Comprehensive Management Plan for Puget Sound Chinook: Harvest Management Component PUGET SOUND INDIAN T RIBES AND THE WASHINGTON DEPAR TMENT OF FISH AND WI LDLIFE DECEMBER 1, 2017 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. I LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ IV LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ VI 1. OBJECTIVES, PRINCIPLES, AND INTEGRATION WITH HABITAT REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Scope of the Plan .................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Objectives ............................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Integration of Harvest and Hatchery Management with Habitat Requirements ..... 5 2. FISHERIES AND JURISDICTIONS ...................................................................... 7 2.1 Southeast Alaska ..................................................................................................... 7 2.2 British Columbia ..................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Washington Ocean ................................................................................................ 10 2.4 Puget Sound .......................................................................................................... 12 2.5 Fishery Impact Assessment................................................................................... 19 2.6 Non-Landed Fishery Mortality ............................................................................. 20 2.7 Regulatory Jurisdictions affecting Washington fisheries ..................................... 23 3. POPULATION STRUCTURE – AGGREGATION FOR MANAGEMENT ... 29 3.1 Population Structure.............................................................................................. 29 3.2 Management Units ................................................................................................ 31 3.3 Population Categories ........................................................................................... 33 4. MANAGEMENT THRESHOLDS AND EXPLOITATION RATE CEILINGS35 4.1 Upper Management Thresholds ............................................................................ 35 4.2 Low Abundance Thresholds (LAT) ...................................................................... 39 4.3 Point of Instability................................................................................................. 39 4.4 Exploitation Rate Ceilings .................................................................................... 40 5. IMPLEMENTATION ............................................................................................. 44 5.1 Rules for Allowing Fisheries ................................................................................ 44 5.2 Rules That Control Harvest Levels ....................................................................... 46 5.3 Response to Critical Status ................................................................................... 47 5.4 Pre-season Planning .............................................................................................. 50 5.5 Compliance with Pacific Salmon Treaty Chinook Agreements ........................... 52 5.6 Regulation Implementation ................................................................................... 53 i 5.7 In-season Management ......................................................................................... 53 5.8 Enforcement .......................................................................................................... 54 6. CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT .................................................................... 56 6.1 Harvest Objectives Based on Natural Productivity .............................................. 57 6.2 Protection of Individual Populations .................................................................... 58 Exploitation Rates and Escapement Trends ................................................................... 61 6.3 Equilibrium Exploitation Rates............................................................................. 63 6.4 Recovery Goals ..................................................................................................... 66 6.5 Harvest Constraint Cannot Effect Recovery ......................................................... 68 6.6 Integration of harvest and hatchery management with habitat status ................... 69 6.7 Protecting the Diversity of the ESU ...................................................................... 79 6.8 Summary of Fishery Conservation Measures ....................................................... 80 7. MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT ................................................................... 82 7.1 Catch and Fishing Effort ....................................................................................... 82 7.2 Spawning Escapement .......................................................................................... 84 7.3 Abundance and Exploitation Rates ....................................................................... 84 7.4 Annual Management Review ................................................................................ 86 7.5 Retrospective Performance Assessment ............................................................... 87 7.6 Marine-Derived Nutrients from Salmon ............................................................... 88 7.7 Selective Effects of Fishing .................................................................................. 90 8. AMENDMENT OF THE HARVEST MANAGEMENT PLAN ......................... 91 9. GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................. 92 10. LITERATURE CITED ......................................................................................... 94 11. APPENDIX A: MANAGEMENT UNIT PROFILES (MUPS) ...................... 122 Nooksack River Management Unit Status Profile ........................................................ 123 Skagit River Management Unit Status Profile ............................................................. 135 Stillaguamish River Management Unit Status Profile .................................................. 159 Snohomish River Management Unit Status Profile ...................................................... 170 Lake Washington Management Unit Status Profile ..................................................... 200 Green River Management Unit Status Profile .............................................................. 211 White River Management Unit Status Profile .............................................................. 220 Puyallup River Fall Chinook Management Unit Profile .............................................. 227 Nisqually River Management Unit Status Profile ........................................................ 235 Skokomish River Management Unit Status Profile ...................................................... 250 Mid-Hood Canal Management Unit Status Profile ...................................................... 266 Dungeness Management Unit Status Profile ................................................................ 276 ii Elwha River Management Unit Status Profile ............................................................. 292 Western Strait of Juan de Fuca Management Unit Status Profile ................................ 312 12. APPENDIX B: TRIBAL MINIMUM FISHING REGIME (MFR) .............. 323 iii List of Figures Figure 2-1. Commercial net and troll catch of Chinook in Puget Sound fisheries, 1980 – 2016 (WDFW WaFT database). ............................................................................................................ 14 Figure 2-2. Recreational salmon catch in Puget Sound marine areas, 1985 - 2015 (WDFW CRC estimates, 2007 data are preliminary) ........................................................................................... 18 Figure 2-3. Recreational Chinook harvest in Puget Sound freshwater areas, 1988 - 2015(WDFW Catch Record Card estimates). ...................................................................................................... 19 Figure 2-4. Total exploitation rate for Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Snohomish summer/fall Chinook salmon management units, 1992-2014 (based on 2017 FRAM validation run). ........... 27 Figure 2-5. Total exploitation rate for Nooksack, Skagit, and White spring Chinook salmon management units, 1992-2014 (based on 2017 FRAM validation run)........................................ 28 Figure 6-1. The equilibrium exploitation rate, at each escapement level, for Skagit spring Chinook. ........................................................................................................................................ 64 Figure 6-2. Natural and hatchery origin spawner abundance on the Skokomish River for 2008 – 2016..............................................................................................................................................