Steelhead Washington: Chehalis, Hoh, Humptulips, Queets, Quillayute
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Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss ©Monterey Bay Aquarium Washington: Chehalis, Hoh, Humptulips, Queets, Quillayute, Quinault Rivers Gillnet, Midwater February 6, 2017 (updated April 6, 2017) Seafood Watch Consulting Researcher Disclaimer Seafood Watch® strives to have all Seafood Reports reviewed for accuracy and completeness by external scientists with expertise in ecology, fisheries science and aquaculture. Scientific review, however, does not constitute an endorsement of the Seafood Watch® program or its recommendations on the part of the reviewing scientists. Seafood Watch® is solely responsible for the conclusions reached in this report. Seafood Watch Standard used in this assessment: Standard for Fisheries vF2 Table of Contents About. Seafood. .Watch . 3. Guiding. .Principles . 4. Summary. 5. Final. Seafood. .Recommendations . 6. Introduction. 8. Assessment. 10. Criterion. 1:. .Impacts . on. the. species. .under . .assessment . .10 . Criterion. 2:. .Impacts . on. other. .species . .26 . Criterion. 3:. .Management . Effectiveness. .38 . Criterion. 4:. .Impacts . on. the. habitat. and. .ecosystem . .48 . Acknowledgements. 52. References. 53. Appendix. A:. Review. Schedule. 60. 2 About Seafood Watch Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch® program evaluates the ecological sustainability of wild-caught and farmed seafood commonly found in the United States marketplace. Seafood Watch® defines sustainable seafood as originating from sources, whether wild-caught or farmed, which can maintain or increase production in the long-term without jeopardizing the structure or function of affected ecosystems. Seafood Watch® makes its science-based recommendations available to the public in the form of regional pocket guides that can be downloaded from www.seafoodwatch.org. The program’s goals are to raise awareness of important ocean conservation issues and empower seafood consumers and businesses to make choices for healthy oceans. Each sustainability recommendation on the regional pocket guides is supported by a Seafood Report. Each report synthesizes and analyzes the most current ecological, fisheries and ecosystem science on a species, then evaluates this information against the program’s conservation ethic to arrive at a recommendation of “Best Choices,” “Good Alternatives” or “Avoid.” The detailed evaluation methodology is available upon request. In producing the Seafood Reports, Seafood Watch® seeks out research published in academic, peer-reviewed journals whenever possible. Other sources of information include government technical publications, fishery management plans and supporting documents, and other scientific reviews of ecological sustainability. Seafood Watch® Research Analysts also communicate regularly with ecologists, fisheries and aquaculture scientists, and members of industry and conservation organizations when evaluating fisheries and aquaculture practices. Capture fisheries and aquaculture practices are highly dynamic; as the scientific information on each species changes, Seafood Watch®’s sustainability recommendations and the underlying Seafood Reports will be updated to reflect these changes. Parties interested in capture fisheries, aquaculture practices and the sustainability of ocean ecosystems are welcome to use Seafood Reports in any way they find useful. For more information about Seafood Watch® and Seafood Reports, please contact the Seafood Watch® program at Monterey Bay Aquarium by calling 1-877-229- 9990. 3 Guiding Principles Seafood Watch defines sustainable seafood as originating from sources, whether fished1 or farmed, that can maintain or increase production in the long-term without jeopardizing the structure or function of affected ecosystems. Based on this principle, Seafood Watch had developed four sustainability criteria for evaluating wildcatch fisheries for consumers and businesses. These criteria are: How does fishing affect the species under assessment? How does the fishing affect other, target and non-target species? How effective is the fishery’s management? How does the fishing affect habitats and the stability of the ecosystem? Each criterion includes: Factors to evaluate and score Guidelines for integrating these factors to produce a numerical score and rating Once a rating has been assigned to each criterion, we develop an overall recommendation. Criteria ratings and the overall recommendation are color-coded to correspond to the categories on the Seafood Watch pocket guide and online guide: Best Choice/Green: Are well managed and caught in ways that cause little harm to habitats or other wildlife. Good Alternative/Yellow: Buy, but be aware there are concerns with how they’re caught. Avoid/Red Take a pass on these for now. These items are overfished or caught in ways that harm other marine life or the environment. 1 “Fish” is used throughout this document to refer to finfish, shellfish and other invertebrates 4 Summary Steelhead are seagoing members of the rainbow trout species found along the U.S. West Coast. Several distinct population segments of steelhead have been listed as "Threatened" or "Endangered" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This report focuses on commercial fisheries for non-ESA listed steelhead in the Washington Coastal region (Southwest Washington and Olympic Peninsula). All commercial fishing for steelhead in Washington is conducted by Indian tribes. This report covers fisheries conducted by the Quinault Indian Nation, Quileute Nation, and Hoh Tribe in the Chehalis, Hoh, Humptulips, Queets, Quillayute, and Quinault Rivers. Steelhead are born in freshwater and generally spend 2–3 years there before migrating to ocean waters to feed and mature. After spending a few years in the ocean, steelhead return to freshwaters to spawn, often to the same river they were born in. Steelhead are divided into two reproductive types based on when they return to freshwater to spawn: summer-run steelhead enter freshwater between May and October, while winter-run steelhead enter freshwater between November and April. In general, steelhead populations in the Washington Coastal region are healthier than steelhead populations in other regions, but they have experienced declines because of both fishing and habitat degradation. To evaluate the status of steelhead populations, scientists and managers monitor escapement. Escapement is the number of fish that escape capture in the fishery and actually spawn. Managers set escapement goals for steelhead populations based on the number of spawners that are required to maintain healthy populations. In most rivers assessed in this report, the winter steelhead populations have been meeting their escapement goals the majority of the time. But the abundance of summer steelhead in all rivers is unknown. Additionally, steelhead populations have been heavily supplemented with hatchery production, and hatchery fish are not always distinguished from wild fish, which can confound the interpretation of wild steelhead abundance. The abundance of Chehalis River and Hoh River steelhead is of high concern because the winter steelhead population in these rivers has often failed to achieve the respective escapement goals. The tribal fisheries catch steelhead using mid-water gillnets. The fisheries may catch and retain other salmon species, primarily coho and Chinook. Additionally, the steelhead fisheries in the Hoh, Queets, and Quinault Rivers may incidentally catch threatened bull trout. The steelhead fisheries in the Chehalis and Humptulips Rivers may incidentally catch green sturgeon, a species of concern. Incidental catches of bull trout and sturgeon are poorly monitored, which makes it difficult to determine how the steelhead fisheries affect their populations. Steelhead fisheries are co-managed by the Indian Tribes and the State of Washington. Each year, managers meet to plan and set regulations for the steelhead fisheries. Managers try to balance the needs of fishers with the need to maintain healthy steelhead populations. Managers are working toward managing steelhead using an integrated approach, which includes restoring degraded steelhead habitats and improving the management of hatcheries to minimize their negative ecological impacts (such as resource competition, disease transfer, and genetic impacts) on wild fish, but further work is still needed to address hatchery concerns. Additionally, there are currently no specific management policies to account for steelhead’s important ecological role in ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The Chehalis River and Hoh River steelhead fisheries are rated "Red" due to concerns about the status of steelhead in these river and concerns over bycatch of sturgeon and bull trout respectively. All other steelhead fisheries evaluated in this report are rated "Yellow." 5 Final Seafood Recommendations CRITERION CRITERION 2: 1: IMPACTS IMPACTS ON CRITERION 3: CRITERION 4: ON THE OTHER MANAGEMENT HABITAT AND OVERALL SPECIES/FISHERY SPECIES SPECIES EFFECTIVENESS ECOSYSTEM RECOMMENDATION Rainbow trout Red (2.159) Red (2.159) Yellow (2.449) Yellow (2.828) Avoid (2.383) (Steelhead) Washington Chehalis River, Drift gillnets (driftnets), United States Rainbow trout Red (2.159) Red (1.526) Yellow (2.449) Yellow (2.828) Avoid (2.185) (Steelhead) Washington Hoh River, Drift gillnets (driftnets), United States Rainbow trout Yellow Red (2.159) Yellow (2.449) Yellow (2.828) Good Alternative (Steelhead) (2.644) (2.507) Washington Humptulips River, Drift gillnets (driftnets), United States Rainbow trout Yellow Red (1.526) Yellow (2.449)