of their value to the economy of Pacific Rim nations. As the multiple roles of individual species become increasingly recognized in our thinking, our management vision needs to expand beyond the traditional simple species view.
As co-manager of the harvest, with the Western Washington treaty tribes, of this state's marine resources, my Department looks forward to participating in the workshop and coming away with new perspectives on how we can become better stewards of the herring resource.
I have to tell you that when several managers from my Department first proposed holding this workshop, they were greeted with raised eyebrows in some quarters.
Why, these skeptics wondered, would the Department want to hold a herring workshop in Bellingham at a time when herring are such a controversial topic just a few miles away from here at Cherry Point?
The answer to that question is fundamental to how we manage the state's resources - let me explain.
Some of you here today know me, and know that I am a scientist by training and profession. Since leaving the Alaska Department of Fish and Game a little over four years ago to become director here, I've tried to bolster the role that science - and scientists - play within the agency. Best available science is the fundamental building block of our resource management decisions. People have demanded that science, not politics, drive our regulatory decisions and I intent to deliver on that expectation.
I've also attempted to not only make our scientific processes transparent and our scientific protocols sound, but to promote dialogue among the scientists.
And that's why it's so appropriate that this conference is here and being conducted now.
Good science has allowed us to move forward on a number of complex resource issues, issues ranging from the recovery of troubled wild salmon stocks here in the waters of western Washington, to the recovery of endangered pygmy rabbits in the deserts of eastern Washington.
We've also made significant progress in delivering our science to the people who need it to do their jobs, whether they be policymakers, technical staff or citizen groups and volunteers instrumental in making sure our science is actually applied on the ground.
My hope, then, is that this workshop creates a collaborative dialogue among scientists that, ultimately, leads to a greater comprehension by all those involved in herring management of what the resource needs to remain viable, healthy and sustainable over time.
If I may, I'd like to specifically mention one group based here in the Bellingham and the northern Puget Sound area that has worked to put marine science to work on the local level. That group is the recently established Northwest Straits Commission and is comprised of seven counties in and around the nearby Straits for Juan de Fuca.
The commission, working with scientists and others from various resource agencies, directs and coordinates the activities of citizen-based Marine Resource Committees. These committees have been instrumental in helping us survey marine habitats and perform other essential tasks.
For example, the Marine Resource Committee from nearby Island County was the first to receive support form the state's Salmon Recovery Board to identify and survey critical forage fish spawning areas. This effort is now expanding to all seven northern counties involved with the Northwest Straits Commission.
I hope commission and committee members have an opportunity to attend our workshop, meet many of you and become familiar with your work.
And that is why it is so appropriate that this conference is here and being conducted now!
As all of you know, here in Washington state we are faced with a variety of challenges to manage the herring resource. Besides the typical fisheries pressures, herring in Puget Sound live in an increasingly changing environment. Hence, protection of spawning habitat is one of the most critical components of our management strategies.
It is also becoming more and more apparent that water quality is another important issue for herring management, especially for the sensitive and extremely vulnerable egg and juvenile stages.
During the past few years, there has been considerable research on the effects of contaminants on herring development. Some of those studies have been done here in the Bellingham area; others in Alaska and California.
I'm pleased we have a number of experts in both these areas participating in this workshop, and I look forward to learning about their findings and how they might help guide my department's management efforts, as well as the efforts of others involved in herring management.
Another major issue facing herring managers is the proper identification of discrete stocks.
Does each individual spawning ground represent an individual stock of herring, much like each river may represent a different stock of salmon? Or is there enough movement between spawning grounds to blur this stock distinction?
These and other related questions are especially relevant here in the Bellingham area with the steep decline in herring using the Cherry Point spawning grounds. Consider that when the first scientific studies of herring were initiated in 1973, the spawning biomass was estimated to be 14,000 tons. Since that time, the population has been in decline, reaching a low of slightly over 800 tons in 2000 - a 94 percent decline–hardly the statistics of a sustainable population.
As I have alluded to, successful herring management in Washington state requires the cooperation and involvement of a number of entities. From local groups of the NWSC to state and tribal fishery managers to international scientists–all contribute to the science that drives our management.
Sustainable population management requires further collaboration with other agencies that have separate authorities and complimentary roles to our own. For example, the Washington Department of Ecology is responsible for monitoring water quality and regulating discharges, while the Washington Department of Natural resources is charged with the management of publicly-owned aquatic lands.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers regulates construction in the marine environment.
And various counties and cities, through their zoning and other local laws and ordinances, are involved in a multitude of land use decisions every day that have the potential to directly or indirectly impact herring habitat and, hence, herring management decisions.
All of these entities, of course, are seeking the best possible scientific information to help guide them in their policy making decisions. And that, of course, is where all of you come in and why your work is so important.
And that's why it is so appropriate that this conference is here and being conducted now!
I'm thrilled that so many scientists have come together here in Washington where herring are such an integral part of our marine ecosystem. I hope you all enjoy your time here, and that the dialogue that ensues is spirited.
My hope is that you'll even raise a few eyebrows along the way.
Again, thanks for coming.
Introductory remarks prepared by Jeffrey Koenings, Ph.D., WDFW Director
June 11, 2002
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