Wild Center 2012 Annual Report LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

The Future of Wild Salmon In March of this year, Wild Salmon Center and High Liner Foods Inc. brought together twelve of the world's most prominent international companies in Boston to discuss shared concerns about the future of wild salmon. Global seafood demand is projected to double by the year 2050, and with wild salmon facing threats ranging from poaching to habitat loss to impacts from hatchery salmon, major seafood buyers realize that they are competing for a shrinking resource. The meeting in Boston resulted in eight seafood companies signing an agreement with the Wild Salmon Center to form the Global Wild Salmon Achievement Initiative. The goal is to engage 75% of global commercial salmon fi sheries in improvement projects, with a focus in Asia where the Russian Far East and Japan combine to account for nearly two thirds of Pacifi c salmon harvest. The meeting was a breakthrough in our efforts to safeguard some of the world’s most productive wild salmon runs. Let me explain. Habitat protection alone will not save salmon. Healthy salmon runs depend on large numbers of wild salmon reaching spawning and rearing habitat, sometimes thousands of miles from the ocean. To achieve this we need to ensure that commercial fi sheries and fi shery management practices do not put the health of wild salmon runs at risk. An essential tool to ensure good fi shery management is the use of indepen- dent, third party certifi ers to assess the sustainability of fi sheries according to international best practice standards. Seafood buyers and retailers are increas- ingly realizing that without this assurance, they won’t know if the fi sh they are buying come from responsibly managed fi sheries, and if the supply is likely to be reliable over time. If our goal is to sustain salmon for ecological, economic and cultural values, partnering with major seafood companies to achieve the highest standards of wild fi sh management and conservation represents a major strategic opportunity. In this year’s annual report, you will see the strong progress Wild Salmon Center is making. With a new offi ce in Anchorage, Alaska, a growing network of local watershed councils in the Russian Far East, major watershed protection opportunities in the U.S. Pacifi c Northwest, and new strategic partnerships in the seafood industry, we are well positioned to support our shared goals: healthy wild salmon rivers and human communities in some of the most productive and beautiful places on earth. Thank you for helping make this happen.

Guido Rahr President and Chief Executive

The volcano-encircled Kuril Lake in 's South Kamchatka Nature Reserve provides spawning grounds for migrating up the Ozernaya River. A major success was won for wild salmon in 2012 when the Ozernaya sockeye

salmon fi shery, the largest in Asia, was certifi ed as sustainable. Igor Shpilenok

Wild Salmon Center  WILD SALMON CENTER 20 years of protecting salmon across the North Pacifi c

Western Pacifi c North America

ALASKA

RUSSIA

Nushagak & Bering Sea Kvichak CANADA Utkholok & Bristol Bay Kvachina

Sea of Okhotsk KAMCHATKA

KHABAROVSK REGION Shantar Islands Kol & BRITISH COLUMBIA SAKHALIN Kekhta Zhupanova Tugur & Nimelen Langry Im Dagi Opala Gorin Dui Nabil Ozernaya Pursh-Pursh,Vengeri & Langeri Harrison Koppi

Hor WASHINGTON Olympic Peninsula Lutoga OREGON Nehalem & Tillamook Sarufutsu Shiretoko Sandy/Clackamas

North Umpqua UNITEDUNITED SUSTAINING FISHERIES BUILDING LEADERSHIP CONSERVING HABITAT Illinois SSTATESTATES CALIFORNIA KOREA Sea of Japan JAPAN

Mihael Blikshteyn WSC Staff Dave McCoy KEY Best management practices Local and regional coalitions Landscape-scale legal protection, WSC Project (see pg 18 for designated Salmon Strongholds) adopted by fi shing industry of wild salmon champions conservation and restoration of Sustainable Project and fi shery resource managers, educated, organized and selected salmon strongholds hatchery impact on wild salmon effectively advocating for in priority ecoregions, and best Watershed Council/Regional Coalition minimized, and illegal fi shing conservation and sustainable practices adopted by extractive eliminated. fi sheries management. industries. wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  Why Salmon? Siberian taimen, Russia Our goal is to protect the North Pacific’s best wild Salmon are what biologists call a "keystone species": a species that plays a critical role in the healthy functioning of an entire ecosystem. Just as a salmon rivers and most robust salmon populations keystone in an arch holds the whole structure up, Pacifi c salmon knit together while they are still healthy and strong. marine and freshwater ecosystems across the Pacifi c Rim, from Northern California to Alaska and from the Russian Far East to Japan. Every year, hundreds of millions of wild salmon swim their way up rivers, to spawn in the same waters where they were born. This migration is one of the wonders of the natural world. It’s also an enormous—and essential—transfer of nutrients from ocean to forest, bringing thousands of tons of nitrogen and carbon inland in the form of fi sh. Other species including bears and eagles help spread the nutrients even farther; marine-derived nitrogen from salmon can end up in the needles of spruce trees over a quarter mile from streams. Salmon support enormous food webs, feeding at least 137 species from orca whales to otters. Their abundance in autumn can determine how many coastal birds show up the following summer. The free-fl owing rivers and dense forests of healthy salmon ecosystems also provide clean drinking water, wild spaces to enjoy, and carbon sinks crucial for global climate change. Wild salmon support millions of people around the Pacifi c Rim who rely on them for income and a healthy and sustainable source of protein. Pacifi c salmon fi sheries fuel a $3 billion annual industry and support tens of thousands of jobs. Demand for wild and sustainable salmon is soaring—as are the pressures that are pushing salmon populations toward the brink. These threats include habitat loss, overfi shing, extractive industries and development, and climate change. Mihael Blikshteyn Sergey Gorshkov

Salmon support enormous Many salmon populations have declined dramatically from would work without local support. WSC partners with food webs, feeding their historic numbers. But there are still places where communities, governments, and other stakeholders in hundreds of species they thrive. We call these places “salmon strongholds”— salmon strongholds, to train and equip on-the-ground healthy salmon ecosystems that still teem with wild fi sh. leaders and stewards to ensure the conservation of their —including our own. Wild Salmon Center focuses efforts and resources on these local fi sheries. last, best places, using proactive and pragmatic strategies When we protect wild salmon, we protect much more than based on the best science, to ensure the long-term survival just the fi sh themselves. We safeguard the hundreds of of the species and the people and communities who species they sustain, the invaluable places they live, the depend on them. clean waters they swim in and the millions of people who WSC’s three-part strategy starts with safeguarding core rely on them for food and economic security. It’s a diffi cult salmon habitat, using landscape-scale protections. The challenge and an incredible opportunity—and defi nitely a next step is promoting the sustainable management fi sh worth fi ghting for. of salmon fi sheries, supporting rigorous certifi cation standards and enforcement of fi shery laws. None of this wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  Sustaining Fisheries

The demand for salmon and other seafood is expected to double in the next twenty years to meet the needs of a growing and more affl uent human population. Now more than ever it's important to ensure that the Pacifi c’s commercial salmon fi sheries are managed to benefi t commercial fi shermen, local communities, and all the species that depend on wild salmon.

Teaming up with Fishermen and Seafood Buyers With this goal in mind, WSC and High Liner Foods, Inc. brought together the world's top seafood buyers in the spring of 2013 to launch a Global Wild Salmon Fisheries Achievement Initiative. Buyers from around the world gathered in Boston, Massachusetts to address the threat to the future of the industry and to help ensure the majority of Pacifi c salmon fi sheries become certifi ed as sustainable. Eight companies pledged to help increase volumes of third-party certifi ed wild capture salmon to 75% of total pan-Pacifi c production. Around 50% of Pacifi c salmon production is currently certifi ed as sustainable or under assessment. This is an encouraging start, but there is still much work to be done to reach the 75% goal. Through its Sustainable Fisheries Initiative, WSC is helping fi sheries around the Pacifi c with practical solutions to achieve standards like Marine Stewardship Certification is the tool, not the goal. The goal is Council (MSC) certifi cation, the “gold standard” eco-label for sustainable seafood. Through this and other Improvement Projects (FIPs) in Russia sustainable fisheries and thriving human communities. and Japan, WSC is facilitating advancements in management and fi shing practices. WSC is also providing important technical, fi nancial and logistical

support for fi sheries going through the certifi cation process. WSC Staff The MSC provides a rigorous set of environmental and management benchmarks, including measures to set catch limits so that suffi cient numbers FISHERY PROJECTS In 2009, the Iturup Island pink and fi shery the highest standards of sustainability. For example, WSC is of wild fi sh return to spawn, prevent illegal fi shing, and minimize bycatch—the in the Kuril Islands (between Sakhalin Island and Japan) working with the pink salmon fi shery at Aniva Bay on Sakha- capture of unwanted or endangered species that are often killed in the fi shing become the fi rst Russian salmon fi shery to achieve lin Island to implement hatchery marking and monitoring process and simply discarded. Certifi cation is becoming an essential key for RUSSIA certifi cation. programs to fully assess the impacts of hatchery fi sh to wild fi sheries that want to unlock growing world markets—with the potential of fi sh. In Japan, where hatcheries are prevalent, WSC has been In 2012, two more key Sakhalin fi sheries were certifi ed achieving a higher price premium from consumers. More fi sheries are aiming working with Hokkaido’s chum salmon fi sheries to improve KAMCHATKA as sustainable. After fi ve years of close collaboration with for the MSC certifi cation every year, and WSC is there to help see them through tracking and monitoring and allow more wild fi sh to return WSC, the NE Sakhalin pink salmon trap net fi shery was the process. to spawn. WSC will continue to work with these and other MSC certifi ed. These six fi shing companies together haul fi sheries to work towards greater sustainability and to help Kikhchik in up to 6,500 metric tons of pink salmon every year. A Seizing Opportunity Bolshaya secure a promising future for wild salmon. Nogliki & Opala number of Sakhalin’s pink salmon spawn in protected When the iron curtain fell over twenty years ago, a new system of land nature reserves recently set aside specifi cally for that and resource management emerged in the Russian Far East. The Russian Ozernaya Smirnikh purpose—such as the Vostochny Reserve created in 2007 in legislature started issuing fi shermen long-term operating leases (typically SAKHALIN partnership with Sakhalin Environment Watch. lasting 20 years) on select coastal ranges. With this change in ownership, some fi shermen began to realize they had a vested interest in the health of the rivers Aniva 2012 also marked the year Kamchatka celebrated its fi rst and were motivated to ensure strong returning salmon runs. The fi shermen MSC certifi ed fi shery. The Ozernaya River sockeye salmon also wanted access to Western and European markets where they could WSC is working with fi sheries and beach seine and trap net fi shery is not only the largest and potentially get a higher price for their salmon. It was this confl uence of interest buyers to reach a pan-Pacifi c goal of most valuable of its kind in Asia, but the headwaters of that created an opportunity for WSC to work with these commercial fi shing 75% salmon certifi ed as sustainable. the Ozernaya River are protected as part of the Kronotsky businesses to make improvements to fi sh management and work towards Nature Reserve. The certifi cation was the result of years of Salmon powers a $3 billion a year certifi cation. Thanks to our work in Russia dating back to the mid 1990s, WSC industry and accounts for the main teamwork between commercial fi shermen, WSC and the was positioned to connect the Russian fi sheries with these new markets and at source of sustenance in many coastal World Wildlife Fund. the same time help address sustainability issues. Before these developments, communities around the Pacifi c. there was little incentive for compelling fi shermen to meet the stringent The Long Haul standards for sustainability set by the Marine Stewardship Council. MSC certifi cation is a multi-year, ongoing process, and WSC continues to help fi sheries make improvements and meet wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  Bob Waldrop SUSTAINING FISHERIES

Containing the impacts of hatcheries Over thousands of years evolutionary processes have fi ne- tuned the life cycle of wild salmon in the North Pacifi c. From the time they emerge as fry from the stream gravel, to their migration out to the sea and return home, these fi sh grow and mature at sea and complete their life cycle in freshwater. While there are a myriad of threats that can With 5,000,000,000 (and counting) hatchery disrupt this process, including dams, overfi shing and habitat loss, perhaps one of the least understood threats is salmon released into the Pacific each year, the practice of producing and releasing hatchery salmon. Initially, hatcheries were introduced as a way to boost we must consider the impact on wild salmon. wild populations that had declined from the impact of dams. Science is revealing that hatchery fi sh are having an adverse affect on wild populations. The problem is exacerbated by pressure to release more hatchery fi sh to meet the growing global demand for salmon. Much has been learned over the past two decades about the genetic effects of hatchery fi sh interbreeding with wild fi sh. The growing mountain of research indicates this issue is real and needs to be further addressed. Scientists have long suspected there might also be broader ecological effects of exposing wild salmon to hatchery fi sh in natural habitats. But until recently there has been very little

documented research on ecological interactions. The Kamchatka Project More than fi ve billion young salmon are artifi cially produced and released every year in the North Pacifi c and habitat and may fundamentally affect their migration Japan. Hatchery chum from Japan and Russia have become and it is prudent to halt any further expansion in hatchery —and little thought has been given to how this might be behavior, transmit disease or pathogens, and disrupt exceptionally numerous and surpassed the abundance of production until we have a more complete understanding infl uencing wild salmon populations. At every life history natural reproductive behavior on spawning grounds. In wild chum salmon in the North Pacifi c over 30 years ago. of hatchery impacts on wild salmon populations. stage, hatchery salmon can encounter and interact with addition, intensive ocean fi sheries targeting hatchery Models projected that in that time (from 1965 to 1992), an As a result of WSC and partners in the scientifi c community their wild counterparts. They compete with them for food salmon may inadvertently catch a large share of returning increase in adult hatchery chum salmon from 10 million to daylighting this issue, a number of federal, state and wild salmon, thus increasing fi shing pressure on wild 80 million adult fi sh led to a 72% reduction in wild chum provincial government agencies are taking steps to address Over fi ve billion hatchery salmon are released into the Pacifi c populations. salmon populations. A possible reason for this is that wild the problem posed by hatcheries. The State of Alaska each year. One in four returning adults are of hatchery origin. Norton salmon are smaller and take longer to mature than has embarked on a new $5 million fi eld study to better New Research on Ecological Interactions their hatchery counterparts, accounting for their inability understand the impacts of hatchery salmon on wild salmon. To address this gap in information, WSC Senior to compete for food and spawning grounds. This and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Conservation Biologist Pete Rand organized a team of other studies provide new evidence indicating that large- is currently conducting an Environmental Impact Statement international scientists to document for the fi rst time the scale hatchery production may infl uence not only local and

Sergey Gorshkov for federal hatcheries in the Columbia River that will offer ecological impacts of hatchery salmon to wild salmon regional wild salmon populations, but wild salmon across solutions on how to reduce the impact of hatcheries. across the Pacifi c Rim. In May of 2012, the results their entire range. were published in the peer-reviewed scientifi c journal It is important to note that even in the absence of new What is the scale and magnitude of all these effects, both Environmental Biology of Fishes: Ecological Interactions. It studies and formal impact assessments, there are a at the regional scale and at the global scale? WSC’s State was the fi rst time an entire issue was devoted to ecological number of proactive, pragmatic steps that can be taken of the Salmon Program has devoted considerable effort to interactions between wild and hatchery salmon. The issue to reduce impacts, including: reducing overall hatchery get a better handle on the science and its implications for describes the many different dimensions of the problem releases; marking 100% of hatchery juveniles so we conserving and managing wild Pacifi c salmon. and includes the fi rst studies on this topic ever reported in can determine when they are straying and how many of Japan and the Russian Far East. Moving Forward returning salmon are actually wild; and changing hatchery release locations and timing to avoid overlap with wild One study, for example, looked at how wild and hatchery There are clearly some compelling studies, both in the salmon. We hope the emerging science will help fi shery salmon from distant regions overlap in the ocean and laboratory and in the fi eld, that point to the potential for and hatchery managers make decisions that help advance may compete for a limited supply of food. It found that detrimental effects hatchery fi sh can have on their wild wild salmon conservation and protect the productivity and Alaskan Norton Sound chum were impaired by Asian counterparts. There is a growing body of data that suggests resilience that are key to healthy wild salmon populations. hatchery chum salmon, most originating from Hokkaido, we need to be very cautious when it comes to hatcheries, wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  SUSTAINING FISHERIES

Making wild fi sh a priority Historically there have been no policies in the U.S. making wild salmon a priority on any given river, leaving the door wide open for hatchery expansion. In February of 2012, however, WSC and partners made an important step towards a paradigm shift in wild salmon protection. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) declared the state’s fi rst Wild Salmonid Management Zone (or wild salmon sanctuary) for steelhead on the Sol Duc River in Washington. The Sol Duc is one of the key salmon rivers on the Olympic Peninsula, spilling from the lush Olympic Mountains and fl owing through the wide Sol Duc Valley before meeting the Bogachiel River just a few miles from the Pacifi c. It’s a clear, free-fl owing stream that has been famous for decades as the state’s top steelhead fi shery. As a result of the wild salmon sanctuary designation, hatchery steelhead will no longer The best hatchery is a healthy, free-flowing wild salmon river. be released into the entire length of the 78-mile Sol Duc, and wild fi sh will be given management priority. Jim McMillan

Wild salmon and steelhead will now be given management priority on Washington's Sol Duc River. Fishermen as partners in conservation Working with fi sheries and buyers to promote certifi cation, WSC is helping to preserve natural production and spawning Vladimir Smirnov, owner of two of the fi shing companies certifi ed in habitat for wild salmon on Sakhalin Island. northeast Sakhalin in 2012, is a prime example of an engaged fi sherman

Nikolai Vorobiev, Sakhalin Environment Watch Nikolai Vorobiev, For over fi ve years, WSC served on advisory committees making a difference for wild salmon. He is an active member of the Smirnykh and provided independent technical reviews of hatcheries watershed council, helps organize anti-poaching initiatives, speaks out against programs and public fi sheries policy. In addition, under the in-river commercial fi shing, and strives to hire from within the community. umbrella of the Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Part- Vladimir Smirnov was one of the fi rst in the area to fi ght poaching head- nership, a collaborative effort focused on protecting and re- on. “When we fi rst arrived in the Smirnykh district, illegal fi shing was out of storing wild salmon habitat across 4 million acres of Wash- control,” he said. The Smirnykh public watershed council runs anti-poaching ington’s coast, WSC helped build consensus among a wide patrols funded by local fi shing companies, including Smirnov’s. With their range of interest groups. As a result, additional wild salmon fi nancial help, anti-poaching brigades have almost completely eliminated sanctuaries are included in the 2012 draft Conservation Plan illegal fi shing on the rivers in the council’s district.

for the Washington Governor’s Salmon Recovery Offi ce. Mihael Blikshteyn As a result of these and other efforts to improve the sustainability of their “The Sol Duc sanctuary is a promising start to a better Sakhalin watershed council members fi sheries, the Northeast Sakhalin fi shery became the fi rst on Sakhalin Island future for wild salmon management in Washington,” said and fi shery owners Vladimir Smirnov and to receive MSC certifi cation. “Certifi cation will inform not only fi shermen but Devona Ensmenger, WSC Washington Senior Program Andrei Sukhotin join Jim Humphreys from also consumers on a large scale that there are still places where salmon are Manager. WSC is consulting with native tribes and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to naturally reproducing,” Smirnov said, “and that we all need to take good care of celebrate the certifi cation of Sakhalin Island advocating for additional salmon and steelhead sanctuaries them to preserve natural production and spawning habitat.” on the Olympic Peninsula, which could include rivers such trap net fi sheries. as the Hoh, Calawah and Clearwater. Meanwhile, WSC In the summer of 2013 a NE Sakhalin processor received MSC Chain of will keep working with partners to bring the best available Custody (CoC) Certifi cation. With the traceability that CoC provides, consumers science to identifying the impacts of hatchery fi sh and and buyers can have confi dence that the salmon they are buying comes from improving fi shery regulations and management. In the end, a fi shery that meets the MSC environmental standard for sustainable fi shing. the best hatchery is a healthy, free-fl owing river. This helps keep illegally-caught salmon out of the supply chain and rewards fi sheries such as Smirnov's with greater credibility in the marketplace.

Wild Salmon Center  Building Leadership For salmon strongholds to endure, we must engage the people who can have the greatest It was a fi rst for Russia’s , which boasts up to a quarter impact on the health of these rivers. of all Pacifi c salmon: over 1,000 people from Kamchatka, and guests from Sakhalin Island, mainland Russia, and the U.S., gathering on the Bolshaya (“Big”) River to celebrate all things salmon. For three days in August, the First Regional Salmon Festival and Sport-Fishing Championship drew recreational fi shermen, government offi cials, and hundreds of community members for competitions, indigenous performances, presentations and award ceremonies. The hugely successful event shows how Russians are taking pride in their rivers and salmon fi sheries—as well as responsibility for their conservation. It was organized with WSC’s help and hosted by the Ust-Bolsheretsky watershed council, whose name in Russian is “Let’s Save Salmon Together.” Watershed councils in Russia (called public salmon councils) are groups of local stakeholders that join together to protect specifi c rivers, the lands that surround them and the fi sh they support. They’re made up of local citizens, municipal governments, indigenous community members and commercial fi shermen, along with scientists, educators, and NGOs. Although their focus is local, watershed councils are beginning to coordinate across natural and municipal boundaries to decide how best to conserve larger regions over the long run. With WSC’s expertise and on-the-ground technical support, watershed councils conduct a wide range of activities, from restoring Igor Shpilenok habitat to patrolling for poachers. Community projects and events like the festi- val help involve local communities, the people who can have the greatest impact on the health of these rivers, and who are in turn the most immediately affected. management plans to sustain salmon populations, working In 2012 the Koppi council, chaired by Alexander Merzlyakov, WATERSHED COUNCILS with indigenous communities, conducting river clean-ups spearheaded 46 anti-poaching raids and worked with Rus- and organizing events like the Salmon Festival, where WSC sia’s Wildlife Protection Service to create an environmental A network of watershed councils RUSSIA received a “Salmon Keeper” public recognition award for its protection plan for the entire watershed. In the process of Since the fi rst Russian watershed council was founded in the Smirnykh district conservation efforts on the peninsula. becoming certifi ed Public Nature Protection Inspectors, on Sakhalin Island in 2008, seven more have followed. Sakhalin is home KAMCHATKA local residents learned how to estimate the size of illegal One of WSC’s other major success in Kamchatka has to fi ve of these. Sakhalin rivers support 11 salmonid species that together catches, and when and where poachers were most likely been getting extractive industries involved in salmon make up the third most abundant salmon resources on Earth after Alaska and to strike. Two full-time inspectors have also been hired to SAKHALIN conservation. In 2012 we partnered with Zoloto Kamchatky Kamchatka. Fishing is the island’s second largest industry, generating $500 Bolshaya patrol the reserve. KHABAROVSK Nogliki Joint Stock Company, the largest gold mining company million every year. The salmon-fueled ecosystems and revenue base are the Smirnikh driving forces behind local efforts to push back against the leading threats Poronaisk on the peninsula, to fund a joint fi ve-year environmental On WSC’s most recent trip in 2012, we saw no evidence of to Sakhalin’s salmon: oil, gas, and coal development and large-scale illegal Koppi Uglegorsk research program. Four projects were selected for funding, poaching on the Koppi. Just fi ve years prior there had been Aniva salmon harvesting. including research to explore reducing the impacts and widespread evidence of poaching for taimen and other environmental risks of large-scale mining on salmon rivers fi s h —including gill nets, illegal catches and active camps. In the central part of the island, the Smirnykh salmon council runs anti- and a habitat monitoring project on the endemic Kamchatka This kind of stakeholder involvement to curb poaching poaching patrols funded by local fi shing companies. These brigades have char led by Professor Dmitry Pavlov, head of the Russian is critical to our goal of establishing locally-led and almost completely eliminated illegal fi shing on the rivers in the council’s Academy of Sciences’s Institute of Ecology and Evolution. sustainable, commercial and sport fi sheries on the Koppi. district. Sakhalin's Vostochny Wildlife Refuge, established in partnership with Watershed councils in Russian Far East. Dmitry Lisitsyn and Regional NGO Sakhalin Environmental Watch (SEW)in In the Ozernaya region of southern In the mountainous Khabarovsk Region on the mainland, 2007, initially suffered from illegal fi shing but that has changed dramatically. Kamchatka (pictured above), the the Koppi watershed council watches over the river of the Thanks to patrols and other monitoring efforts coordinated by the SEW and independent observer program was same name. In 2010 WSC partnered with the Khabarovsk local law enforcement—49 raids in 2012 alone—poaching has been virtually expanded in 2012—the same year it Wildlife Foundation to establish the Koppi River Nature became only the second wild salmon Reserve to protect a 200 mile stretch of salmon habitat. The eliminated in the Vostochny. fi shery in Russia to meet the Marine Stewardship Council’s strict chain-of- region suffers from widespread poaching and forest fi res In western Kamchatka, the Ust-Bolsheretsky public watershed council was custody standard for traceability. and in 2012 WSC launched a three-year research study with set up in 2011 to conserve the Bolshaya River, Kamchatka’s second-longest. two main goals: to track the impact of recreational fi shing With the addition of the Elizovo public watershed council, which covers the Leila Loder on behalf of WSC receives on the critically endangered Sakhalin taimen; and to increase Bolshaya’s upper reaches, conservation strategies and anti-poaching efforts will a "Keeper of the Salmon" public anti-poaching activities through a joint effort with the local recognition award at the Kamchatka be coordinated across the entirety of the Bolshaya Watershed, from headwaters Salmon Festival. public watershed council and indigenous community. to ocean. The Ust-Bolsheretsky council has laid the groundwork by developing wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  Zinaida Makarova BUILDING LEADERSHIP

In recognition of WSC's work, including support for watershed councils, WSC was recognized as the only international NGO in Russia’s new Federal Program "After the poacher nets were for Environmental Conservation, a framework for all conservation projects through 2020. removed, the birds began to sing and the river started to come Tracking taimen back to life." The Koppi River is thought to support the strongest remaining population of Sakhalin taimen, a mysterious salmonid that can grow over six feet long, weigh 110 pounds and live for over 30 years. The Sakhalin or "sea run" taimen is an ancient predator that tops the food chain

in river ecosystems—at least those where it is still found. Maxim Ageev Once common, it has been driven to extinction in some watersheds. Removing poaching nets. In Sakhalin, many rivers are so narrow poachers can easily throw a net across the whole river To learn more about this species and determine the actual and block entire runs—leaving thousands of salmon to die population size, WSC Senior Conservation Biologist Pete and rot before they reach their spawning grounds. Rand joined Western Pacifi c Program Director Mariusz Wroblewski and fellow researchers from Khabarovsk branch only three members, but since then more have joined, of TINIRO to set up a scientifi c tagging program on the from small business owners to retired policemen. Since Koppi. The team, led by Russian partners Alexander Kulikov most have full-time jobs, they often patrol rivers like and Sergei Zolotukhin, succeeded in fi nding 20 taimen over the Lutoga, Bystraya and Taranai at 4 or 5 a.m. or in the three feet long in the protected area, and tagged 15 more in evenings, as well as on weekends. During peak poaching the lower part of the river. These encouraging results show times, such as the beginning and end of the fi shing that conservation efforts are already benefi ting taimen and season, they patrol fi ve or six days per week, including other salmonid populations on the Koppi. WSC Staff round-the-clock coverage of certain key stretches. They educate local fi shermen, fi nd poachers’ nets, and when As Chair of the IUCN Salmonid Specialist Group, necessary call in the regional fi sheries enforcement. Pete Rand led the completion of IUCN global status Bringing rivers back to life benefi ts for poachers far outweigh the costs. One study assessments on taimen. The report concluded that all commissioned by WSC found that the wholesale price of From April to October 2012, Ageev’s group conducted 95 species of taimen are now threatened or Data Defi cient, As dawn breaks over Sakhalin Island in the Russian a kilo of salmon caviar was $45-55 in the Russian Far East, raids along the coast and on seven rivers in the district. In and point to a host of ongoing and emerging threats, Far East, you’ll often glimpse countless boats slipping into but the risk of being caught only added $0.61 per kilo. the process, they covered 12,500 miles by car, 200 miles including habitat loss and over-harvest. the misty rivers in search of salmon. Near the coastal town That’s why WSC is working with local partners to shift the by boat and over 125 miles by foot—resulting in countless of Aniva, however, a few vessels are doing just the oppo- balance: to ensure legal and sustainable fi sheries are more nets and illegal fi shing gear being removed or destroyed. Twenty taimen over three feet long were tagged in the Koppi site. They’re crewed by volunteers, including teachers and River Nature Reserve, plus fi fteen more in the lower part of the profi table than their illegal alternatives. “Why do we do what we do?” small business owners, who are setting out before work to river—evidence that WSC's conservation efforts are paying off. Ageev asked. “We don’t want our patrol for poachers and their illegal nets, in a truly grass- To increase the value of legal and sustainable fi sheries, descendants to ask, ‘What does a fi sh roots effort to protect Russia’s most valuable fi sheries. we’re working with partners to encourage major buyers to purchase from legal and sustainable sources, and to create look like?’, or ‘Why does nothing live

WSC Staff Salmon are more than food in the Russian Far East; traceability and transparent systems so they can buy with in this river?’" He recalls how they they’re a way of life, critical both economically and confi dence. At the same time, we’re also trying to raise the once came across a six-mile stretch culturally to the residents of this rugged fringe of the costs and consequences of illegal fi sheries by investing in of river that was entirely lifeless with continent. Home to roughly 40% of Pacifi c salmon, the community-based enforcement strategies, like the salmon no fi sh, not even any birds singing region is experiencing a wave of illegal, unreported and councils that organize the early-morning volunteer anti- along the banks. Sure enough, at the unregulated fi shing, primarily for salmon caviar, that poaching brigades out of Aniva. These efforts complement mouth of the river they found four nets threatens the very existence of some of the richest wild actions at the federal and commercial levels, but most completely blocking the passage. After salmon fi sheries in the world. important, they’re fueled by locals’ passion for protecting they alerted the fi sheries enforcement Anti-poaching group the rivers they call home. agency and the nets were removed, leader and Aniva water- By some estimates, the illegal catch is up to 1.8 times the Ageev says the birds began to sing shed council member legal catch. In all, catch rates may be up to 90% of the In Aniva, the volunteer anti-poaching crew is led by and, “the river started to come back Maxim Ageev. total run in some places, making illegal fi sheries the most Maxim Ageev, a state government employee who is also to life.” important threat to wild salmon fi sheries in the region. a member of the local public watershed council. Ageev This clearly can’t go on forever, but it will as long as the started the group “Aniva Without Poachers” in 2009 with wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  Safeguarding Habitat Smith River, California

Thriving salmon populations are essential to the health of our forests and rivers, and ultimately to our own well-being. As wild salmon ecosystems decline, so do our options for sustaining biodiversity, clean water, and a high quality of life for our children and future generations. A fundamental challenge to salmon conservation is that by the time a threat is recognized, we are too late to respond. Historically, the response has been to launch a long and expensive recovery effort in an attempt to restore decades of harm to a salmon run. Without free-flowing water, naturally functioning Our best and most cost-effective opportunity for range-wide salmon recovery is floodplains and estuaries—salmon cannot truly thrive. to recognize and prevent threats to those ecosystems that are still healthy with strong wild salmon runs. The “stronghold approach” will not only keep us from repeating the mistakes of the past, but by maintaining strong populations, it will anchor ongoing recovery efforts. Any plan for the long-term survival of wild salmon must include the protection of strongholds—areas where wild salmon and steelhead are best adapted to thrive in the face of large-scale threats like climate change, resource extraction, and pressures from hatchery salmon. The fate of wild salmon on the West Coast depends on protection of The Stronghold Initiative in the Pacifi c Northwest and California regional strongholds. WSC is leading public-private partnerships in the Pacifi c Northwest and California through two key strategies of the Stronghold Initiative. First, we are working with partners to both prioritize emerging threats and to change inadequate management policies that allow habitat loss to continue. Second, we are positioning stronghold partnerships to establish new conservation Bryan Huskey funds that can fi nance innovative solutions to challenges that continue to threaten salmon habitat (such as fragmented land ownership – see page 20). In 2012 WSC completed much of the groundwork to ensure the Stronghold SALMON STRONGHOLDS Protecting the Tillamook land classifi cation: “High Value Conservation Areas.” There Initiative will continue to advance in the years to come. WSC and our partners was an outpouring of public support, with packed meetings fi nalized the mapping of strongholds in California, Oregon, Washington, and BRITISH The Tillamook Bay stronghold in western Oregon in local communities where citizens rallied behind the Idaho. From the genetically vital steelhead runs of southern California’s Santa COLUMBIA represents a globally important salmon ecosystem with conservation focus. With additional backing from Governor Clara and Big Sur rivers to the booming sockeye runs of British Columbia’s some of the most productive coastal rivers in the Pacifi c Kitzhaber and key cities and counties, the Board of Forestry Harrison River, the North America Stronghold Map spotlights the region’s core Northwest. A large part of this ecosystem is encompassed responded with a new proposed classifi cation. “The centers of wild salmon abundance and diversity. WWASHINGTONASHINGTON in the Tillamook State Forest, one of the largest contiguous process isn’t complete, but this new classifi cation is a coastal temperate rainforests in the lower 48 states. crucial step in a new direction”, said Bob Van Dyk, WSC Standing room only. At public meetings in Cannon Beach and Hillsboro, citizens Because such a large part of the ecosystem is under Forest Policy Manager. “This is a mainstream idea whose rallied behind "High Value Conservation Areas" on the Tillamook and Clatsop State public ownership, and the fl oodplain and estuaries are time has come.” Forests. In all, over 2,500 signatures were gathered in favor of the new classifi cation in relatively good condition, maintaining and improving which was unanimously affi rmed by the Oregon Board of Forestry in June of 2013. OREGON But safeguarding the health of just the forest is not enough. IDAHO the Tillamook represents one of the most important conservation opportunities in Oregon. However, threats Ensuring connectivity between the freshwater habitats found on state forest lands and the tidally connected to the ecosystem are rapidly accelerating—adding to the CCALIFORNIAALIFORNIA urgency to safeguard this stronghold while we can. fl oodplains and estuaries in the lower watershed is vital to maintaining and enhancing the region’s strong On Oregon’s North Coast, WSC is leading a campaign to populations. In addition to establishing permanent establish permanent conservation areas in the Tillamook conservation areas in state forests, WSC supported the and Clatsop State Forests. These public lands represent Tillamook Estuaries Partnership’s development of a report 518,000 acres of rugged temperate rainforests—providing to prioritize habitat protection and restoration in the tidal habitat for steelhead, Chinook, coho and Oregon’s reaches of the bay and its fi ve tributary rivers: the Trask, strongest remaining populations of chum salmon. The Wilson, Tillamook, Miami, and Kilchis. This report, The forests have faced intense pressure to be managed as Tidal Wetland Prioritization for the Tillamook Estuary, will industrial tree farms with calls for expanded clear cutting guide projects for decades to come and serve as a model WSC and partners recently completed and narrower “no cut” buffers along streams. for conservation in other strongholds. mapping of strongholds in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. For more WSC joined regional partners to form the North Coast State detailed maps of salmon strongholds, go to Forest Coalition and generate political pressure for a new wildsalmoncenter.org. wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  North Coast State Forest Coalition State Forest North Coast SAFEGUARDING HABITAT

WSC also advanced the stronghold partnership in Oregon where we worked to Dave McCoy increase funding in stronghold rivers, which ultimately resulted in the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation dedicating its grant from the Oregon Governor’s Fund to strongholds. These funds, plus matching project grants provided by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, totaled over $625,000—supporting eight conservation projects in Oregon’s salmon strongholds, including projects in the Umpqua and Sandy watersheds. In California, we met with conservation partners throughout northern California strongholds, including the The fragmentation of our public lands Smith and Mattole watersheds, and identifi ed common threats and the capacity needs of local and regional partners to address these threats. Looking forward, presents a major conservation challenge the California Stronghold Team will determine priorities for the program and —and opportunity. begin work to secure long-term funding for strongholds projects.

Establishing Conservation Areas In addition to advancing the Stronghold Initiative in the U.S., Wild Salmon Center works on the ground with local partners to safeguard high priority wild salmon habitat in Russia and Japan. In the Russian Far East, WSC has successfully supported the creation of three large-scale protected areas totaling over 800,000 acres (Kol River Refuge, Vostochny Wildlife Refuge, and Koppi River Nature Reserve) with several more watersheds in the pipeline. In Japan, WSC helped establish the Sarufutsu Environmental Conservation Forest—the fi rst Protected Area on private lands in Japan. And in the U.S., WSC worked with Western Rivers Conservancy to establish the Hoh River Trust to create a 7,000 acre conservation corridor extending from the river's mouth to its protected headwaters within Washington’s Olympic National Park. This effort has yielded almost complete protection of the Hoh's main stem, one of the most important WESTERN OREGON strongholds for wild salmon, steelhead, coastal trout, and char south of Canada.

Oregon’s Stronghold Rivers waterways. In 1993 the Northwest Forest Plan created a Next WSC joined American Rivers, Pacifi c Rivers Council and other partners series of policies to set things right. Unfortunately, the to form a coalition to ensure a balanced management approach to O&C Th reatened by Logging Legislation policies were vulnerable to change and the legislation Lands. The coalition is working to defend and make permanent robust now pending in Washington D.C. is seeking to more than aquatic protections such as riparian buffers and expanded Wild and Scenic Detail of Umpqua R. 2.4 million acres of public land harboring some of double current timber harvests and weaken protections designations, as well as establish a permanent fund for land acquisition (see Oregon’s strongest wild steelhead and salmon runs are in for riparian areas—the buffers that act as natural fi lters, TEDx Talk by WSC President Guido Rahr on Salmon Strongholds, O&C Lands danger of losing key protections under legislation currently protecting streams from excessive sedimentation, supplying and “redrawing the map” at wildsalmoncenter.org). pending in Congress. “O&C Lands”—named for the Oregon shade to regulate water temperature, and providing rearing In late 2012, Governor Kitzhaber appointed WSC’s Greg Block, VP of and California Railroad that once owned it—reverted to the habitat for juvenile salmon and steelhead. federal government and is now managed by the Bureau of Conservation Finance and External Affairs, to a panel that included Land Management (BLM). The O&C Lands are distributed WSC seeks to accomplish three things to maintain the representatives from timber companies, county governments and other like a checkerboard, with alternating squares of public and extraordinary conservation values on Oregon’s O&C conservation groups to fi nd a long-term solution to this decades-old issue. While private ownership (see map inset to right). Fragmentation Lands: 1) defend existing riparian protections; 2) make the Governor’s panel did not reach a comprehensive agreement, WSC and our of these lands presents challenges for conservation because these protections permanent; and 3) begin to redraw the conservation partners won agreement from the group to strengthen river and vastly different levels of watershed protection apply to checkerboarded map so we can ensure our most important stream protections in any proposal going forward. federal and private parcels. salmon and steelhead habitat is protected. The signifi cance of O&C Lands can’t be overstated: they provide clean drinking O&C Lands contain some of the last old growth forests and WSC’s fi rst step was to build public awareness about O&C water to nearly half of Oregon’s population, remove millions of tons of carbon healthiest streams in the U.S. Pacifi c Northwest with over 40 Lands and in 2012 published the Atlas of Conservation from our atmosphere, and are anchors for old growth forests and the hundreds Conservation Opportunity Zones major watersheds providing clean drinking water for nearly Values in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. This of species they support, including some of our healthiest remaining runs of 2 million Oregonians. These lands include some of the comprehensive database includes maps of land use, wild salmon, trout and steelhead. As this process moves forward, WSC is Northwest Forest Plan Key Watershed region’s most fabled salmon and steelhead rivers—including ownership, habitat type, and wildlife distribution, including committed to working with our partners, congressional leaders, scientists, and Bureau of Land Management Land the Rogue, McKenzie, Nestucca and North Umpqua. 56 strong salmon populations in over 1,400 miles of other stakeholders to ensure that we win permanent protection for habitat along From the Atlas of Conservation streams. The Atlas is an indispensable tool when evaluating Oregon’s coastal salmon rivers and strike a balance between timber harvest and Values. For more O&C maps, go to In the 1980s and early 1990s, logging was decimating potential tradeoffs that come with any change in land conservation on Oregon’s O&C Lands. wildsalmoncenter.org. Oregon’s ancient forests and damaging wildlife and management. wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  SAFEGUARDING HABITAT

Alaska's Bristol Bay Alaska is the largest and most productive wild salmon region in North America, and one of the most important in the North Pacifi c. WSC’s Alaska program is working proactively to improve fi sheries management and protect salmon Under the best case scenario—even if acid mine waste is habitat by involving the local residents who depend on them most directly. With its new permanent offi ce in Anchorage, WSC is stepping up its efforts with contained—up to 90 miles of salmon bearing streams a wide range of partners, communities, and state and federal agencies to protect would be destroyed by the proposed Pebble Mine site. key salmon rivers across Alaska. The epicenter of our effort is Bristol Bay, with six major watersheds that support thriving runs of fi ve species of Alaska’s Pacifi c salmon, including half the sockeye on Earth—up to 40 million mature fi sh annually. A 2013 report found the Bristol Bay salmon industry pumps $1.5 billion into the U.S. economy every year and creates the equivalent of nearly 10,000 year-round jobs. Despite Bristol Bay’s ecological, commercial, and cultural value, a massive threat looms: the Pebble Limited Partnership is proposing to develop what would be one of the largest metallic sulfi de mines in the world at the head- waters of the Nushagak and Kvichak rivers. Preliminary proposals describe a gargantuan project that would dwarf all other mines in the state put together: a mine footprint bigger than Manhattan, up to 4,000 feet deep and 3.2 miles wide, with a 740-foot high tailings dam to impound 2.5 billion tons of toxic waste. Major risks include chronic contamination of surface and ground waters by acid mine drainage, and a tailings dam failure triggered by the region’s seismic Anders Gustafson, Renewable Resources Foundation activity and extreme weather—either of which would have catastrophic impacts on the highly productive fi shery. Scientifi c Justifi cation for Stopping Pebble Mine the agency underestimated the impact on salmon from To make matters worse, the year the mine was discovered, the Alaska Depart- While WSC is working with partners and area residents large-scale mining in Bristol Bay. Even under a best case at the state level to address threats, another battle has scenario, up to 90 miles of salmon bearing streams would ment of Natural Resources (DNR) submitted a revised Bristol Bay Area Plan Bob Waldrop that removed the wildlife “habitat” classifi cation—and main bulwark for protec- been underway at the federal level. In 2010, nine federally be destroyed by the proposed Pebble Mine footprint alone. recognized Alaska Native tribes requested that the tion—from nearly 94% of the region (including 100% of Pebble claim lands), It is now up to the EPA and the Obama administration to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) evaluate the Pebble essentially paving the way for development of Pebble Mine and others like it. decide whether to use this solid scientifi c justifi cation to Mine proposal. Under the Clean Water Act, the agency protect the Bristol Bay Watershed, its world-class fi sheries can restrict or prohibit the discharge of mining waste into A Citizens' Alternative and the thriving communities and ecosystems they support. streams and wetlands if it will have unacceptable adverse Within months of establishing our Anchorage offi ce, Emily Anderson, WSC’s As this issue continues to unfold, Emily and WSC will be effects on fi sheries. Since then, other Alaska Native tribes new Alaska Senior Program Manager, was hopping from one remote Alaska working to ensure Alaskan stakeholders and everyone who and corporations, commercial fi shing interests, 350 sport Native village to another by bush plane. “One thing in particular that makes values Bristol Bay's wild salmon have a voice in the future of fi shing and hunting organizations and over 200 chefs and WSC effective in a place like Alaska,” she says, “is our willingness to work in this unrivaled wild salmon ecosystem. tough places, rural areas with little access, because that’s where the salmon restaurant owners also encouraged EPA involvement. are.” Accompanied by our diverse network of partners, Emily helped inform In May 2012 the EPA released its Draft Watershed WSC's Emily Anderson talks to Cordova citizens and fi shermen about Pebble Mine. communities about the “Citizens' Alternative” to the revised Bristol Bay Assessment which came to the same conclusion as a Area Plan. Developed with input from six Native Tribal Councils and local scientifi c report published four months earlier by WSC and communities, this plan seeks to restore habitat protections and ensure that Trout Unlimited: that even if everything went according to subsistence uses and recreation are balanced with responsible development. plan, large-scale mining would be detrimental to Bristol

Emily’s travels took her deep into the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak, Bay’s globally signifi cant wild salmon populations. The Jennifer Gibbons the main watersheds at risk from the proposed Pebble Mine. Most residents public comments that followed showed overwhelming agreed with the main points of the Citizens’ Alternative: DNR permits cannot support for the EPA’s fi ndings—as high as 94% of respondents in the Bristol Bay region urged the agency to be issued when the impact to fi sh or wildlife is uncertain; metallic sulfi de The Bristol Bay salmon industry take action to protect the bay and its fi sheries. mining should be prohibited in the Nushagak and Kvichak watersheds; and pumps $1.5 billion into the U.S. Bristol Bay’s renewable resources must be protected from signifi cant harm economy a year and creates roughly Following a fi nal peer-reviewed report by a panel of a dozen 1o,000 jobs. Lake Iliamna and Upper from any mining that is allowed. After successfully collecting comments and prominent independent scientists, the EPA published its Talarik Creek (above) are just two input, WSC and its partners drafted and submitted the Citizens’ Alternative to Revised Draft Watershed Assessment in April 2013, the the DNR in April of 2013. waterways that would be impacted by the proposed Pebble Mine. fi nal step in the review process. It found that, if anything, wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  WILD SALMON CENTER Statement of Activities For the fi scal year ending December 31, 2012

2012 REVENUE Foundations $1,253,289 Individuals 1,179,802 Governments 472,601 Corporations 118,988 Investments and other income 146,662 Total revenue 3,171,342

EXPENSES Program Services: North America Program 998,262 Western Pacifi c Program 1,505,237 Sustainable Fisheries 696,274 State of the Salmon 950,584 Igor Shpilenok Total program expenses 4,150,357 Support Services: Wild Salmon Center has been Management and General 516,085 awarded The Independent Development and Fundraising 516,478 Charities' “Best in America” Seal Total expenses 5,183,076 of Excellence by the Independent Charities of America and Local Change in net assets (-2,011,734) Independent Charities of America. This signifi es that, upon Net assets at the beginning of the year 7,993,225 rigorous independent review, the organization met the highest Net assets at the end of the year $5,981,491 standards of public accountability, as well as program and cost effectiveness.

FY 2012 Operation Revenue: $3,171,342* FY 2012 Total Expenses: $5,183,076

Corporations Other Salmon support enormous food webs, 3.8% 4.6% Management and General State of the feeding at least 137 species, from seals Government 10% Salmon 14.9% Foundations to Steller's sea eagles (opposite page). 39.5% 18.3% Development and Fundraising 10%

Sustainable Individuals Fisheries 37.2% 13.4% North America Program Western 19.3% Pacific Program 29%

*Wild Salmon Center's year-to-year annual operating revenue fl uctuates between high and low years due to the timing of receipt of large multi-year contributions restricted for work to be carried out both in the current year and for future years. For example, WSC's FY 2011 Operation Revenue was over $9 million while FY 2012 Operation Revenue was only over $3 million. In both years, however, our FY Total Expenses was over $5 million. wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  Sergey Gorshkov PARTNERS

United States Flathead Lake Biological Station, Nunamta Aulukestai The Walton Family Foundation Alaska Conservation Foundation University of Montana Olympic Natural Resource Center Washington Coast Sustainable Alaska Department of Fish and The Freshwater Trust Oregon Conservation Network Salmon Partnership Game Friends of Elk River Oregon Department of Fish and Washington Department of Fish Alaska Fisheries Development Gordon and Betty Moore Wildlife and Wildlife Foundation Foundation Oregon Governor’s Offi ce Washington Forest Law Center Alaska Marine Conservation Council Grant County Public Utility District Oregon League of Conservation Washington Governor's Salmon American Fisheries Society Grays Harbor County Lead Entity Voters Recovery Offi ce American Rivers Hoh River Trust Oregon State University Western Rivers Conservancy Audubon Society Idaho Offi ce of Species Oregon Watershed Enhancement Wild Fish Conservancy Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association Conservation Board Wild Steelhead Coalition Bonneville Power Administration Illinois Valley Soil & Water Oregon Wild World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust Conservation District Pacifi c Coast Federation of America Illinois Valley Watershed Council Fishermen’s Associations Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Bristol Bay Native Association Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust Pacifi c Coast Lead Entity Association Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association Long Live the Kings Pacifi c Northwest Aquatic Russia Monitoring Partnership California Department of Fish and Monterey Bay Aquarium Aniva Watershed Council Pacifi c Rivers Council Wildlife MRAG Americas Boomerang Ecological Education California Trout National Federation of Fly Fishers Quileute Indian Tribe NGO, Sakhalin Cape Blanco Challenge National Fish and Wildlife Quinault Indian Nation Center for Economic and Financial Center for Biological Diversity Federation Quinault Nation Lead Entity Consulting, Moscow Chelan County Department of National Geographic Society Resources Legacy Fund Dewey & LeBoeuf, Russia Natural Resources National Oceanic and Atmospheric Rivers Without Borders Interminerals Management, Ltd. Clallam County Administration Irkutsk State University Coast Range Association National Wildlife Federation Sierra Club Kamchatka Ecotourism Society Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Native Fish Society Siuslaw Institute Kamchatka League of Independent Commission Natural Resource Consultants Trout Unlimited Experts Curry County Soil & Water Natural Resources Defense Council United Fishermen of Alaska Kamchatka Protected Areas Conservation District The Nature Conservancy University of Washington Association WSC Staff The David Lucile Packard Network of Oregon Watershed U.S. Agency for International Kamchatka Regional Administration Foundation Councils Development KamchatNIRO Russian Forest Service, Sakhalin Fisheries and Oceans Canada Earth System’s Institute New England Aquarium USDA Forest Service Kamchatka State Technical WSC partnered with the University of Washington’s Olympic Regional Branch Earthworks North Coast Land Conservancy U.S. Department of State University Pacifi c Fisheries Resource Natural Resources Center on an innovative mapping project to Russian Salmon Fund Conservation Council Ecotrust North Olympic Land Trust U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Khabarovsk Division TINRO identify the highest intrinsic value habitat—the best places for Sakhalin Energy Investment Pacifi c Salmon Foundation Elk River Land Trust North Pacifi c Coast Lead Entity U.S. Forest Service International Khabarovsk Regional salmon to rear and spawn—for fi ve species of salmon across four Company Environmental Protection Agency North Pacifi c Research Board Programs Administration Raincoast Conservation Foundation coastal watersheds (Quillayute, Hoh, Queets, and Bear rivers). Sakhalin Environment Watch Federation of Fly Fishers, Northern Northwest Power and Conservation U.S. Forest Service Pacifi c Khabarovsk Wildlife Foundation Simon Fraser University WSC‘s goal is to create models that can be applied to the entire 4 Sakhalin Regional Administration million acre Washington coast region to help resource managers CA and SW Councils Council Northwest Research Station Kol River Salmon Refuge Skeena Wild Conservation Trust Sakhalin Regional Fisheries better prioritize salmon restoration and protection projects. Northwest Steelheaders U.S. Geological Survey Kronotsky State Nature Reserve Vancouver Aquarium Association Ministry of Natural Resources & Watershed Watch Salmon Society Pictured above: from left to right: Miles Batchelder (Washington Sakhalinrybvod WSC's Leila Loder (pictured center) with members of the Koppi watershed council and local sport Environmental Protection Coast Sustainable Salmon Partnership), Miranda Wecker Sakhalin Salmon Initiative Center Japan fi shing outfi tters on the Koppi River in the Russian Far East. Moscow State University, (University of Washington’s Olympic Natural Resources Hokkaido Federation of Fisheries Ichthyology Department Sakhalin State University Center), Joseph Gilbertson (Fisheries Manager, Hoh Tribe), Cooperatives Nogliki Watershed Council SakhNIRO Larry Gilbertson (Senior Scientist, Quinault Indian Nation), Kris Hokkaido University Okha Watershed Council Save the Salmon Coalition Northcut (Harvest Management Biologist, Quileute Tribe), Mike Save the Salmon Fund Japan Society for the Promotion of Scharpf (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife). Ostrov Ecotourism and Sport Science Fishing Company Skolkovo Foundation National Institute of Environmental Smirnykh Watershed Council Plavnik Co. Studies Japan TV and Radio Company “Okha" International League of Pacifi c Salmon Commission Poronaisk Watershed Council Oji Paper Group Uglegorsk Watershed Council Conservation Photographers Sichuan University RENOVA Patagonia Japan UNDP Moscow, Four Territories International Riverfoundation Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Russian Academy of Sciences River Policy Network Japan Institute of General Genetics Project IUCN, Species Survival Trace Register Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries and Institute of Problems of Ust-Bolsheretsky Watershed Council Commission Research Institute United Nations Development Evolutionary Ecology World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Marine Stewardship Council Programme/Global Environment Sarufutsu Itou Conservation Council Russian American Pacifi c Russia Ministry of Nature Environment Facility Sarufutsu Itou no Kai Partnership (RAPP) and Tourism of Mongolia U.S. - Russian Business Council Canada Russian Federal Research Institute Mohammed bin Zayed World Wildlife Fund for Nature, British Columbia Ministry of International of Fisheries and Oceanography Conservation International Conservation Fund International (VNIRO) Environment, Biodiversity Branch North Pacifi c Anadromous Fish David Suzuki Foundation Heilongjiang River Fisheries Russian Magazine Research Institute Commission “Nakhlyst” wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  Shirokov DONORS (2012) $5,000 to $9,999 Individual Donors Schwab Charitable Fund and Brooks Misha Morgan and Summer Walker Prairie Foundation and Colin and Charlotte Martin Foundation $100,000 and up Forestry Bureau, Taiwan Council of Wiancko Family Fund and Anna Martha Moseley Foundation, Corporation, Caravan Trust and Austen S. Agriculture Wiancko-Chasman and Paul Clay Newton Government and NGOs Cargill II Chasman The MBA-Nonprofi t Connection C. Michael Palmer William H. Neukom $100,000 & up The Mohamed bin Zayed Species $5,000 to $9,999 H. Stewart Parker Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Conservation Fund $50,000 to $99,999 Alexander W. Barth Regan Family Limited Partnership Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Patagonia, Inc. Anonymous (1) Heinrich Barth and Joe and Shirley Regan David and Lucile Packard Rahr Foundation Crane Creek Family Fund of the Charles Conn and Beverley Reuben H. Fleet Foundation Fund Oregon Community Foundation at The San Diego Foundation Foundation $1,000 to $4,999 Robertson Gordon and Betty Moore Schwab Charitable Fund and The Charles Engelhard Foundation The Joseph and Catherine Johnson The Mountaineers Foundation Foundation Lawrence and Pamela Garlick and Sophie and Derek Craighead Family Foundation and Ted Ocean Park Conservation Richter Interminerals The J.C. Kennedy Foundation and Peter Goldman and Martha Foundation, Hong Kong The Leo Model Foundation and Meyer Memorial Trust James C. Kennedy Kongsgaard Raymond E. & Marie V. Fontaine Marjorie Russel and Peter Model Resources Legacy Fund John and Lynn Loacker The Vitalogy Foundation and Stone Family Foundation John and Dorcy Seethoff Turner Foundation, Inc. Mr. Cargill MacMillan III and Sally Gossard SeaWeb Robert W. Selle USDA Forest Service MacMillan The Higgins Family Foundation and Tactics Board Shop John and Melody Sullivan Walton Family Foundation $25,000 to $49,999 Pete and Leslie Higgins Elizabeth Jennings Deke and Hope Welles Fund of the Gifts under $1,000 Anonymous (1) $50,000 to 99,999 Evergreen Trust II and Nicholas P. Toledo Community Foundation, Association of Northwest John G. Searle Family Trust and Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation Lapham Inc. and Deke and Hope Welles Steelheaders John and Julie Dixon for the Americas Bernard Osher David and Catherine Willmott Chester Zoo The Charles Engelhard Foundation National Fish and Wildlife Earthshare of Oregon Bobolink Foundation and Merritt $500-$999 Foundation and Sally Pingree The Edyne and Allen Gordon and Heather Paulson Anonymous (1) NOAA Fisheries J. David Wimberly Foundation The Pisces Foundation Linda Ach The Tiffany & Co. Foundation The Freshwater Trust $10,000 to $24,999 Code Blue Charitable Foundation, David R. Anderson Inc. and Dan and Shari Plummer $25,000 to $49,999 Independent Charities of America James Ford Bell Foundation and John S. Behnke WSC President Guido Rahr with WSC Board Members Mike Sutton, Bill Swindells and Dan Plummer, Samuel and Suzy Bell The Conservation Alliance Johnson & Johnson Family of The Dabney Point Fund of the Rodney B. Berens along with Jim Root and Peter Bousum on the Zhupanova River on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. Yvon and Malinda Chouinard Seattle Foundation and Mr. and George B. Storer Foundation Companies Matching Gifts Mr. Vincent F. Biondo, Jr. & Mrs. Program Michael Cooperman and The Leon Mrs. William G. Reed, Jr. Harder Foundation Betsey L. Biondo $250-$500 Up to $250 Krista Clark Juniper Ridge, LLC and Toby Cooperman Family Angus and Senta Wilson High Liner Foods, Inc. Jennifer Brabson Doug Ballinger Anonymous (4) Nova Clarke Local Independent Charities of Foundation Lazar Foundation $1,o00 to $4,999 Charles Kent Brodie Christopher M. Coley America Rich Lincoln Karen Bargmann John Aronson L.P. Brown Foundation – Special Anonymous (2) Fred Chenot Linda Corpus Mazamas Conservation Committee WEM Foundation and Whitney and Elizabeth Bennett Peter F. Bahls Fund John C. Atwater Barbara Kelley James M. Costan Microsoft Giving Program Betty MacMillan Leslie Burlock Devin Baker $10,000 to $24,999 Vanguard Charitable Endowment Carl G. Behnke The Kilts Family Foundation and Cynthia Pickering Christianson Christopher T. Barrow Gordon L. Cox Morgan Stanley Annual Appeal Doug P. Biederbeck James M. Kilts Jubitz Family Foundation Program and Ken E. Olivier Ken Dayton Jeffrey M. Bartynski G.C. Crosby Network for Good Patrick Buresh and Jeannie Bloome Peter H. Koehler Klorfi ne Foundation Laurie M. Rahr Susan and William Epstein Dr. Mark Becker John and Laura Crosby Paradigm Winery Frank L. Cassidy, Jr. Sara LaBorde Margaret A. Cargill Foundation Robert and Karen Scott Philanthropic Fund of The Jewish Jay Beckstead and Paula Stenberg Stewart and Lesley Crosby PC Trask & Associates, Inc. Mary Elizabeth McAndrew and Peter Seligmann and Lee Rhodes Tom and Ellie Crosby Community Foundation Andrew Beldin John Cunningham National Geographic Conservation The Rockwood Trust David Britton Trust Founder's Fund of the Oregon John S. Dale John and Laurie Haffenreffer Lewis E. Bell, Jr. Terence Cunningham Trout Unlimited Laureston McLellan Pacifi c States Marine Fisheries Community Foundation and Mr. Schwab Charitable Fund and David Halliburton Edward Berg Patricia Curtin United Way of the Capital Region Delphine and Allen Damon Nelson Mead Fund and Dexter and Commission William R. Swindells Peter and Laura Herzog Peter A. Bigot Jessica Davis-Stein United Way of the Columbia- David J. Field Susan Mead Trust for Mutual Understanding Dan and Sheryl Tishman and the Howard A. Johnson Broughton and Mary Bishop Craig Derby Willamette Dan and Sheryl Tishman Family Marna Fullerton and the Fullerton William and Angela Mink Wilburforce Foundation Kohnstamm Family Foundation and Michael H. Blakely Stephen M. Dobbs Foundation Family Fund of the Minneapolis Libby Noyes Wild Animals Worldwide Molly Kohnstamm Thomas and Diane Bland Kathleen Dodds and Paul Dickson Foundation Leatherback Foundation and Nels Michael F. Le Monde and Tory Paine Anna Blasco Pat Donnelly Joshua Green III Ewan MacDonald Dr. Dmitry Pavlov Audrey Block David and Barbara Dougherty Ken Grossman John and Pam McCosker Sumner Pingree Laura Bojanowski Gabriela Downey Leah Knapp Hair Guido and Lee Rahr MCM Foundation and Morgan Dana Born-Thomsen David Drouin Tod R. Hamachek and Barbara Lloyd P. Reinig Callister Read Harold Boswell Andrea S. Dunlap Guido Rahr Lucius and Jessica Rivers Janice and Maurice Holloway David L. Rothenberg John L. Boyce Ivy Dunlap Nicholas A. Robinson Donald O. Hutchison Thomas and Anna Rudd Dave Brewer Kimberly M. Dunlap Carl Safi na Felton Jenkins III Conservation & Ulrich Schmid-Maybach Tyler Brock Roy J. Dunlap Darcy Morgan Saiget Education Fund and A. Felton Steven M. Shapiro Maria Brownell Tristan Ellinosworth Brian Schwind Jenkins III Peter and Marion Soverel William S. Carroll Barnes C. Ellis, Jr. John Sias Sydney McNiff Johnson James M. Spencer Christopher Carter Barnes H. Ellis and Molly Ellis Richard and Jeanne Slinn Richard R. Kaiser Louise K. Stumph Vaunda L. Carter Roe Emery II Bryan Sohl Allan Larson Michael Sutton Carol Carver Kathleen Engelbert Margaret and E.T. Tuchmann John and Jane Malarkey Peter Tronquet Benton and Joanne Case Lou Ernst-Fonberg Thomas Warburton John Moody, PhD Charles F. Walton Carl W. Cavallo A. V. Farmanfarmaian Turner and Sherry Wingo Starling Childs Robert W. Feldhousen, Jr. wildsalmoncenter.org  We deeply regret any errors or omissions. Please notify us at 503.222.1804 ext. 222. Wild Salmon Center  Wild Salmon Center has been approved to receive grants through the 1% for the DONORS (CONT.) Daniel M. Jaffer Planet program. STAFF The James Family Foundation and George James Emily Anderson, Alaska Senior David Finkel Matthew Johnson Phil & Cassy Ordway - Nushka Fund Ed and Vivian Weddle Program Manager Susan Finkel Matthew Kane McLane Fisher Amee Pacheco William F. Weege Lucy Bernard, Deputy Director, State Jonathan Kaplan and Sarah Lynn Palensky Donald Weller of the Salmon Jay Forrest Malarkey Dr. Livingston Parsons, Jr. Thomas Werkman Greg Block, VP of Conservation Amanda and Joshua Fost Amy Karlson William G. Pearcy Edmund Willis Finance and External Affairs Charles H. Foster Arthur Kayser Frank Perkins Kevin and Ann Winthrop Tyler Bradford, IT Manager Christopher Franklin Michael Kearsley John W. Person Carol Young Perry Broderick, Program Associate, Nancy Frisch Carol R. Kelm John W. Pierson State of the Salmon Roger Furlong William R. Kessler Sally B. Polk Stronghold Guardians Brian Caouette, Director of Anna Gabis and Bob Hainsey Richard and Janine Kirstein Sustainable Fisheries & Markets Lynn Ransford (Recurring Monthly & Thomas F. Gedosch Stephen and Susan Klarquist Nelea Covaliova, Staff Accountant Fletcher Ray Annual Donors) Dr. Mark Gildenhar & Janet Jennifer Knuths Kim Dunlap, Development Russ Ricketts Charlie Chambers Gildenhar Martha Koerner Coordinator Charles Root and Michelle Lesh Jerry McKnight Jack Goodman Paul Kopacki Devona Ensmenger, Washington James Ross David S. Phelps Philip Green Jay F. Kosa Senior Program Manager Rick Rouse Scott Sandell Jordan A. Grider Jim and Maureen Kosa Randy Ericksen, Salmon William and Barbara Runge Kyle Smith David Grusin Adam Kostick Management Specialist John Sager Bob Stenecker James L. Hardy Kyle Koultout David Finkel, Director of Develop- Leila Loder, Western Pacifi c Bob Van Dyk, Ph.D., Forest Policy David R. Krause, Yale-Jubitz Intern Mark Savinski ment & Communications Program Manager Manager R. Wayne Harpster Daniel Kowalski Honor and Memorial Gifts Denis Lemeschenko, Western Rhonda Schnelle Amber Gladieux, GIS Analyst Sarah Lonigro, Executive Assistant Mariusz Wroblewski, Western Pacifi c Pacifi c Intern Benjamin Hart Teresa Kubo Sharon Caruso in memory of Dorothy C. Schoonmaker Lori Alexander Howk, Jennifer Niemeck, Offi ce and Program Director Andrew Mulkey, Development Robert W. Hatch Reena Kudhail Michael Scally Human Resources Manager Aleksandr Yatskov, Western Pacifi c Intern Mark Hayse Steve M. Schoonmaker Suzanne Dupree on behalf of Communications Manager Christina Rahr Lane Program Grants Coordinator Dave Heller Kevin Scribner Eric Surratt Yuliya Klichkova, Western Pacifi c Amee Pacheco, Grant Programs Kyle Smith, Research Intern John Leach Program Associate Coordinator Darin Hendren Dimitri Sevastopoulo Walter Enterline on behalf of CONSULTING PARTNERS Front and inside cover: Igor David Leake and Tailwaters Travel Julie Kuchepatov, Senior Program Guido Rahr, President and Chief Michael Herz and Kate Josephs Pfc. Daniel Shea Cora Enterline Olga Krever, Russian Policy Advisor Shpilenok (shpilenok.com). Matthew Lee Manager, Sustainable Fisheries Executive Laurie Hester Gregory J. Skillman Pedram Hajjarian in memory of Jay Nicholas, Sr. Salmon Scientist Back cover: Sergey Gorshkov Peter and Janis Lee and Markets Peter Rand, Ph.D., State of the Harrison Hilbert Jason K. Smesrud Ali Hajjarian (gorshkov-photo.com). Special The Jewish Community Foundation Sara LaBorde, VP for Conservation Salmon Senior Conservation Interns and volunteers: James A. Smith, Jr. Lisa K. Hansen in memory of Coral Hilby of Orange County and Bernard Programs & Operations Biologist Mitch Attig, Watershed Councils thanks to all the photographers Taber Smith Dr. Keith Hansen David B. Hohler and Johanna Lemlech Saule Richardson, Sustainable Intern for their generous donations. Dean D. Hogan in memory of Jocelyn Lin, Salmon Management Robert M. Holmes Marsha Livingstone Amy K. Snider Fisheries and Markets Program Tanya Charnitskaya, Accounting This project is printed on 30% Mike Scally Analyst Richard L. Howell, Sr. Sarah Lonigro Linda Lane Soper Associate Tommy Franzen, GIS Intern post consumer waste. © Wild Martha Lewkowitz in memory of Rich Lincoln, State of the Salmon Lori Alexander Howk Kenneth L. Spalding Mark Trenholm, Salmon Stronghold Salmon Center 2013 Rachel Luchsinger Mike Scally Director Mayumi Kasai, Sustainable Raymond C. Hubley, Jr. Douglas C. Spieske Program Manager Fisheries and Markets Intern Molly Lusignan Janet MacKenzie in memory of George N. Spiva Catherine Hughes James and Sara Martineau Eleanor Wilkins Richard Stare Brent Hutchings Megan Martinelli George McCrum in memory of William P. Hutchison, Jr. Shannon McCormick Roy Stein Mike Scally Fraser Rieche Peter Jacky Troy Stephenson BOARD Patrick McCoy Lorraine Kent in memory of Vancouver, B.C. Heather Stockslager Mike Scally Guido Rahr Peter and Jill McDonald Peter A. Seligmann WSC's Mariusz Wroblewski Richard and Lisa Stoltze Robert Sheley in memory of Michael Sutton, Chairman Mike McHugh Washington, D.C. (right) with photographer Warren Stringer Dr. Keith Hansen Monterey, CA Karl McPhee Peter W. Soverel Alexander Tereshenko at the William Meisel Jamie Sullivan Prof. Garon Smith on behalf of the Oleg Alekseev Kamchatka Salmon Festival Edmonds, WA Donna Michaud Benjamin R. Taylor University of Montana Honors Moscow, Russia Sport Fishing Championship. Chemistry Class William R. Swindells Sherli Micik Thomas D. Thacher II Frank L. Cassidy Jr. Bob Stenecker in memory of Portland, OR B. Jenkins Middleton Paul F. Thomas Vancouver, WA Andrew Stenecker Brooks Walker Nick Thorpe Stone Gossard Roger M. Mills San Francisco, CA Henry and Eulia Mishima Xavier Tolentino Gifts-in-Kind Seattle, WA Joe H. Tonahill, Jr. Leah Knapp Hair John D. Miskulin Arne Mason Leather President's Council Clinton B. Townsend Seattle, WA Chuck and Melinda Moos Boise, Inc. David Anderson Charlie Travis John McCosker, Ph.D. Henry Mottl California Academy of Sciences Guelph, Ontario, Canada Steven Travis San Francisco, CA Gail A. Murphy Elephants Delicatessen Catering Justice Sandra Day O'Connor David and Laura Victor Dmitry S. Pavlov, Ph.D. (Emeritus) Derek Musashe ESRI Conservation Program Washington, D.C. Elizabeth Villarreal Moscow, Russia Melissa Nielsen Travis Johnson James Wolfensohn Jason Wamsley Randall M. Peterman Ernest G. Niemi Lagunitas Brewing Co. New York, NY Jeanne M. Ward Burnaby, B.C. Dr. Miles J. Novy Guido and Lee Rahr Vladimir Zakharov, Ph.D. Peter Ware Daniel Plummer Melinda O'Bannon USDA Forest Service Moscow, Russia Thomas Ocasio The Warren Foundation and Nani Michael Waer Malibu, CA and Robert C. Warren, Jr. Guido Rahr The Elinor K. Ogden Living Trust Westfl y, Inc. Board Member Brooks Walker and Elinor and Bill Ogden Andrew Watson Portland, OR Wynne Terlizzi and Wine Insiders on Oregon's Deschutes River. wildsalmoncenter.org  Wild Salmon Center  Zinaida Makarova Wild Salmon Center

The mission of Wild Salmon Center is to promote the conservation and sustainable use of wild salmon ecosystems across the Pacific Rim. We identify science-based solutions to sustain wild salmonids and the human communities and livelihoods that depend on them.

Wild Salmon Center 721 NW 9th Ave, Suite 300 Portland, OR 97209 503.222.1804 wildsalmoncenter.org