NWF.018/SEP.20.1996

Fish News

[1] "RETURN TO THE RIVER"-THE ISG'S NEW REPORT ON SALMON RESTORATION :: A group of Northwest scientists has told the world that the best way to save Columbia river salmon is by mimicking the way the river once was-by recreating long smothered spawning beds and providing enough spring flow to do it. One Northwest biologist said so much water would be needed that Portland would have to be evacuated every spring.

But that's just one element of the new report by the Northwest Power Planning Council's Independent Scientific Group. Weighing in at nearly three pounds, the two-inch thick document took nine men 15 months to put together. It's billed as a new conceptual framework for salmon restoration-one that's based on features of rivers with high levels of productivity. And it draws a line at policy. ISG Chair Richard Williams told the Council that the document tries to stay out of policy areas-he stressed that it was not an implementation plan.

"What's not apparent is the amount of blood, sweat and tears that went into this work," noted Williams, who said that policy and implementation questions were beyond the purview of the ISG.

The main features of the new framework are described by the document as follows:

1. Restoration of Columbia River salmonids must address the entire natural and cultural ecosystem, which encompasses the continuum of freshwater estuarine and ocean habitats where salmonid fishes complete their life histories. This consideration includes human developments, as well as natural habitats.
2. Sustained salmonid productivity requires a network of complex and interconnected habitats, which are created, altered and maintained by natural physical processes in freshwater, the estuary and the ocean. These diverse and high-quality habitats, which have been extensively degraded by human activities, are crucial for salmonid spawning, rearing, migration, maintenance of food webs and predator avoidance. Ocean conditions, which are variable, are important in determining the overall patterns of productivity of salmon populations.
3. Life history diversity, genetic diversity and metapopulation organization are ways salmonids adapt to their complex and connected habitats. These factors contribute to the ability of salmonids to cope with environmental variation that is typical of freshwater and marine habitats.

Williams said the conceptual framework may be simple, but it has profound implications, and what the ISG calls the "normative" ecosystem is the logical consequence of that framework.

The group has used the word "normative" to describe established ecological norms for productive salmon rivers, even though Williams said their document doesn't exactly spell out what normative attributes are.

Another task assigned to the ISG was a review of the current fish and wildlife program. Williams told the Council that some elements of their program are based on good assumptions, but others are not--for instance, the elusive relationship between flow and survival. The ISG suggests the search for a correct or optimum flow be abandoned, and focus directed toward restoration of a riverine velocity structure as close as possible to the pre-dam hydrograph.

Williams characterized the present program as "piecemeal," with inconsistent assumptions. He said the group recommends an integrated approach based on their conceptual framework, where measures could be judged that are consistent with the biological needs of salmon, while providing for environmentally responsible energy production.

The ISG recommends the use of peak spring flows to restructure and revitalize habitats in riverine reaches, and the evaluation of the possibility of restoring some historical mainstem spawning areas, "including permanent drawdown of John Day, and perhaps, McNary pools." In wet years, high flows could provide scouring actions to recreate spawning habitat.

It is likely that some spawning occurred in the John Day area, but the ISG's main source for the recommendation (Fulton, 1968) notes that the information was unpublished, based on aerial surveys in the late 1950s. It estimated about 15 percent of the fall chinook in the basin spawned there between 1957-60. Other biologists have theorized that the successful fall chinook stock in the Hanford reach is partly made up of refugees from the John Day pool after the dam was built there.

The ISG also suggests stabilizing daily fluctuations in flows in reaches to keep food webs healthy in juvenile rearing areas; managing stocks with a more complete understanding of migratory behavior; and using spill to reduce juvenile mortality at dams. But the ISG notes that at some point, gas saturation adds mortality beyond what is saved by passage of fish in spill. With all the unanswered questions about gas bubble disease, "the best strategy may be to endorse Army Corps of Engineers' plans for installation of gas abatement structures."

The scientists took issue with other salmon strategies as well. They supported the transportation of juveniles "only if it is clear that normative habitat in the impounded mainstem cannot be restored." Reliance on hatcheries should be de-emphasized because the group feels that although there have only been a few studies, "existing evidence points to negative effects on wild fish." They call for an integrated ecosystem monitoring and evaluation program with clearly defined goals and objectives. And recognizing the dynamic nature of ocean environments as controller of salmon productivity, the ISG recommends that managers take such factors into account while making harvest and hydrosystem decisions.

Finally, to protect core populations and restore habitats with the potential to re-establish core populations, they suggest the creation of salmon reserves, especially in the vicinity of the Hanford Reach. But what are the possible social and economic costs of this new paradigm? One long-time river watcher said Grand Coulee Dam alone would have to undergo major modifications to provide for the kind of flows the ISG calls for without creating huge problems with gas supersaturation.

Though the ISG states that it is our fascination with technological fixes that has created so many dead ends at salmon restoration, the ISG places a heavy reliance on feats of new engineering, like unproven, "improved" spillways that would be necessary to create a more "natural" river.

Other costs may be so high that the normative river concept may never come close to reality. According to Bruce Lovelin, executive director of the Columbia River Alliance, a deep drawdown like the one proposed for John Day pool would eliminate river navigation above Portland to eastern Washington, Oregon and Idaho-a navigation system that produces $10 billion in commerce a year. Others claim that navigation would still be possible.

Council members will wrestle with questions like this in the coming year when they use the ISG report to help revise their 1994 fish and wildlife plan. But as wild salmon stocks have declined over the century, just how much time and money is the region prepared to pay for the return of an unknown quantity of fish? And how much fish is enough?

Since the ocean environment has improved over the past three years, many returns are already rising. This year, the fall chinook run has been pegged at 132,500 fish. In 1939, 186,000 fall chinook were counted at Bonneville Dam.

"I imagine the report will promote considerable debate in the region," said Council chair Stan Etchart. "People, for one reason or another, will be tempted to pick isolated parts of the report, rushing to use them to buttress a favorite argument. A better use would be the deliberate and reasoned application of this learning to that which we already know" [Bill Rudolph].

[2] SALMON SPENDING CAP SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED WITH SOME MISGIVINGS :: The Memorandum of Agreement that spells out BPA's financial commitment for fish and wildlife costs over the next six years has been signed by five federal agencies with a nod from Northwest tribes.

In a letter to Vice president Al Gore and Sen. Mark Hatfield, executive director of the Columbia Basin Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Ted Strong said "without tribal involvement, the MOA would have been a very different document. As it stands now, BPA's entire mitigation budget is on the table and subject to regional prioritization. That in itself is a remarkable accomplishment." Strong still had reservations, though. He said that the tribes retained the belief that the agreement does not commit BPA to an average annual budget of $435 million for the six years as seems to have been promised. And he expressed uncertainty that $435 million was adequate to mitigate for the damage done by the federal hydrosystem to the fish and wildlife of the basin.

Bob Lohn, head of BPA's fish and wildlife division called the agreement "tough, fair and clear." Speaking at the NWPPC meeting in Clarkston on Sept. 19, Lohn said it was "a wonderful learning and improvement process."

The agreement provides for $127 annually for BPA's fish and wildlife program. Hatcheries and other efforts to restore salmon would get $99 million. Restoration efforts for resident fish and wildlife would get $27 million., with $5 million added for administrative costs. Forty million dollars was earmarked for BPA reimbursement to other federal agencies such as the Corps of Engineers and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The Corps will receive $21 million, spending $8.2 million for operating fish ladders and other dam passage measures, with $2.2 million for juvenile fish transportation.

Funding dam modifications to ease fish passage was set at $568 million for the next six years. BPA also agreed to absorb ESA hydropower costs expected to average $164 million a year.

A contingency fund of around $325 million a year will be available under three conditions only: if low water flow in the Snake or Columbia causes BPA to shoulder significant additional costs for power purchases or because of loss of income; if additional court-ordered obligations under the ESA drive BPA's F&W costs above $435 million in a given year; and $15 million would be available annually for certain emergencies.

An annex to the agreement calls for improved cooperation among federal agencies, the states and the tribes in establishing detailed work plans to guide spending with independent scientific review by the board chosen by the Power Council and NMFS.

Some say the annex attempts to short-circuit a peer review procedure championed by Slade Gorton that calls for an 11-member panel and peer review groups to be appointed from a list supplied by the National Academy of Sciences. According to Gorton staffer Kay Gabriel, the amendment to the Northwest Power Act that Gorton shepherded through the Senate and passed the House on Sept. 12. would take precedence over anything in the MOA "since it would have the force of law, and not be simply an agreement." Gabriel said the Clinton administration is resigned to its passage.

Bruce Lovelin, executive director of the Columbia River Alliance said the MOA agreement will expand tribal and state fisheries manager control, and make the region's tribes co-managers of the new Independent Science Advisory Board-the panel appointed by the Power Council to independently evaluate the biological basis of fish and wildlife programs. In a press release, Lovelin said "Because tribal agencies receive funding for salmon recovery programs, their management of the science advisory board dilutes the independent nature of the board."

The MOA annex commits all parties to work together in developing multi-year and annual workplans, prioritizing expenditures with the help of the Power Council's independent science board, and requiring project sponsors to provide detailed information for developing realistic costs. It calls for the development of procedures for sharing federal budget and financial information that enables the tribes and the Power Council to fully participate in the Bonneville fish and wildlife budget management and allocation processes.

The annex also calls for development of options for direct funding by Bonneville of fish and wildlife activities by the Corps, Bureau of Reclamation, and USFWS that are now funded by Congressional appropriations and subject to reimbursement by Bonneville.

What kind of ultimate peer review the region will use with remains a murky issue. John Magnuson, chair of the National Research Council's salmon study and past chair of the nominating committee of the Power Council's independent science board told Gorton in July that two independent boards "would impede or even stop constructive response to science review in a region with difficult and contentious problems to resolve in the conduct and application of the best possible science" [Bill Rudolph].

[3] ADULT COUNTS UP AT THE DALLES DURING AUGUST SPILL CURTAILMENT :: Adult returns at The Dalles Dam shot up during last month's spill stoppage. Water was being spilled to aid downstream migration of fall chinook smolts, but it was curtailed to boost generating capacity at the dam after the August power blackout on the West Coast. No water was spilled for three days while the region waited for southern California nuclear plants to power up and reduce the amount of electricity the Northwest sent south.

From Aug. 12 to Aug. 15 daily returns averaged 519 chinook. The daily average for the four days prior to the Aug. 12 was 179 fish and the daily average for the four days after Aug. 15 was 334 fish.

"It's an interesting coincidence. It ought to be investigated," said COE biologist Jim Athearn, who cautioned that there are too many variables to draw any conclusions. Temperature changes, fallback, and run timing due to precipitation are just a few he named.

One of the trickier biological questions along the river is measuring benefits to juveniles vis a vis adults from certain strategies like spill. It has been suggested before that fish ladders are more efficient when spill is curtailed because fish can find the attractive flow at the ladder more easily. There are two ladders at the Dalles, and according to NMFS researcher Lowell Stuehrenberg, one of them always seems to work pretty well, while the other has more variable success.

Stuehrenberg is working with Idaho biologist Rudy Ringe on a radio-tagged adult chinook study. This summer they tracked 850 radio-tagged chinook from Bonneville up the mainstem Columbia and Snake Rivers. He says they have a computer full of data to analyze over the winter, but as for the blip in adults at The Dalles in August, "You can't tell what's going on, on a one- or two-day basis. Bonneville called and I told them the same thing" [Bill Rudolph].

[4] GILLNETTERS BACK ON THE RIVER :: Columbia River gillnetters were allowed to wet their gear below Bonneville Dam for three 10-hr. fishing periods Aug. 26-29, and 59 boats caught 3900 chinook and 350 sturgeon for their efforts. Fishing Between Beacon Rock and Washougal, the lower river fisherman were paid up to 70 cents a pound for upriver brights and 35 cents a pound for tules, the darker fish nearly ready to spawn. A series of openings September 16-20 put another 5,100 chinook in their bins.

Joe Hymer of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said the fall run has been pegged at 132,500 fish, up from last year's run of around 115,000 fish. Upriver brights include the wild spawners from the Hanford Reach.

Indian fishermen have caught around 38,000 fish, but with only one buyer at the Dalles, they were not getting much for their fish. Upriver brights were selling for 35 cents/lb., and tules were selling for 15 cents/lb.

Astoria fisherman Don Riswick reported that he and partner Art Reith landed a ton of chinook during the three days of fishing. "It was a little like the old days," said the 79-year-old gillnetter [Bill Rudolph].

[5] ENHANCEMENT OF WILD SALMON POPULATIONS :: Atlantic salmon conservation must address the same problems that are affecting Pacific salmon. The following is from a paper by Bror Jonsson and Ian A. Fleming of Norway.

Hatchery supplementation of wild salmon populations is being used in Europe to compensate for destruction of native, wild Atlantic salmon runs by overfishing, farmed salmon, and habitat destruction. According to Jonsson and Fleming, "Although fitness of hatchery salmon in nature is lower than that of wild salmon, supplementation has been used to enhance populations successfully, at least for the short term.

"However, supplementation is not without its problems and conflicts. It can result in the spread of contagious diseases, in ecological interference with wild populations, and in the disruption of the genetic structure of wild populations through introgression, genetic drift, and unintentional changes in selection regimes. Thus, the use of supplementation to enhance populations should be carefully considered, even when only a single generation boost to a population seems warranted. Protection and restoration of habitat, combined with adequate management regulation (of harvest) are likely to provide the only truly long-term means to enhancing populations."

Jonsson and Fleming note that 60% of the world's major fish populations are now overexploited and that the combined effects of overexploitation, habitat destruction, and species introductions have resulted in a worldwide trend of decline in native fish populations. For example, in Norway, acidification has eradicated Atlantic salmon in 25 rivers and a parasite introduced from the Baltic Sea has eliminated another 38 populations. This loss represents a reduction of about 50% in the production of wild Atlantic salmon in Norway within the last few decades.

The authors refer to experiences in Oregon with coho salmon and to hatchery chinook in British Columbia. "In both cases," the authors say, "the hatchery programs appeared to be successful initially but, as time wore on, success declined. Since 1976, there has been in general an inverse relationship between the number of coho smolts released in Oregon and the size of the adult production. In British Columbia, a rapid expansion of chinook salmon hatcheries increased smolt releases ten-fold during the 1980s, but resulted in lower catches of hatchery salmon. This pattern of declining survival of hatchery reared salmon is common to most hatchery programs in North America."

Jonsson and Fleming say, "Salmon exhibit considerable local adaptation to their natal freshwater environments. This genetic and ecological diversity among populations is the ultimate source of biological diversity for the species. Inappropriate use of hatchery fish can threaten the integrity of this diversity and even an entire species."

When hatchery salmon breed with wild salmon, fitness (survival in nature) is often lower for hybrid than native offspring. Hybridization may also result in breakdown and loss of diversity among populations, reducing productivity and increasing the vulnerablility of the species to environmental change such as floods, drought and a changing ocean environment. Even supportive breeding, where a fraction of the wild population is brought into the hatchery for increasing smolt production can cause problems.

When supportive breeding and releases of hatchery fish seem most warranted, as in the case of small populations, depletion of genetic variability as a result of such releases is greatest. Even where a single generation boost appears to be justified to reduce the probablility of extinction, supportive breeding can increase the risk to small populations.

The authors also address the use of hatcheries to boost harvest. "Where hatcheries produce fish to support a commercial or sport fishery, overexploitation of natural populations is a likely outcome," they say. This is one of the causes of decline for coho salmon on the west coast of North America. "Supplementation to increase or maintain high harvest rates threatenes the existence of small, unsupplemented populations and the unique population genetic structure of the species. Poorly managed hatchery programs thus may alter or even destroy the biological diversity of the species," they say. In addition, the use of hatchery supplementation becomes dangerous when it provides an excuse for habitat loss and for poor management of the fisheries.

The authors are not willing to discount hatcheries altogether. "Hatcheries can be useful tools in conservation when properly applied, but their use in enhancing fisheries can threaten the very existence of populations they are attempting to conserve."

The authors conclude by saying, "Reduced reproductive capability of hatchery fish will limit their effectiveness in the rehabilitation and supplementation of wild populations. While reproductive success of hatchery fish may be limited, their potential for introgression and ecological interference still pose a threat to the conservation of wild populations." (Source: In G. Sundnes (ed) 1993. Human impact on self-recruiting populations. An International Symposium, Kongsvoll, Norway) [Bill Bakke].

[6] NINTH CIRCUIT WANTS NEPA ACTION ON ESA SALMON HARVEST :: The Ninth Circuit Court last week, in a review of a decision in the court of Portland federal district court Judge Malcolm Marsh, ruled that harvest quotas involving ESA-listed fish were subject to requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA. The 1994 action was brought by the DSIs and involved in-river, Oregon-Washington coastal and Alaska harvest allotments.

The decision means that NMFS could be required to conduct and file environmental assessments (EA) or more detailed environment impact statements (EIS) on harvests. The decision, sources indicate, involve ESA Section 7 decisions rather than Section 10 taking permits and declares that biological opinions created from federal biological assessments under Section 7 are no substitute for NEPA proceedings.

In the EIS process, NMFS would have to conduct public hearings and consider alternatives to allowing listed fish to be taken. The three-judge panel ruled that harvest allotments from the decision-making panel set up in settlement of the US v. Oregon lawsuit, which includes tribal catches, were not exempt from NEPA requirements. The action has been remanded to Judge Marsh [Cyrus Noë].

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Document Annex
Works Cited

DOCUMENTS FROM NW FISHLETTER 018 :: Below are listed available documents and links referred to in the text of NW Fishletter issue 018.

• Northwest Power Planning Council Home Page
• University of Washington Columbia Basin Research Home Page

THE ARCHIVE :: Previous NW Fishletter issues and supporting documents.