SAFE Draft Biop 4.30.21
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Biological Opinion Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Spring Chinook and Coho Salmon Hatchery Programs Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7(a)(2) Biological Opinion and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Essential Fish Habitat Consultation Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Spring Chinook Salmon and Coho Salmon Programs NMFS Consultation Number: WCRO-2020-02145 Action Agencies: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Program Operators: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Clatsop County Fisheries (CCF) Affected Species and Determinations: Is Action Is Action Is Action Likely to Likely To Likely To Adversely Jeopardize Destroy or Affect Species the Species? Adversely ESA-Listed Species Status or Critical Modify Critical Habitat? Habitat? Lower Columbia River coho salmon T Yes No No (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Lower Columbia River steelhead (O. mykiss) T Yes No No Lower Columbia River Chinook salmon (O. T Yes No No tshawytscha) Columbia River chum salmon (O. keta) T Yes No No Upper Willamette Spring Chinook Salmon (O. Yes No No T tshawytscha) Upper Willamette Winter Steelhead (O. mykiss) T No No No Upper Columbia River spring-run Chinook E No No No salmon (O. tshawytscha) Snake River spring/summer run Chinook T Yes No No salmon (O. tshawytscha) 1 Biological Opinion Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Spring Chinook and Coho Salmon Hatchery Programs Snake River fall-run Chinook salmon (O. T No No No tshawytscha) Middle Columbia River steelhead (O. mykiss) T No No No Upper Columbia River steelhead (O. mykiss) T No No No Snake River Basin steelhead (O. mykiss) T No No No Snake River sockeye salmon (O. nerka) E No No No Eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) T No No No Southern green sturgeon (Acipenser T No No No medirostris) Southern Resident killer whale (Orcinus orca) E No No No Fishery Management Plan That Describes Does the Action Have an Are EFH Conservation Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) in the Project Adverse Effect on EFH? Recommendations Provided? Area Pacific Coast Salmon No No Pacific Coast Groundfish No No Coastal Pelagic Species No No Consultation Conducted By: National Marine Fisheries Service, West Coast Region, Sustainable Fisheries Division Issued By: __________________________ Barry A. Thom, Regional Administrator West Coast Region National Marine Fisheries Service Date: May 3, 2021 2 Biological Opinion Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Spring Chinook and Coho Salmon Hatchery Programs TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background .................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Consultation History ....................................................................................... 2 1.3. Proposed Action ............................................................................................. 5 1.3.1. Proposed hatchery production and juvenile acclimation and release .................. 9 1.3.2. Proposed research, monitoring, and evaluation............................................... 11 1.3.3. Proposed operation, maintenance, and construction of hatchery facilities ........ 12 2. Endangered Species Act: Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement.................... 14 2.1. Analytical Approach ..................................................................................... 14 2.2. Range-wide Status of Species and Critical Habitat ......................................... 16 2.2.1. Status of Listed Species ................................................................................ 18 2.2.2. Climate Change ............................................................................................ 84 2.3. Action Area .................................................................................................. 84 2.4. Environmental Baseline ................................................................................ 84 2.4.1. Habitat and Hydropower ............................................................................... 85 2.4.2. Climate Change ............................................................................................ 86 2.4.3. Columbia River Estuary and Plume ............................................................... 93 2.4.4. Harvest ......................................................................................................... 98 2.4.5. Hatcheries .................................................................................................... 99 2.5. Effects on ESA Protected Species and on Designated Critical Habitat ............ 99 2.5.1. Effects of the Proposed Action .....................................................................101 2.6. Cumulative Effects ......................................................................................112 2.7. Integration and Synthesis .............................................................................113 2.7.1. Critical Habitat ............................................................................................114 2.8. Conclusion ..................................................................................................114 2.9. Incidental Take Statement ............................................................................114 2.9.1. Amount or Extent of Take ............................................................................115 2.9.2. Effect of the Take ........................................................................................118 2.9.3. Reasonable and Prudent Measures ................................................................118 2.9.4. Terms and Conditions ..................................................................................119 2.10. Conservation Recommendation ....................................................................121 2.11. Reinitiation of Consultation .........................................................................121 2.12. “Not Likely to Adversely Affect” Determinations .........................................121 3. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Essential Fish Habitat Consultation .........................................................................................................................126 3 Biological Opinion Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Spring Chinook and Coho Salmon Hatchery Programs 3.1. Essential Fish Habitat Affected by the Project...............................................126 3.2. Adverse Effects on Essential Fish Habitat .....................................................127 3.3. Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Recommendations.................................127 3.4. Statutory Response Requirement ..................................................................127 3.5. Supplemental Consultation...........................................................................128 4. Data Quality Act Documentation and Pre-Dissemination Review ...................................129 4.1. Utility..........................................................................................................129 4.2. Integrity ......................................................................................................129 4.3. Objectivity ..................................................................................................129 5. Appendix A: Hatchery Production Tables for the Safe Program ......................................131 6. Appendix B: Factors Considered When Analyzing Hatchery Effects ...............................134 6.1. Factors That Are Considered When Analyzing Hatchery Effects ...................134 6.1.1. Factor 1. The hatchery program does or does not promote the conservation of genetic resources that represent the ecological and genetic diversity of a salmon ESU or steelhead DPS ...............................................................................................................137 6.1.2. Factor 2. Hatchery fish and the progeny of naturally spawning hatchery fish on spawning grounds and encounters with natural-origin and hatchery fish at adult collection facilities 137 6.1.3. Factor 3. Hatchery fish and the progeny of naturally spawning hatchery fish in juvenile rearing areas, migration corridor, estuary, and ocean .........................................145 6.1.4. Factor 4. Research, monitoring, and evaluation that exists because of the hatchery program ..........................................................................................................149 6.1.5. Factor 5. Construction, operation, and maintenance, of facilities that exist because of the hatchery program ....................................................................................149 6.1.6. Factor 6. Fisheries that exist because of the hatchery program .......................150 7. References ....................................................................................................................151 4 Biological Opinion Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Spring Chinook and Coho Salmon Hatchery Programs List of Tables Table 1. Programs included in the Proposed Action. ................................................................ 7 Table 2. Broodstock collection locations for the ODFW and WDFW SAFE programs. ............ 10 Table 3. LCR Chinook