Download the complete 1992 Salmon and Steelhead Stock Inventory (SASSI) "Bluebook" (Appendices not included) PDF Format [435K] The technical staffs of the following tribes and tribal organizations contributed to the preparation of this report: Hoh Tribe Jamestown Klallam Tribe Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Lummi Tribe Makah Tribe Muckleshoot Tribe Nisqually Tribe Nooksack Tribe Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Point No Point Treaty Council Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe Puyallup Tribe Quileute Tribe Quinault Tribe Sauk Suiattle Tribe Skagit System Cooperative Skokomish Tribe Squaxin Island Tribe Stillaguamish Tribe Suquamish Tribe Swinomish Tribe Tulalip Tribes Upper Skagit Tribe This report represents the dedicated efforts of numerous staff within the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, Washington Departments of Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Western Washington Treaty Indian Tribes who contributed as authors. While the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and Columbia River Treaty Tribes did not participate as authors, we are indebted for their review and contribution of ideas. Many other state and tribal biologists also invested considerable time in review, comment and ultimate improvement of the overall work products. We appreciate their efforts, most of which required unusual personal dedication of time and energy. We extend special thanks to the assistance provided to the contributors by Dana Anderson, Mary Braxmeyer, Larry Brown, Pat Michael, Darrel Pruett, and Shandi Schwegler in helping create the components and final products of this inventory. Finally, the work reflected in this report was partly funded by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Agreement No. NA17FA0241 with the Washington Department of Fisheries, and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Sport Fish Restoration Project No. F-109-R with the Washington Department of Wildlife. The views reflected herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USFWS, or NOAA and any of its subagencies.

INTRODUCTION This report documents the results of an initial stock status inventory that is the first step in a statewide effort to maintain and restore wild(1) salmon and steelhead stocks and fisheries. The inventory's intent is to help identify currently available information and to guide future restoration planning and implementation. While overall objectives and future steps of the restoration initiative are briefly described, the report primarily focuses on current condition of Washington's naturally reproducing anadromous salmonid populations and not on the adequacy of current resource management objectives. Assessment of management objectives and strategies will be one of many subsequent steps aimed at improving the status of wild salmon and steelhead resources in Washington. BACKGROUND A majority of salmon and nearly all wild steelhead runs in Washington are primarily managed to achieve natural spawning escapement goals. Numerically, many stocks are relatively healthy, and naturally reproducing populations still account for over half the total salmon and steelhead production originating from Washington's watersheds. However, many wild stocks are significantly depleted and most runs experience periodic problems. Annual and long-term resource management planning efforts are commonly undertaken to assess status of stocks and fisheries. Specific harvest, culture, and habitat measures have been recommended and/or implemented in many areas to maintain or improve the status of wild stocks (PFMC 1992). Despite the relatively healthy condition of many wild salmon and steelhead stocks, significant challenges face these resources in the Pacific Northwest. Factors such as habitat degradation, some poorly designed hatchery programs, and overfishing have contributed to the decline of many wild stocks to below historical levels (Nehlsen et al. 1991; PFMC 1992; WDF 1992). Recent petitions and/or listings have occurred under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for anadromous salmonids in the Sacramento, Columbia, and Rogue River basins. Society's impacts have caused past and continuing loss of stocks, as well as diminished abundance, habitat, and genetic diversity. Major land use activities impacting wild salmonid habitat and survival (e.g. urban and industrial growth, forest practices, agricultural practices, municipal, industrial and agricultural diversions, and hydropower) have reduced Washington's salmon and steelhead production over the years and continue to do so at an escalating rate (WDF 1992). Resource management policies linked to production and harvest of hatchery fish also impact the status of many wild stocks. For example, of the 101 total salmon stocks or stock groupings in Washington that have defined and actively managed escapement goals (i.e. primary management units), about one-third are harvested at overall rates determined by hatchery escapement requirements, which may contribute to the depletion of commingled wild stocks. Hatchery programs have generated much public debate, ranging from views that fish culture represents the future of salmon and steelhead in the region, to beliefs that hatcheries are the primary reason that many wild stocks have become depleted. In at least some cases, the impacts of certain hatchery practices on wild stocks have been well-documented as related to factors such as straying, competition and predation. In the future, improved and better coordinated management of habitat protection, harvest management and hatchery production programs will be the key for designing comprehensive strategies to restore wild stocks and the region's fisheries. Evaluation and public support of these strategies will be essential to ensure success. WILD STOCK RESTORATION INITIATIVE Wild fish resources and their habitats must be protected and restored in order to maintain viable and healthy fisheries, and to provide for associated ecological, cultural, and aesthetic values. To accomplish this, state and tribal fishery managers have committed additional priority toward a Wild Stock Restoration Initiative (WSRI) that would complement and strengthen ongoing programs to protect healthy stocks and habitats. The managers' overall goal is to: Maintain and restore healthy wild salmon and steelhead stocks and their habitats in order to support the region's fisheries, economies, and other societal values. The WSRI has several objectives: complete and maintain a resource status inventory of Washington's wild salmon and steelhead stocks(2) ("where are we now") identify stocks and determine their status review and prioritize stock status problems identify priority information needs review current resource management goals and objectives for hatchery and wild stocks and the region's fisheries ("where do we want to go") develop and implement recovery programs for priority stocks and habitats ("how do we get there") maintain adequate monitoring and evaluation programs ("how well did we do and do we need to modify our approach") Productive aquatic ecosystems are essential for healthy salmon and steelhead populations that provide an important foundation for a strong Northwest economy as well as for a diverse cultural and natural heritage. Managing for stock health and related human benefits requires maintaining adequate resource abundance, productive habitat, and genetically diverse wild stocks. The Washington Departments of Fisheries and Wildlife (WDF and WDW) and Western Washington Treaty Indian tribes have jointly challenged themselves to create opportunities for a positive future that will feature productive aquatic habitats, healthy wild stocks, and adequate levels of fishing. Clearly, strong public support for solving complex problems will be necessary to realize this vision. The WSRI will provide additional focus and resources for the State's and tribes' current fishery resource management mandates. The initiative is intended to produce comprehensive management approaches to restore depleted salmon and steelhead stocks and avoid intensely disruptive and divisive reactions that can result from ESA petitions. RESOURCE STATUS INVENTORY This report is the first summary of a Salmon and Steelhead Stock Inventory (SASSI) of naturally reproducing fish in Washington State - the first step in the statewide Wild Stock Restoration Initiative. SASSI provides an approach for developing a list of salmon and steelhead stocks and a process for rating their current status. Stock lists, classifications and ratings will be updated as additional information becomes available. The concept of resource inventories is not new - fishery management agencies spend considerable staff time collecting and assessing resource status data, e.g. spawning escapements, harvests and biological parameters. This information is routinely used for decision-making but often is not well documented or visible outside the "management process." As a result, an objective of SASSI has been to develop a simple and consistent system of collating and reporting statewide salmon and steelhead resource assessment information, recognizing the inventory will change over time. For the Columbia basin, this initial inventory incorporated information already available from the subbasin plans and recently summarized as part of the Coordinated Information System project. In the Coastal and Puget Sound regions, state and tribal biologists collated data from a number of sources within the management entities. Future updates of SASSI and associated reports will evolve as necessary to accommodate new information and be integrated with developing regional resource information systems. The planned growth and refinement for SASSI is an important point. This initial report, and related data collation, was developed in a short time period - about nine months. Given the large number of stocks in the inventory, the amount of detailed data and depth of analysis has been strictly limited by the schedule. This report is meant to provide a first glimpse of current stock status and build a foundation for future restoration and inventory efforts. In addition to highlighting the inventory's intent, it is important to note that SASSI is not: a compendium of all that is known about each salmon and steelhead stock a historical review of past losses of stocks or habitats a detailed review of harvest management a habitat or hatchery stock inventory a detailed review of the impacts of salmonid culture programs on the status of native stocks a risk assessment of future threats of extinction or other stock damage a report outlining specific stock restoration programs Clearly these and other steps will be necessary and are anticipated to follow the inventory, but this first SASSI report simply is intended to build a foundation for the WSRI. The subsequent steps and the process envisioned for the overall initiative are presented in Part 3 -- Current and Future Actions. It should be noted that the status information in this first report largely relates to numerical abundance rather than interpretation of genetic fitness. This initial orientation is not intended to discount the importance of any stock's genetic status but reflects a subsequent need to perform genetic risk assessments throughout the state in a systematic manner. Many genetic impacts to the region's wild stocks have occurred over time from cumulative impacts of habitat degradation, harvest policies and hatchery practices. Most stock abundance problems identified in the 1992 inventory have related genetic concerns that will be carefully evaluated during the restoration development phase. State and tribal biologists involved in the inventory also have been alert to identify current or new genetic impact issues that may require priority attention. Stock origin (native, non-native and mixed) has been presented for each stock and discussions about potential genetic influences have been included in the regional appendices. Report Content and Organization The 1992 SASSI report is organized so that the reader proceeds from general discussions to more detailed information used in the process of identifying individual stocks and determining their status. This report highlights the general background of the inventory effort and provides a summary of stock status for the reader who may not desire to review the stock status detail found in three regional appendices. The report is comprised of the following sections: Part 1 -- Stock Definition and Identification: This section defines the term stock as used in this inventory and compares it with other stock definitions that are commonly used. The process of applying the SASSI stock definition to the region's spawning populations to create an inventory stock list is also described. Part 2 -- Stock Status: This section discusses the two-step process that was used to identify those salmon and steelhead stocks (spawning populations) that are at low abundance levels. A set of screening criteria, based on population trends or changes in fitness, were developed to assess the current status of each stock. Individual stocks were then rated using five stock status categories developed specifically for the SASSI process. Part 3 -- Current and Future Actions: This section describes the process envisioned for applying the inventory results to the objective of restoring priority stocks and addressing key information needs. This is followed by a description of the annual review process that will allow for future modifications of SASSI, making SASSI a living inventory of salmon and steelhead stocks. The steps and process for developing cooperative state/tribal restoration plans for regions, watersheds or specific stocks are outlined. A brief discussion of current stock rehabilitation programs is also included. The Sources of Information section presents a list of publications cited in SASSI plus a list of general reference documents. The Glossary provides definitions of terms developed specifically for SASSI and also defines a number of general terms used in the text. The Supplemental Stock Information section presents annotated stock lists with descriptions of escapement levels, spawning distribution, and the stock definition criteria for each stock. Additional tables are presented by species that document stock origin, production type and status for each stock. Regional Appendices Three supplemental appendix volumes provide specific information on each stock currently listed in SASSI for the Columbia River, Coastal, and Puget Sound regions. These appendices are organized by basins with an overview description for each species, followed by individual Stock Reports. Each Stock Report includes a: Narrative: This section discusses stock definition, origin, and status information. It also provide a brief discussion of habitat, harvest, hatchery and other factors that may be affecting production for stocks whose status is rated depressed or critical, or in some cases unknown. Stock profile: This is a visually oriented, two-page section that contains information used to identify individual stocks and rate their status. The amount of information included in the stock profile reflects the availability of data and state of analysis for any given stock. The term wild stock as used in this report refers to how fish reproduce, i.e. by spawning and rearing in the natural habitat, regardless of parentage, and does not refer to genetic heritage. The origin (e.g. native, non-native or mixed) and parentage (wild, cultured or composite) of individual stocks are specifically designated in this report where known. This terminology is not intended to diminish the importance of native stocks but rather emphasizes the need to protect a wide range of genetic resources maintained by natural reproduction. The terms natural and wild spawners are used synonymously as are the terms stocks and spawning populations (see Part 1 -- Stock Definition and Identification for further discussion). While the inventory documented in this report reflects primarily an assessment of wild stock status, a clear need exists to develop complementary salmonid habitat and hatchery stock inventories to develop an integrated ability to systematically evaluate salmon and steelhead ecosystems. This need is part of this objective's future intent.