2008 Eulachon Status Review
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Summary of Scientific Conclusions of the Review of the Status of Eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) in Washington, Oregon, and California Biological Review Team Northwest Fisheries Science Center National Marine Fisheries Service 2725 Montlake Blvd. E. Seattle, WA 98112-2097 Date of Draft December 15, 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................................6 SUMMARY OF INFORMATION PRESENTED BY THE PETITIONER ..................................................................................7 The DPS Question: Evidence for “Discreteness” and “Significance”..................................................................7 Summary of Abundance and Population Trends..................................................................................................8 Summary of Risk Factors.....................................................................................................................................9 THE “SPECIES” QUESTION ....................................................................................................................................11 TAXONOMY AND SPECIES DESCRIPTION ..................................................................................................................12 Scientific Nomenclature.....................................................................................................................................12 Common Names.................................................................................................................................................12 Eulachon and Human Cultural History ..............................................................................................................13 HISTORICAL AND CURRENT DISTRIBUTION .............................................................................................................14 Freshwater Spawning Distribution.....................................................................................................................14 APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING DISCRETENESS AND SIGNIFICANCE .........................................................................14 LIFE HISTORY AND MORPHOLOGY ..........................................................................................................................15 Persistence of Spawn Location and Spawn Timing ...........................................................................................15 Morphology........................................................................................................................................................16 Otolith Chemistry...............................................................................................................................................16 Age Composition ...............................................................................................................................................16 GENETIC DIFFERENTIATION.....................................................................................................................................17 ECOLOGICAL FEATURES ..........................................................................................................................................19 Freshwater (Spawning) Environment.................................................................................................................20 Oceanic Environment.........................................................................................................................................22 Marine Zoogeographic Provinces ......................................................................................................................24 OTHER MARINE FISH DPS DESIGNATIONS ..............................................................................................................25 EVALUATION OF DISCRETENESS AND SIGNIFICANCE FOR EULACHON .....................................................................26 BRT DPS DETERMINATION.....................................................................................................................................31 THE “EXTINCTION RISK” QUESTION..................................................................................................................32 Absolute Numbers..............................................................................................................................................33 Historical Abundance and Carrying Capacity....................................................................................................34 Trends in Abundance .........................................................................................................................................34 Recent Events.....................................................................................................................................................34 OFFICIAL STATUS IN CALIFORNIA, OREGON, AND WASHINGTON ............................................................................36 STATUS IN CANADA.................................................................................................................................................37 OTHER STATUS ASSESSMENTS ................................................................................................................................37 GENERAL DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS....................................................................................................................38 Data Availability................................................................................................................................................39 SUMMARY OF REGIONAL DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ......................................................................................................41 Offshore Juvenile Abundance Estimates............................................................................................................41 Northern California............................................................................................................................................42 Columbia River..................................................................................................................................................46 Fraser River........................................................................................................................................................48 Knight Inlet ........................................................................................................................................................50 Kingcome Inlet...................................................................................................................................................52 Rivers Inlet.........................................................................................................................................................52 Dean Channel.....................................................................................................................................................53 2 Gardner Canal ....................................................................................................................................................54 Douglas Channel................................................................................................................................................55 Skeena River ......................................................................................................................................................56 ASSESSMENT OF DEMOGRAPHIC RISK AND THE RISK MATRIX APPROACH..............................................................57 QUALITATIVE THREATS ASSESSMENT .....................................................................................................................58 OVERALL RISK DETERMINATION.............................................................................................................................60 SUMMARY OF RISK CONCLUSIONS FOR THE SOUTHERN EULACHON DPS ...............................................................60 “SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF ITS RANGE” QUESTION .................................................................................................63 CITATIONS................................................................................................................................................................64 TABLES......................................................................................................................................................................88 FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................................................113 APPENDIX A: LIFE HISTORY TABLES..............................................................................................................140 APPENDIX B: SELECTED ACCOUNTS OF EULACHON IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS ...................................164 OREGON ................................................................................................................................................................165