Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Email Response Concerning The Yakima River Chinook Salmon Fishery Chinook Salmon Fishery / Chinook Salmon Online Petition Below you will find the response I drafted last summer after the salmon test fishery concluded. This was e-mailed from our Olympia headquarters to about 30+ fishermen (mostly fly fishermen from the Puget Sound area) who sent e-mails to the Director's Office or the F&W Commission in opposition to the salmon fishery. If you have any questions or want further clarification after reading this, call me or send an e-mail reply. We have not completed reviewing our options for a spring salmon fishery in the Yakima R. this year.....either upstream or downstream of Roza Dam. When we have what we think is a viable plan(s) ready to present to the public, we will hold an evening public meeting in Ellensburg to share it with fishermen and guides and to solicit their feedback. The meeting will probably be held at the Hal Holmes Center downtown. The announcement will be posted on the WDFW web site and be published in the Yakima and Ellensburg newspapers. I appreciate your constructive input and lack of malice...some of the correspondence I've received from fly fishermen could be classified as "hate mail", which has been very unsettling since I am a fly fishermen too. Fish Program staff in Region 3 do have the best interest of the resource (trout and salmon) and all fishermen, regardless of your species of preference, as the top priority. My staff and I (all three of us) treasure the upper Yakima R. wild trout fishery as much as you do and intend to protect and enhance it as best we can. However, we don't believe that having a "retention" or "harvest" salmon fishery (sounds better than "kill fishery") is 100 percent incompatible with the trout fishery....provided that we adopt appropriate gear regulations, fishing areas, seasons, etc. and follow up with good biological monitoring and law enforcement compliance. I hope you would agree and come to view the salmon resource and fishery as an asset and not a liability. Fly fishing for 8 - 20 lbs. spring chinook could catch on and could be quite a thrill whether you choose to release the fish or decide to take it home for the barbeque. It just adds to the river fishing opportunities we have here in Region 3. Sincerely,
John A. Easterbrooks
Regional Fish Program Manager (Region 3)
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
1701 S. 24th Ave.
Yakima, WA 98902
(509)-457-9330 (Voice)
(509)-575-2474 (Fax)
e-mail: eastejae@dfw.wa.gov
The Fish and Wildlife Commission, Director Koenings and Fish Program (FP) staff apologize for the delay in responding to your e-mail concerning the upper Yakima River spring chinook salmon fishery. The large number of e-mails received from concerned citizens, combined with the complexity and variety of the issues raised, contributed to the delay. FP staff needed sufficient time to thoroughly respond to all topics and organize the following reponse. Thank you for your patience. 1. Upper Yakima R. Fish Management Objectives
First, the WDFW shares your concern and appreciation for the wild rainbow trout population and fishery in the upper Yakima R. upstream of Roza Dam. WDFW has no intention to let this carefully nutured resource be degraded. We are well aware of the uniqueness of this high quality, catch and release (C&R) trout fishery centrally located in the "heart of Washington". The gradual improvement in the trout population over the last 20 years is no accident. It is the result of: a) fishing regulations that have (and will continue) to promote trout survival and growth; b) on-going efforts by WDFW Habitat Program staff to improve fish habitat through regulation of in-water activities via the Hydraulic Project Approval process, input into the county Shoreline Management Act process and habitat enhancement projects; and c) Fish Program efforts to gradually improve instream flow regimes through active involvement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Yakima Basin irrigation interests (more about this later). However, WDFW's objective is not to limit the upper Yakima R. solely to resident trout production and fishing opportunity. We are convinced that it is possible to increase spring chinook salmon runs and provide opportunity for conservative chinook fishing/harvest (when justified by large run size) without jeopardizing the wild trout fishery.
In fact, we believe that increasing runs of salmon and steelhead in the upper river will substantially benefit the aquatic ecosystem and the trout population in the long run. Benefits will accrue in two ways: 1) by providing more post-spawning carcasses that decompose and yield "marine-derived nutrients" which increase aquatic productivity (benthic algae, aquatic insects, etc.), and 2) by helping to sustain and increase public support in central WA for habitat protection regulations and improved instream flows, which often impact irrigated agriculture on which the local economy depends. WDFW's long-term ability to protect the upper Yakima River for resident trout and anadromous fish depends on the cooperation of the people who live and work in the Yakima Basin and local governments (county and municipal). Unfortunately, many of the residents and their governmental representatives view habitat protection and instream flow enhancement for fish (salmon, steelhead and trout) as a liability---not as a necessary requirement to protect an important natural resource asset. This attitude is prevalent, notwithstanding the economic activity in Kittitas County created by the C&R trout fishery. WDFW views the rebuilding of the chinook salmon run and ability to harvest salmon, even on a limited basis, as further incentive to sustain/improve habitat protection and instream flows. Even a modest salmon fishery upstream of Roza Dam, like the 8-day fishery held this year, provides a tangible, "high profile" return on the local investment in habitat protection.
2. Biological Justification for 2000 Spring Chinook Salmon Fishery
As of July 25, the Roza Dam spring chinook count totaled 11,888 including 10,740 wild adults (primarily age 4's), 493 wild jacks (age 3's) and 655 marked Cle Elum Hatchery jacks. By the end of the migration season in late August, the total count is expected to reach 12,000----the highest return in recorded history and nearly 4 times the previous record run of 3,267 in 1986. The wild spring chinook are truly native, wild salmon---this record run is not the result of an introduction (or reintroduction) of chinook from an outside hatchery donor stock. Wild spring chinook have always been in the Yakima Basin, although the runs have been low and unable to support even a modest sport fishery until this year. Even with the estimated sport fishery harvest of 100 salmon (see below) and Cle Elum Hatchery brood stock collection at Roza Dam of 548 fish (511 adults, 37 jacks), the remaining spawning escapement (approx. 11,300 fish) will be the largest ever recorded. This run size was sufficient to warrant the 8-day fishery based on a maximum expected harvest of 400 fish (50/day). The actual catch proved to be only about 25 percent of our pre-fishery estimate.
The dramatic improvement in the wild spring chinook run can be attributed to very favorable habitat conditions in the freshwater and marine environments which increased survival at all life stages from egg to returning adults. Major, "channel forming" flood events in Nov. 1995 and Feb. 1996 were beneficial for the upper Yakima aquatic ecosystem. Post-flood surveys by WDFW staff revealed that flood flows created new habitat by depositing large amounts of large woody debris in the river, created new side channel spawning and rearing habitat (or reopened old side channels that had diminished over time), and flushed fine sediments from the river bed that limit egg and sac-fry survival. The parents of the 10,700+ wild adult salmon returning this year spawned in Sept.-Oct., 1996 and their offspring experienced improved physical habitat conditions during their freshwater rearing phase in 1997. They also experienced improved flow and water quality conditions in 1997-98 due to above average water supply resulting from good snowpack accumulation attributed to the "La Nina" climatic phenomenon. The same habitat variables that improved freshwater juvenile salmon survival also benefited the aquatic invertebrate "food web", and presumably, the resident rainbow trout population. Good river flows in the Yakima and Columbia R. in spring, 1998 during the smolt out-migration and favorable ocean survival (again due to La Nina) combined with higher freshwater survival to produce this large run. Other hatchery and wild runs in the Columbia R. basin experienced similar increases this year for the same reasons.
Note that 11,233 of the Roza Dam count (94.5%) were wild fish, with the remainder of the run consisting of 655 hatchery jacks (5.5%) . These jack salmon are the first returns from the new Cle Elum Supplementation & Research Facility....the centerpiece of the NW Power Planning Council approved, Bonneville Power Administration funded, Yakima Fisheries Project (YFP) managed and operated by WDFW and the Yakama Nation. These hatchery fish are the offspring of wild salmon brood stock collected at Roza Dam in 1997, hatched and reared at Cle Elum in 1998 and released from three acclimation/release ponds in the upper basin in spring, 1999. The stated purpose of the YFP is to supplement and increase returns of naturally-spawning salmon. Only unmarked wild salmon are used for brood stock purposes---returning hatchery-reared fish (one generation removed from the wild) are allowed to spawn naturally with other wild salmon. The ultimate objective is to increase the number of naturally-spawning fish and producing stable returns capable of: 1) providing large inputs of "marine-derived nutrients" (carcasses) to enrich the freshwater ecosystem, and 2) sustaining tribal and non-tribal (sport) harvest within the Yakima Basin. The Yakama Nation has always had a dip net and hook and line "ceremonial and subsistence" (C&S) fishery for spring chinook in the lower Yakima R. below Union Gap---even before the YFP began supplementing the upper Yakima spring chinook run. The tribal fishery is managed each year to not exceed a 20 percent harvest rate, so that annual catch increases or decreases according to run strength.
Because Cle Elum Hatchery is a research and production facility with stringent disease prevention and rearing protocols, the facility is open to the public for tours on an appointment basis only at this time. Interested citizens should call Facility Manager, Dan Barrett, at (509)-674-3701 or the Asst. Mgr., Charlie Strom (674-3702) to arrange a tour.
3. Spring Chinook Salmon 2000 "Test" Fishery Summary
During the 8-day salmon fishery, which ran four consecutive weekends (6/10-11, 6/17-18, 6/24-25, and 7/1-2), Region 3 Fish Program (FP) staff interviewed 320 salmon anglers who fished 941 hours and caught and kept 29 adult and 2 jack spring chinook. Either one or two biologists worked each day of the fishery. In addition, salmon anglers caught and released 61 trout and 116 spring chinook salmon smolts that had residualized rather than migrating downstream. This equates to 1 salmon for every 10.3 anglers, .033 salmon/hour or 30.3 hours/salmon. This is considered poor to fair salmon fishing, but was not unexpected in a new fishery where all anglers are inexperienced regarding where and how to catch salmon.
FP staff also asked anglers if they caught fish on previous days, and if they saw any fish caught by other fishermen that we did not check. Including interviews by wildlife enforcement officers, an additional 19 adult and 2 jacks were reported caught. Therefore, fish checked plus fish reported caught totaled 48 adults and 4 jack salmon. A expanded, preliminary estimate of total salmon harvest is approximately 100 fish. This number is based on using two estimation methods which yielded total harvest estimates of 75 fish and 122 fish, bracketing a mid-point of 100 fish. The final catch estimate will be determined later based on returned salmon catch record cards.
Except for the opening weekend, most salmon fishing effort and harvest was upriver from Ellensburg---particularly in the Teanaway River to Thorp Bridge reach. River flows the first weekend were moderate and fishable, but very high flows the second weekend, caused by a rapid increase in snowmelt runoff in the upper Cle Elum R. basin, which was passed through the Bureau of Reclamation storage reservoir, drastically reduced fishing success. Flow the last two weekends was much lower and clear resulting in improved fishing conditions. However, salmon fishing effort declined each weekend, and was very low by 7/1-2.
WDFW angler interviews focused on salmon fishermen who tended to start and complete their fishing trips earlier in the day than trout anglers. However, FP staff also interviewed 65 trout anglers who were predominantly fly fishing. These trout anglers fished 208 hours and caught and released 85 trout and 60 residualized chinook salmon smolts.
Angler knowledge of the salmon fishery regulations concerning lure and hook restrictions and compliance with the rules was generally excellent based on gear checks made by enforcement officers and FP biologists during the creel census. Many salmon fishermen had a copy of the regulations in their possession for reference. The use of bait was prohibited and we did not check any fishermen using roe eggs or other bait. Virtually all bank fishermen used casting spinners, while boat fishermen used spinners or back-trolled floating salmon plugs through deep holding pools. Nearly all anglers checked fishing spinners used legal single-pointed hooks with a hook gap ranging from ½ - 3/4 inch. Boat fishermen "pulling plugs" were permitted to use treble hooks with the same ½ - 3/4 inch hook gap. The hook size requirement was intended to minimize the hooking of small trout, while the use of treble hooks on plugs was intended to minimize the hooking, playing and subsequent loss of salmon after the fish was already exhausted. We did not check any salmon angler who had kept trout---all salmon fishermen we interviewed were aware of the catch and release regulation for trout and complied with the rule. Based on a large volume of scientific literature, more than 90 percent of trout caught and released on the salmon gear approved for this test fishery are expected to survive. This is only slightly less than the expected survival of trout caught and released on single, barbless flies.
4. Gear Restrictions for Future Salmon Fisheries
The pre-season prediction for the 2001 spring chinook run in the Columbia Basin, in general, and the Yakima Basin, specifically, is significantly larger than 2000 based on record jack salmon (age 3) counts at Bonneville Dam, Prosser Dam and Roza Dam this year. In addition, in 2001 the first run of YFP hatchery supplementation adults will return to Roza Dam. The combined wild and hatchery supplementation run may be very large. If this proves to be true, there will be sufficient fish next year for another spring chinook sport fishery. Salmon gear restrictions will change next year based on feed back from both trout and salmon anglers during this years test fishery. Salmon anglers who learned through experimentation that barbed, treble hooks were unnecessary to assure success with plugs, have suggested that WDFW make the salmon gear restrictions for future fisheries consistent with "selective gear rules" required for trout and other gamefish upstream of Roza Dam. WDFW will make this change for future salmon fisheries: bait will remain prohibited; unscented artificial flies or lures with barbless, single-pointed hooks. For salmon fishing, hook gap will remain between ½ - 3/4 inch.
There continues to be some confusion by trout anglers concerning the difference between the "Fly Fishing Only" (FFO) regulation and "Selective Gear Rules" (SGR)----and what rules apply in the Yakima R. upstream of Roza Dam. The upper Yakima is not restricted to FFO which limits fishing to: 1) a single artificial fly constructed with a single-pointed, barbless hook with hook gap less than ½ inch, and 2) use of a conventional fly rod and fly line. This rule would prohibit the use of spinning or bait casting tackle casting spinners or other lures. WDFW is not willing to force anglers who do not fly fish off the upper Yakima River. Instead, the SGR combined with catch and release provides sufficient protection for the wild trout popultion without unduly limiting access to the fishery to the general public. Adopting the FFO regulation would also impact fly fishermen who, under the SGR, may legally fish with up to three flies (dry fly on the tippet and one or two droppers with nymphs). Under the FFO rule, only a single fly is permitted.
5. Location of Future Spring Chinook Salmon Fisheries
WDFW's decision to locate the spring chinook fishery this year upstream of Roza Dam is based on three issues:
1) It is not appropriate or prudent to place the sport fishery in the lower river downstream of Union Gap "in front of" or "on top of" the Yakama Nation's (YN) treaty-secured, ceremonial and subsistence fishery. WDFW's ability to open a sport fishery for spring chinook depends on good relations and cooperation with our legal (federal court mandated) "co-managers", the YN. We intend to prevent avoidable conflicts with the YN tribal government, the federal court and between sport and tribal fishermen on the water by not competing for fish in the same geographic area.
2) WDFW will not fish on the weaker Naches River component of the run (at least at this point in time) which this year accounts for only 30 percent (5,000 - 6,000 fish) of the total return to the mouth of the Yakima R. This eliminates staging a fishery in the Yakima R. between Union Gap and mouth of the Naches River where the two components of the run are still co-mingled. Furthermore, many Naches R. fish migrate past the Naches River confluence and hold during the spring in the Yakima R. downstream of Roza Dam before dropping back and migrating to upper Naches basin spawning grounds. This eliminates fishing in the very short Naches R. - Roza Dam reach, which also has poor access and few fishable holding pools for salmon fishing.
3) WDFW does not want to further complicate the collection of experimental research data from returning YFP hatchery supplementation fish at the Roza Dam adult collection facility. All YFP fish are coded-wire tagged or PIT-tagged and must be interrogated to collect tag data at Roza before being released to continue migrating upstream. Staging the sport fishery upstream of Roza Dam eliminates this problem.
However, WDFW intends to eliminate the area from Roza Dam to the boat access at the City of Ellensburg's Irene Rinehart Park from future salmon fisheries. Feedback from fishermen and the creel census survey this year showed that few salmon fishermen fished or caught salmon in the Yakima River Canyon area. There are few holding pools in the Yakima Canyon and salmon rapidly migrate through this 25 mile reach to upper river holding areas.
6. Catch & Release vs. Harvest of Salmon
Salmon anglers want to be able to catch, keep and eat spring chinook salmon---arguably the best salmon for the table. FP staff checked several salmon this spring that were cleaned. Although skin color was turning dark green or bronze, flesh quality was very high---firm and dark red. Fishermen that had already eaten salmon from an earlier catch reported that table quality was excellent. During the recent fishery, the daily limit was one salmon per angler---half of the usual two fish limit in most salmon fisheries. The one fish limit reduces harvest and distributes harvest more evenly among fishermen.
We do not believe that allowing the taking of spring chinook by salmon fishermen promotes the illegal harvest of rainbow trout that must be released unharmed. As discussed above, salmon fishermen we interviewed understood the regulations and released trout caught incidentally. Implementation of the same "selective gear rules" for salmon in future fisheries, as is currently required for trout, will assure that trout released by salmon anglers will have the same or nearly the same probability to survive as trout that are hooked, played to exhaustion on light gear and released day-after-day by more numerous fly fisherman who can fish year-round (as opposed to a few weekends in the spring).
WDFW actually discouraged C&R for salmon during the test fishery. We did not want salmon fishermen "high grading" (catching and releasing fish in hopes of catching a larger salmon) or hooking and playing fish to exhaustion simply for the sport. Unlike resident trout, adult salmon do not feed after leaving the ocean and must survive for months living off stored energy reserves----in the case of Yakima spring chinook, from early March until mid-September. A carefully released trout quickly recovers and resumes feeding. A hooked and "played out" salmon this far from the ocean (Roza Dam is 463 river miles from the ocean) has a low probability of surviving to spawn---catch and release may cause increased pre-spawning mortality. The salmon carcass is still in the river to provide nutrients for the ecosystem, but fertilized eggs for the next generation are not deposited in the spawning gravels. Our intention was for salmon fishermen to catch and keep (or release if they chose) the first salmon hooked which ended the days fishing. We actually hoped that trout anglers might enjoy the opportunity to fish for salmon early in the morning, catch and keep a salmon for the table, and then switch to fly fishing gear to catch and release trout during the afternoon/evening insect hatches.
7. Yakima River Flow Management
Who Manages the Water?
No state agency, including the WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), has the sole authority to make decisions dictating how the federally-owned Yakima Project is operated. The Yakima Project is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) ( not the U.S. Bureau of Land Managment (BLM)). WDFW is only one of many parties that provides input and advice to USBR on how to manage the Project (both operations and maintenance activities). Other agencies (local municipalities, county, state and federal governments), the Yakama Nation, irrigation districts and agricultural organizations, environmental organizations, etc., to name a few, all provide USBR input based on "their unique perspective" of how the Project should be operated. USBR must weigh all this input and reach a compromise decision that attempts to balance the interests of all parties. Regardless of our personal or professional opinions on the subject, the Yakima River is managed on a "multiple use" basis. This means that no single use, such as managing the river for optimum wild trout production and fishing, can occur----the best we can hope to achieve is a compromise flow regime that provides suboptimal, but good habitat for the aquatic ecosystem (insects, fish, etc.). That is, unless the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of Yakima basin steelhead as "threatened" and recent adoption of the "4(d) rules" by the National Marine Fisheries Service provides greater leverage to the state and federal fish agencies and YN. The listing of steelhead may hasten the rate that positive changes can be made for fish and the aquatic ecosystem.
Fortunately, the State of Washington has a clear voice in this "give and take" process because of a group known as the "System Operations Advisory Committee" or SOAC. SOAC was formed by USBR in July, 1981 under federal court order in response to a crisis in 1980 concerning the USBR providing inadequate flows in the fall and winter for incubating spring chinook salmon eggs in the upper Yakima R. near Cle Elum. The judge ordered USBR to establish SOAC to provide input on how to operate the Yakima Project in a manner that strives to minimize adverse impacts to fish and fish habitat. Before 1981, fish and fish habitat interests had virtually no voice in the process. SOAC consists of four fish biologists representing Washington State (WDFW), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Yakama Nation and the Yakima Basin irrigation districts/waterusers. This group attempts to make recommendations by concensus, but the tribal and fish agency representatives occasionally must submit a majority opinion if the irrigation interests can not agree. Note that SOAC is only an advisory body and makes recommendations to the USBR Yakima Project manager----other entities may provide separate input which is used in making the final decision.
In spite of a process virtually guaranteed to generate compromise decisions, there have been many positive changes in the river flow and reservoir release regime for fish and fish habitat in the past 19 years directly related to SOAC input. WDFW's Region 3 Fish Program Manager, John Easterbrooks, is the only original member of SOAC still on the committee after 19 years. This provides WDFW with a valuable "voice of experience" and the historic continuity that is needed to benefit the aquatic ecosystem. The "blue ribbon" wild rainbow trout fishery that you cherish and enjoy today is partially the result of the improvements in flow regime that have been made as a result of SOAC recommendations and WDFW's direct participation in this process.
Obviously, we still have a long way to go to. In 1999, SOAC issued a Congressionally-mandated report recommending steps needed to develop scientifically-supported, "biologically (read ecologically) based flows" in the Yakima Basin. SOAC is currently working with USBR to implement the report recommendations. Members of SOAC and others are also participating in another technical advisory committee that is developing an "Interim Operating Plan" for the Yakima Project under the umbrella of the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project (YRBWEP). This group is committed to developing a plan by mid-2001 with recommendations for improvements for fish and wildlife. We are making continual progress, but presently, it is a gradual, incremental process with few, if any, drastic changes readily apparent to the general public.
How is the Water Being Managed?
There have been accusations made that water flows were manipulated during the recent spring chinook salmon fishery to benefit salmon fishermen at the expense of trout fishermen. This is absolutely untrue....no water releases were made to benefit (or hinder) any fishery. USBR's Yakima Project managers do not make water releases specifically to achieve any sport fishing objectives. SOAC made no recommendation to USBR to do so, either. The high flows that occurred in mid-June were solely the result of increased inflow into already full storage reservoirs. High temperatures in mid-June caused high elevation snow pack in the Cle Elum River basin to melt sending a surge of water into Cle Elum Reservoir. Because the reservoir was already full, USBR had no choice but to pass the inflow through the reservoir, which caused the rapid increase (and subsequent rapid decrease) of flows in the Yakima R. The increase in flows disrupted both the catch & release trout fishery and the spring chinook fishery. Once the reservoirs are full, the fluctuations you see in the river are purely the result of fluctuations in unregulated inflow that can no longer be stored.
Of greater concern to the trout fishing community should be the upper Yakima R. flow regime during the summer when reservoir releases are made to meet lower valley irrigation demands. This practice accounts for the day-to-day high flows that occur all through the summer in the Yakima Canyon and upstream to the confluence with the Cle Elum River, prior to SOAC's "Flip-flop" flow operation that occurs in early September to influence the placement of spring chinook salmon spawning redds. USBR makes these high releases because of legal (contractual) obligations to the basin irrigation districts. However, the high flows are the opposite of what would happen in a normative, unregulated watershed---flows would decline through the summer at a time when resident trout, salmon and steelhead fry are in their first growing season. The higher than historic flows that occur because of reservoir releases from Keechelus and Cle Elum reservoirs actually reduce rearing habitat and food availability for juvenile salmonids. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options available to SOAC and USBR to modify the current summer operation----and still be able to deliver contract-obligated irrigation water downstream. Nevertheless, SOAC and WDFW will continue to work for improvements in the instream flow regime throughout the Yakima Basin where ever the opportunity occurs.
If you have further questions or comments regarding any of the topics/issues discussed above or any other related issue, please contact John Easterbrooks, the Region 3 Fish Program Manager, at (509)-457-9330.
Sincerely,
Lew Atkins, Assistant Director
Fish ProgramFish & Wildlife Commission
Director's Office