3 Limiting Factors and Threats
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LOWER COLUMBIA SALMON RECOVERY & SUBBASIN PLAN December 2004 3 Limiting Factors and Threats 3 LIMITING FACTORS AND THREATS........................................................................3-1 3.1 HABITAT –STREAMS .....................................................................................................3-2 3.1.1 Background..........................................................................................................3-2 3.1.2 Limiting Factors...................................................................................................3-3 3.1.3 Threats................................................................................................................3-22 3.2 ESTUARY AND LOWER MAINSTEM HABITAT ..............................................................3-26 3.2.1 Background........................................................................................................3-26 3.2.2 Limiting Factors.................................................................................................3-27 3.2.3 Threats................................................................................................................3-36 3.3 HABITAT – OCEAN ......................................................................................................3-38 3.3.1 Background........................................................................................................3-38 3.3.2 Limiting Factors.................................................................................................3-38 3.3.3 Threats................................................................................................................3-43 3.4 HYDROPOWER.............................................................................................................3-45 3.4.1 Background........................................................................................................3-45 3.4.2 Limiting Factors.................................................................................................3-45 3.4.3 Threats................................................................................................................3-48 3.5 HARVEST ....................................................................................................................3-50 3.5.1 Background........................................................................................................3-50 3.5.2 Limiting Factors.................................................................................................3-67 3.5.3 Threats................................................................................................................3-74 3.6 HATCHERY..................................................................................................................3-77 3.6.1 Background........................................................................................................3-77 3.6.2 Limiting Factors.................................................................................................3-82 3.6.3 Threats................................................................................................................3-95 3.7 ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS.......................................................................................3-96 3.7.1 Background........................................................................................................3-96 3.7.2 Limiting Factors.................................................................................................3-96 3.7.3 Threats..............................................................................................................3-102 3.8 OTHER FISH AND WILDLIFE SPECIES ........................................................................3-104 3.8.1 Other Sensitive Species....................................................................................3-104 3.8.2 Species of Ecological Significance..................................................................3-107 3.8.3 Species of Recreational Significance...............................................................3-113 LIMITING FACTORS & THREATS 3-1 LOWER COLUMBIA SALMON RECOVERY & SUBBASIN PLAN December 2004 The combination of habitat degradation, dam building and operation, fishing, hatchery operations, ecological changes, and natural environmental fluctuations, has resulted in reduced Columbia River salmonid populations. Other fish and wildlife species have also been affected – many have decreased in numbers but others have increased. Understanding the threats and limiting factors and how they function is essential to the development of recovery actions. Thorough overviews of the threats and limiting factors have been provided in Volume I, Chapter 3 of the Technical Foundation. Extensive details of the local threats and limiting factors in each subbasin are presented in Volume II of the Technical Foundation. This chapter summarizes the limiting factors and ongoing threats to salmon, steelhead, and trout species. Limiting factors are described in relation to the biological needs of the species, and the threats are those activities that lead to the limiting factors. By identifying the threats to recovery, specific recovery strategies and measures can be developed which would guide actions at the subbasin level to mitigate the threats. Limiting factors and threats for salmon and steelhead are described under the broad categories of stream habitat, mainstem and estuary habitat, hydropower, harvest, and hatchery operations. Limiting factors and threats are also summarized for other fish and wildlife species. 3.1 Habitat –Streams 3.1.1 Background Healthy stream habitat is critical for recovering and sustaining populations of salmon, steelhead and trout in the lower Columbia region. Many essential habitat features have been altered or degraded by human activities such as dams, logging, agriculture, urban development, road building, gravel mining, channelization, and water withdrawals. Properly functioning conditions (PFC) represent favorable or optimum habitat for salmon as described by NOAA Fisheries in the “matrix of pathways and indicators” approach to assessing habitat (NMFS 1996). PFCs generally represent a reasonable upper bound of the potential for habitat improvement although, in some cases, the large-scale changes required would be difficult to implement (e.g., levee removal). The attainment of PFC stream conditions throughout an ESU’s historical habitat would increase the likelihood that an ESU would recover. However, PFC conditions may not be necessary for populations to reach recovery. Likewise, populations may fall short of recovery despite having PFC habitat conditions if distribution has been substantially reduced or out-of-subbasin mortality factors are severe. Estimates of current stream capacity to produce salmon and steelhead generally ranges from 6 to 84% of PFC benchmark conditions as determined using EDT modeling (Table 1). Species averages range from a low of 23% for chum to a high of 74% for summer steelhead. These percentages describe the scope for potential improvement and the relative scale of habitat degradation for different species and subbasins. Similar estimates of declines in habitat conditions do not exist for bull trout. Bull trout prefer cold water and are often most abundant within headwater areas of subbasins. Bull trout are affected by many of the same habitat changes that have affected other salmon and steelhead species. In the lower Columbia, bull trout movement within historical headwater areas has also been limited by tributary dams, particularly in the Lewis River and White Salmon River subbasins. LIMITING FACTORS & THREATS 3-2 LOWER COLUMBIA SALMON RECOVERY & SUBBASIN PLAN December 2004 Table 1. Current habitat condition by species relative to historical conditions. The current condition of stream habitat is expressed as a percentage of historical condition using the Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT) model and PFC as defined by NOAA Fisheries (NMFS 1996). Chinook Steelhead Subbasin Spring Fall (tule) Fall (bright) Chum Coho Winter Summer Grays/Chinook -- 69 -- 28 33 64 -- Eloch/Skam -- 70 -- 28 41 64 -- Mill/Ab/Ger -- 66 -- 28 68 75 -- L. Cowlitz -- 43 -- 14 26 15 -- U. Cowlitz 47 46 -- -- 47 61 -- Cispus 40 -- -- 70 62 -- Tilton 27 -- -- -- 8 20 -- NF Toutle 0 48 -- -- na 21 -- SF Toutle 0 -- -- -- 14 40 -- Coweeman -- 64 -- -- 30 64 -- Kalama 55 67 -- 27 47 72 83 NF Lewis 53 -- 93 -- 50 76 na EF Lewis -- 56 -- 30 32 57 55 Salmon -- na -- 0 17 28 -- Washougal -- 58 -- 18 25 55 73 L. Gorge -- 74 -- 41 46 90 -- U. Gorge (Wind) -- 39 -- 14 47 57 86 White Salmon na na -- na na -- -- Average 32 58 93 23 38 54 74 Note: “—“ indicates that an historical population for the species and subbasin did not exist. “na” indicates that an historical population for the species was present in the subbasin, but EDT habitat analyses are not available. 3.1.2 Limiting Factors The habitat limiting factors described below are believed to be impacting healthy life cycles and natural production of salmonids in the lower Columbia region. The information is based on the assessments and data gathering presented in the Technical Foundation and focused on limiting factors at the stream channel scale. Passage Obstructions Processes and Effects — Fish passage barriers that limit habitat connectivity and access to spawning and rearing habitats are a significant factor affecting salmon populations in many Northwest watersheds.