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The Benefits From Sound
Stewardship Geographically, Washington is the smallest western state yet it contains diverse populations of salmon, trout and warmwater fish from the coastal marine environments to the freshwaters of the interior. Although many fish populations are healthy, the state does have several salmonids listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). These recent listings have attracted a lot of attention as the habitat for the ESA listed salmonid populations affect 70% of the state's area, which happens to contain about 90% of its people. Yet, while striving to restore listed salmon populations, Washington's science-based fishery management program enables the state to rank 1st among Pacific Northwest states and 8th nationally on spending by sport fishers. 1 In 2001, 938,000 sport fishers spent $853 million dollars (or $1.7 billion per biennium) buying tackle, gas, motels, food and boats in small rural communities throughout the state. This spending provides much needed cash flow to local economies and to many small businesses. Why is that important? Washington is a small business state and with 185,000 small businesses it ranks high among all states in the number of small local businesses. It's a fact that fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing activities all support thousands of small businesses many located in rural areas of the state. How do we do it? Hatcheries are an important part of providing the fuel for this economic engine. About 70% of the fish caught in Puget Sound and about 95% of those caught on the Columbia River come from the hatchery system. Washington's complex hatchery system was put in place primarily to mitigate for permanently altered or lost habitat caused by land-use decisions such as the dams that provide the electricity for our home's and businesses. As a consequence of those decisions, about 85% of salmon originating from Washington hatcheries attempt to provide the salmon that can no longer be produced from the habitat remaining in many watersheds. We need to invest in this economic fuel both scientifically to make it the best it can be in terms of providing benefits to the state's economy and in terms of benefiting the wild runs of fish. We also need to invest in the sound science, as it is that science-based fisheries management system in place here in Washington that allows access to the hatchery fish while protecting the wild runs. An example is marked-selective fisheries, both commercial and recreational, that allow the perennial harvest of this renewable resource to produce jobs and cash flow in coastal and inland rural communities from Westport to Pateros. To keep the science-based hatchery system operating, we are investing in the Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) to provide a guide to best operational practices and as a beacon to the future. "Back to the Future" may have been a popular set of movies, but it cannot be the path to our future in fishing. What about naturally spawning fish? We certainly have been investing in the naturally spawning runs of fish that have made our state famous. As part of its management responsibilities, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) annually surveys 7,000 to 8,000 miles of streams, creeks and rivers to assess the adequacy of salmon spawning statewide. Recently WDFW has been documenting more fish spawning in typical locations and have seen spawning in areas where they have been absent for decades. Also, the recent Forest and Fish agreement has resulted in protecting 8,000,000 acres of private forest land that contains 60,000 miles of streams. Riparian buffers are in place to produce properly functioning conditions for salmon in their fresh water spawning and rearing habitats. Also, in the two short years since the legislature passed this agreement into law, 400 barrier culverts have been replaced at a cost of $14,000 each. Removing such barriers to fish migration has opened up new habitat for spawning fish. Other activities like the HSRG insure that hatchery operations will not adversely affect the ability of naturally spawning populations to be restored. Simply put, the harvest and hatchery programs have to fit through the same ESA "knothole" as do other activities in this state that may affect the recovery of listed fish. Because of this, the co-manager's harvest and hatchery plans either have been approved or are in the process of being approved by NOAA Fisheries as consistent with the federal ESA under 4(d) rules. What about the future? Right now we in the state of Washington are at a pivotal point because we have the right salmon recovery processes and groups in place in the watersheds and regions to do the job of restoring failed habitats. We have federal and state dollars coming into the state's Salmon Recovery Funding Board to help fund recovery projects. We have the volunteer groups in the local watersheds matching the federal/state dollars many fold to put properly functioning fish habitats together in the local watersheds. And yes, we have the fish coming back. A lost opportunity? When the small juvenile salmon leave their local watersheds, they enter the estuaries to help transition from freshwater to saltwater and to grow. Growth is important because size matters in the ocean. The bigger you are, the better able you are to avoid predators, to seek diverse types of food, and to migrate following the seasonal blooms in food supply in the ocean. The amount of food available to the young migrants depends on the ocean currents and right now the ocean currents are favorable to Washington origin salmon. The "decadal oscillation" which produces peaks and valleys in the survival of young salmonids at sea is now heading from a valley of low marine survival up to a peak of higher marine survival. That means right now we have a unique opportunity to benefit from better marine survivals to "jump start" salmon recovery. This cycle comes and goes about every 20 years and right now we are starting on the upward portion of the cycle where the marine survival is increasing. We, as a part of the local watershed efforts, need to provide the freshwater homes for spawning salmon over the next 10 to 15 years or this opportunity will be lost: we will enter into the start of another valley of lower marine survival and with it comes more difficult and costly recovery options. So recovering salmon while still providing opportunity for the state to benefit economically from fish (and wildlife) related spending is doable. We are doing it right now through science-based management and reasoned thinking about salmon recovery options. Now is the time to invest in DFW's sound management programs and in the state's salmon recovery process as both can be done: providing protection to the resource and much needed cash flow to local business. What about wildlife? Now people, and the population in general, are aging and that can mean a shift in preferred ways of accessing the wonders of nature. One of the ways people view nature is literally through watching wildlife. Through proper fish and wildlife management, Washington, has become a major place for people who like to view wildlife through the lens of a camera or binoculars. Washington ranks 1st among the Pacific Northwest state's and 7th nationally in spending by wildlife viewers.1 About $980 million (or nearly $2 billion per biennium) is spent annually by 1,065,000 people observing and watching birds, elk, deer and salmon in this state. Another 2 million Washington citizens enjoy wildlife viewing in and around their homes. All together, nearly 1 out of every 2 citizens actively participate in viewing wildlife. Sound stewardship requires the proper mix of funding as well as the expertise of scientists and managers; but it results in a sustainable resource for people to enjoy in a remarkable variety of ways. In addition to the use of wildlife through shooting with a camera, hunting activities also provide hundreds of millions of dollars annually in spending. About 350 million dollars (or $0.7 billion per biennium) is spent by 227,000 people hunting water fowl, deer, elk, turkey, pheasant and other healthy populations here in Washington.1 Regulated hunting is very much a part of a science-based program to manage our game populations, but hunting activities are also a traditional part of many Washingtonian's heritage. As with wildlife viewing and fishing much of the economic impact from hunting is felt in rural communities where the habitats are healthy and thus support healthy numbers of game animals. What about access to fish/shellfish for people that don't fish? Commercial fishing operations in the state are not only important revenue sources for coastal communities, but also provide access to the fishery resources for many of Washington's citizens. Fish/shellfish from our fresh and marine waters are available from general food stores, to specialized fish markets, to restaurants as well as food banks. The state of Washington ranks 5th nationally in the number of pounds of fish/shellfish landed and ranks 7th nationally in economic value among the seafood producing states in 2000.2 Overall, the ex-vessel value (dollars paid directly to commercial fishers) of seafood landed at Washington ports equaled $0.15 billion dollars or about $0.30 billion per biennium. The quantity of seafood landed in the three Washington ports of Westport, Ilwaco-Chinook, and Bellingham enabled each port to rank within the top 50 ports in the nation, and in addition, the quantity of seafood landed increased dramatically from 1999 to 2000. For example, Westport experienced a nearly 50% growth in landings and Ilwaco saw its seafood landings almost double within the same time period. Ilwaco, in particular, benefited from the new experimental sardine fishery instituted in coastal waters in the year 2000. Seafood streams from Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Canadian waters into seafood processing plants located from Bellingham in the north to Ilwaco in the south. These plants provide thousands of jobs for Washington residents. These and other benefits are not included in the ex-vessel value of the seafood resource, but are very important to the economy of this state. The bottom line. The seasonal sequence of wildlife activities here in Washington, from fishing for spring and then fall Chinook or for winter and then summer Steelhead, and then switching to fall and winter deer and elk hunts or to attending birding festivals in the spring and fall, provide year round activities for the outdoor enthusiast. Providing those opportunities to the public starts with a science-based management ethic and the active cooperation of the federal, state and tribal managers. And it also involves the help of thousands of volunteers from those teaching hunter education, to those conducting fish enhancement projects, to others restoring salmon habitat, and to still others that participate in education outreach. All together recreational fishing, hunting
and wildlife viewing enjoyed by over 50% of our citizens contributes about
$4.4 billion per biennium in spending to the economy of this state.1
Adding in estimates of just the ex-vessel value of commercial fishing
brings the total to about $4.7 billion in biennial value. Whether the
comparison is to the department's total biennial budget of about $295
million or to the department's general fund operating dollars of about
$92 million, the return on investment ranges from 16:1 to 50:1, respectively.
Said another way, for every $1 spent on science-based fish and wildlife
management programs, between $16 and $50 returns to the state in fish
and wildlife related spending. That is a huge statement about the value
of this renewable resource to the state of Washington and to its citizens.
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