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Careful harvest management leads to healthy salmon returns in 2002

SNOHOMISH COUNTY (Feb. 18, 2003) - Taking advantage of salmon runs boosted by favorable freshwater and marine conditions, tribal and state managers are allowing ever-larger numbers of fish to return to their spawning grounds in 2002 in the Stillaguamish and Snohomish systems. This harvest management strategy, which the co-managers say is an important step forward in salmon recovery, builds on last year's record escapement of chinook, pink, and coho salmon.

"Our harvest management strategy is working," said Joe Hatch, Fisheries Manager with the Tulalip Tribes. "Great sacrifices have been made by our fishing communities, but those sacrifices are starting to pay off."

Chinook salmon, the region's most high profile fish, are a prime example.

About 7,200 chinook salmon in the Snohomish river system -- including the Snohomish, Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers - escaped to spawn this year. This exceeded the former goal of 5,250, and marked the fourth time in the past five years that the co-managers were able to exceed this level. In 2001, they achieved the highest chinook escapement since at least 1965. "Escapement" is the number of fish allowed to spawn in order to sustain a run at a desired level.

Perhaps the flashiest numbers in both the Snohomish and Stillaguamish systems showed up in chum salmon escapement. More than 155,000 Snohomish chum moved upstream, shattering the minimum escapement number of 28,000 and representing the highest observed Snohomish chum numbers since at least 1982. In the Stillaguamish, nearly 215,000 chum were able to spawn.

"We have years where not that many chum have come back to all of Puget Sound," marveled Kit Rawson, harvest management biologist with the Tulalip Tribes. Both Rawson and Hatch, though, cautioned against assuming that the gaudy numbers indicate meaningful salmon recovery is at hand. Environmental factors, such as ocean and river conditions, fluctuate from year to year. Fish returning to spawn in 2002 faced neither an El Niño phenomenon in the ocean nor significant drought or flooding in the river.

"We're taking advantage of favorable conditions, including ocean survival, to put more fish back into the system," said Hatch. "This doesn't mean we've achieved salmon recovery - instead, it means we have to continue with sensible management practices."

Conservative management practices over the last few years have caused high escapements. Pink and coho salmon escapements were at record levels in the Snohomish in 2001, with pink totals reaching almost four times the previous high. Though no records were broken, 2002 still saw an ample run of over 161,000 coho in the Snohomish system. The three highest escapements have occurred in the last five years.

"It's the third year in a row that we've had strong coho returns in the Snohomish area," said Rawson. "Our management plan is working."

That management plan is also in effect in the Stillaguamish basin, where this year's coho escapement topped 27,000 - a good 10,000 fish more than the escapement goal. Last year's escapement of 74,000 was the highest ever. In 1999 - the year which produced the eggs that became this season's fish -- only about 7,000 fish spawned, so the 2002 run was actually a substantial increase over the producing year.

"We're making a real effort on the harvest side," said John Drotts, Director of Natural Resources with the Stillaguamish Tribe. "Now, it's time to step up our habitat improvement efforts as well, so we can continue these results over the long term."

Another bright spot: the unusual even-numbered year pink salmon run in Snohomish county. Pinks (or "humpies") are normally odd year fish, but Snohomish county rivers have large even-numbered year pink runs -- unique in the Puget Sound area. Almost 45,000 spawned in 2002, and the run is growing exponentially, not quite doubling in size with each generation.

Chinook populations in the Stillaguamish basin, though, seem stalled. This year's number of 1,588 spawning chinook, though higher than the 2001 totals, reflects a flattening out that has been occurring over the last four to five years. Biologists speculate the population may be bumping up against a production ceiling created by degraded habitat.

"We're still very short of our long-term goal: complete wild salmon recovery," said Hatch. "This shows us that harvest management is pointed in the right direction. To truly bring our wild salmon runs back, we need serious habitat preservation and restoration actions to support our efforts. If we do that, we can save the salmon."

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Joe Hatch, Tulalip Tribes, (360) 651-4480; Kit Rawson, Tulalip Tribes, (360) 651-4478; John Drotts, Stillaguamish Tribe, (360) 435-2755;Jeff Shaw, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, (360) 424-8226, (360) 481-3541 cellular.

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