Background The Baker River has two manmade dams built and operated by Puget Sound Energy (PSE) as part of the Baker River Hydroelectric Project. Lower Baker Dam was constructed in 1925, creating Lake Shannon. It spans the Baker River in a narrow reach known as Eden Canyon, just above the river's confluence with the Skagit River. Blocking off all upstream access, a ladder and "elevating contrivance" was constructed by PSE to provide fish passage. Below Lower Baker Dam the Baker River flows unimpeded (except for a small weir at a fish passage station) for about a mile before emptying into the Skagit River.
Located approximately eight miles upstream and completed in 1959 is Upper Baker Dam, which is over 300 feet high and inundated the valley that included the natural Baker Lake. Artificial spawning beds were constructed at the upper end of the new Baker Lake to mitigate for loss of natural spawning beaches. Newly refurbished sockeye spawning beaches were finished in 2010, located at the new hatchery facility.
The entire escapement of returning adults is now trapped below Lower Baker Dam and transported above the dams. Some are placed in the artificial spawning beaches, some are used for hatchery production, and others are released into Baker Lake to spawn naturally and to fuel an increasingly popular recreational fishery. Adult Baker sockeye enter the trap from mid-June to mid-October with the peak of the run in mid-July. Spawning occurs from mid-September through December, peaking from late September to late November.
Fry from the artificial spawning beaches and from hatchery production are released into Baker Lake and Shannon Lake, where they rear naturally. At the smolt stage, sockeye are captured at both dams and released downstream below Lower Baker dam to complete their seaward journey.
As part of their mitigation requirements, PSE employees operate and maintain facilities at the Baker River Project under the directives of WDFW and tribal co-managers. The facilities include floating surface collectors for juveniles located on Baker Lake (completed in 2008) and Lake Shannon (completed in 2013), a new fish hatchery, an upstream trap-and haul facility, and a sockeye spawning beach.
The native run of Baker River sockeye salmon is the only known sustaining population of sockeye salmon in the Skagit River basin and has been determined to be genetically distinct from other sockeye salmon. Before Lower Baker Dam was built in 1925 the fish had free access to the river and natural (pre-dammed) Baker Lake. The annual sockeye run at that time was estimated to be approximately 20,000 fish.
As of 1992 the condition of the population was listed as "critical." In fact, in 1985 only 92 adults were found to return to the river. Since then, the population appears to be recovering, in part due to improvements in the smolt trapping and transportation system. A considerable amount of time, resources and money has been invested into the Baker River Project by PSE and ratepayers.
CCA Washington Page 1 9/19/17 Current Fisheries In recent years, as recreational fishing opportunity elsewhere in Puget Sound has been severely diminished, the recreational fishery in Baker Lake has grown in popularity. Thanks in large part to PSE’s efforts, it is anticipated that this has potential to be a healthy and vibrant fishery for years to come. Unfortunately, much of the success of PSE’s program is at risk of being lost due to overharvest.
This year provides an excellent opportunity to reassess how the Baker Lake sockeye run can be co- managed in a manner that prioritizes conservation, wild fish escapement, hatchery needs and is consistent with court-ordered catch sharing between the co-managers.
Preseason forecasts produced an estimated run size of 47,000 fish. In early August, based on in- season management adjustments, the run size was downgraded to 37,000 fish. It appears unlikely that number will be reached, but even if it is, this would mean the preseason forecast was off by nearly 30%. As of August 28th, there was a total of 16,318 sockeye trapped at Lower Baker Dam, with 8,704 sockeye transferred into Baker Lake (many of which will spawn naturally) and the remaining balance retained for hatchery needs. Prior to reaching Lower Baker Dam, an astounding 16,117 sockeye were harvested by the tribal community. Using prior year’s creel census data, preliminary estimates indicate that the non-tribal community harvested less than 5,000 fish, resulting in a severely imbalanced catch sharing scenario among the co-managers.
Proposed Fishery Management Improvements We understand that preseason forecasting is an imprecise art, which is why it is so important that fishery managers consider developing a more robust plan for in-season management. This is especially pertinent in a river system that has an impassable structure where all fish can be accounted for in real time, and fishery decisions can be made with accurate, up-to-date information.
CCA Washington Page 2 9/19/17 1) Conservation First In order to help ensure a vibrant fish run for years to come, we propose a conservation buffer of at least 30% be applied to the pre-season forecast for establishing initial harvest management guidelines. Since pre-season forecasts are imprecise, this would reduce the amount of fish available for harvest in tribal and non-tribal fisheries during the early part of the run. This is consistent with other fisheries management protocols in this state and provides assurances that stocks are not overharvested and management objectives are more likely to be achieved, including more equitable catch sharing and that escapement goals are met for both naturally spawning fish and for hatchery production needs.
2) Adjust Fisheries Mid-Season The duration and timing of the sockeye fishery varies with in-season abundance. With a conservation buffer in place, fisheries managers can better adjust harvest management targets mid-season with actual, up-to-date data. Not only does this help ensure conservation objectives are met or exceeded in years when abundance is below the preseason forecast, it can also result in more robust fisheries in years when abundance is above the preseason forecast. With a fish trap in place at Lower Baker Dam, and daily fish counts made available by PSE, all the necessary infrastructure is already in place for this management approach.
3) Improved Catch Sharing In an effort to be more transparent with the management of this fishery, we recommend publicizing the yearly harvest goals to the general public. Along with the preseason forecast this should include, at a minimum, hatchery escapement needs, wild escapement goals, tribal harvest and non-tribal harvest goals. If it is the goal of this fishery to equitably balance catch sharing, then preliminary harvest guidelines should be based on actual catch. Simply putting fish into Baker Lake does not equate to a harvested fish. WDFW has conducted creel surveys that are used to estimate non-tribal harvest in the Skagit River and Baker Lake, and this information could be used to guide non-tribal catch share estimates.
Transfer of Fish to the Skokomish River Compounding the catch sharing and forecasting issues is the transfer of Baker Lake sockeye broodstock to the Skokomish River system and Lake Cushman on the Olympic Peninsula. WDFW recently entered into an agreement with PSE and the Skokomish Tribe to provide this sockeye production. Under normal circumstances, a new sockeye fishery in Lake Cushman would be well received and supported by the recreational fishing community, but unfortunately the Skokomish River system was recently closed to all non-tribal fishing. We remain hopeful that WDFW will ensure that non-tribal anglers have access to this fishery, which has the potential to become a vibrant recreational fishery similar to Baker Lake. This would create a much needed new fishery in the region. Without an agreement to provide equitable access, many anglers are questioning if these sockeye will be accessible, in any meaningful way, to the non-tribal fishing public.
Thank you for your continued service and we look forward to working with you in the coming months to develop healthier and more equitable sockeye fisheries in Puget Sound.
CCA Washington Page 3 9/19/17