The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) recently released predictions for the 2014 salmon season off the West Coast of the United States.
North of Cape Falcon
The 2014 Columbia River tule Chinook forecasts are improved from 2013 at 110,000, and combined fall Chinook returns are expected to be over a million fish. The hatchery coho forecasts for the Columbia River are greatly improved from 2013. In addition, the forecast for Oregon coastal natural (OCN) coho is 230,000.
North of Cape Falcon, Columbia River hatchery coho returns were 316,000, well below the forecast of 525,000. Columbia River Chinook returns, however, were among the highest on record, and upriver fall Chinook returned at levels nearly double the expected levels.
California and Southern Oregon
Central Valley fall Chinook are forecast at over 630,000, providing salmon fishing opportunity while allowing estimated spawning escapements over 300,000. The minimum conservation goal is 122,000 – 180,000 spawning adult salmon.
The conservation goal, or escapement goal, is the optimal number of adult fish returning to spawn in order to maximize the production of the stock.
Also in California, the ocean abundance forecast for Klamath River Fall Chinook is nearly 300,000, providing reasonable sport and commercial harvest while meeting the minimum natural spawning goal of 40,700, and the 2014 management objective of an ocean harvest rate of no more than 16 percent.
source: Pacific Fishery Management Council
Showing posts with label washington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label washington. Show all posts
Monday, March 17, 2014
Friday, December 27, 2013
Puget Sound Oyster Restoration
The Washington Shellfish Initiative is working towards native oyster restoration efforts in Puget Sound. A new shellfish restoration hatchery at NOAA’s Manchester Research Station received aid from both the National and Washington Shellfish Initiatives.
“The intent from the beginning of this effort two years ago was to support PSRF work on Olympia oyster restoration,” according to Walton Dickhoff at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.
The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife updated the Olympia oyster Rebuilding Plan in May 2012 to lay the groundwork for focused, strategic restoration at 19 priority locations in Puget Sound where core populations existed historically.
To further implementation, NOAA directed funding through the Northwest Straits Commission to produce genetically-diverse seed for Sequim Bay (with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe) and Drayton Harbor.
Soon thereafter, Washington Department of Natural Resources provided funding for native oyster enhancement on aquatic reserve lands in Fidalgo Bay in July 2012, and Washington Department of Ecology funded a large-scale, 10-acre restoration project in Port Gamble Bay in 2013 that will include the production of 5,000,000 restoration-grade seed at the new shellfish restoration hatchery.
In 2013, the Governor’s office provided capital funds to purchase seawater monitoring equipment for the new hatchery.
The coordinated efforts are the result of an initiative that brought singular focus to the job of protecting and enhancing shellfish resources in Washington State.
At the suggestion of Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), and with funding and support from NOAA, The Nature Conservancy, USDA, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, and the Suquamish Tribe, PSRF and a multitude of partners spread shell 2005-2011 across almost 20 acres of tideflats in Liberty Bay to provide settlement structure for native oyster larvae.
According to Brady Blake with WDFW, “extensive monitoring has shown that remnant native oysters scattered in the bay have rapidly re-colonized the restored shell-based habitat exhibiting significant reproductive success, survival, increased abundance including multiple year classes, and colonization of new habitat. Based on these observations, the results of focused native oyster restoration efforts in Liberty Bay have achieved the minimum thresholds for determining successful restoration identified in WDFW’s 2012 updated Olympia oyster rebuilding plan. That plan emphasizes re-establishing native oysters at key locations to a threshold where they are naturally self-sustaining, viable populations exhibiting the ability to continue expanding their presence and abundance locally and throughout Puget Sound. By that measure, Liberty Bay provides the model for continued native oyster restoration and research in Washington State.”
For more information, visit: http://restorationfund.org/news/articles/2013.11shellfishinitiative
source: restorationfund.org
“The intent from the beginning of this effort two years ago was to support PSRF work on Olympia oyster restoration,” according to Walton Dickhoff at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.
The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife updated the Olympia oyster Rebuilding Plan in May 2012 to lay the groundwork for focused, strategic restoration at 19 priority locations in Puget Sound where core populations existed historically.
To further implementation, NOAA directed funding through the Northwest Straits Commission to produce genetically-diverse seed for Sequim Bay (with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe) and Drayton Harbor.
Soon thereafter, Washington Department of Natural Resources provided funding for native oyster enhancement on aquatic reserve lands in Fidalgo Bay in July 2012, and Washington Department of Ecology funded a large-scale, 10-acre restoration project in Port Gamble Bay in 2013 that will include the production of 5,000,000 restoration-grade seed at the new shellfish restoration hatchery.
In 2013, the Governor’s office provided capital funds to purchase seawater monitoring equipment for the new hatchery.
The coordinated efforts are the result of an initiative that brought singular focus to the job of protecting and enhancing shellfish resources in Washington State.
At the suggestion of Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), and with funding and support from NOAA, The Nature Conservancy, USDA, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, and the Suquamish Tribe, PSRF and a multitude of partners spread shell 2005-2011 across almost 20 acres of tideflats in Liberty Bay to provide settlement structure for native oyster larvae.
According to Brady Blake with WDFW, “extensive monitoring has shown that remnant native oysters scattered in the bay have rapidly re-colonized the restored shell-based habitat exhibiting significant reproductive success, survival, increased abundance including multiple year classes, and colonization of new habitat. Based on these observations, the results of focused native oyster restoration efforts in Liberty Bay have achieved the minimum thresholds for determining successful restoration identified in WDFW’s 2012 updated Olympia oyster rebuilding plan. That plan emphasizes re-establishing native oysters at key locations to a threshold where they are naturally self-sustaining, viable populations exhibiting the ability to continue expanding their presence and abundance locally and throughout Puget Sound. By that measure, Liberty Bay provides the model for continued native oyster restoration and research in Washington State.”
For more information, visit: http://restorationfund.org/news/articles/2013.11shellfishinitiative
source: restorationfund.org
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
NOAA Lists Georgia Basin Rockfish Species as Endangered
NOAA’s Fisheries Service has announced that it is listing three populations of rockfish in Washington’s Georgia Basin for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The populations of two of the rockfish species – canary and yelloweye – have been designated as “threatened” and a third rockfish species – bocaccio – as “endangered.” An endangered species is at high risk of extinction; a threatened species is vulnerable to extinction in the near future and in need of protection.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife prohibits fishermen from keeping any rockfish they may accidentally catch in the Puget Sound region. The state agency also forbids bottomfishing in waters deeper than 120 feet, where most of these adult rockfish are found.
For more information on the rockfish ESA listing, see:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Other-Marine-Species/Puget-Sound-Marine-Fishes/ESA-PS-Rockfish.cfm
The populations of two of the rockfish species – canary and yelloweye – have been designated as “threatened” and a third rockfish species – bocaccio – as “endangered.” An endangered species is at high risk of extinction; a threatened species is vulnerable to extinction in the near future and in need of protection.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife prohibits fishermen from keeping any rockfish they may accidentally catch in the Puget Sound region. The state agency also forbids bottomfishing in waters deeper than 120 feet, where most of these adult rockfish are found.
For more information on the rockfish ESA listing, see:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Other-Marine-Species/Puget-Sound-Marine-Fishes/ESA-PS-Rockfish.cfm
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
NOAA Finds Endangered Killer Whales Eat Chinook Salmon
New advances in genetic testing have allowed scientists to determine the specific origin of Chinook salmon that were consumed by killer whales in the inland waters of Washington and British Columbia, according to new research by NOAA scientists and others. These findings will play a significant role in assisting the recovery of this group of endangered whales.
"Our findings identified specific Chinook stocks from Canada’s Fraser River that fish managers need to pay particular attention to because these killer whales are so dependent on them,” said Dr. Brad Hanson, lead author of the study and a marine mammal scientist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. This group of killer whales, known to scientists as the Southern Resident population, is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Canada’s Species at Risk Act.
Both governments identified lack of food as a risk factor that could interfere with the recovery of these killer whales.
Southern resident killer whales spend their time in the inland waters of Washington and British Columbia from late spring to early fall before swimming to the Pacific Ocean for the winter months.
Scientists estimated that the vast majority of the Chinook the whales ate – as much as 90 percent -- was from the Fraser River. The whales ate mostly salmon from the Upper Fraser in June, the Middle Fraser in July, and from the South Thompson and Lower Fraser in August and September. In general, only a small fraction of the Chinook salmon samples came from Puget Sound rivers.
Salmon return to the same stream or branch of a river where they had hatched to spawn. Therefore, salmon from a particular stream become a genetically distinct population from those that spawn in other streams or river systems. Each population returns at a slightly different time of year than other populations. The whales ate the salmon as the fish returned to the Fraser River to spawn.
The four-year study involved collecting fish tissue and scales, as well as whale feces, while the killer whales fed during the summer months. In the laboratory, scientists used a relatively new molecular genetic tool to identify which fish species were eaten and, more specifically, where they came from.
“This study not only confirmed previous research that suggested these whales eat mostly Chinook salmon, it also allowed us to identify the specific genetic groups, and therefore the specific areas from within the river system, from which these salmon came,” said Hanson. This gives managers more information with which to make decisions about conservation measures to ensure survival of these salmon stocks, which in turn are vital to the survival of the killer whales.
The study, titled “Species and stock identification of prey consumed by endangered ‘Southern Resident’ killer whales in their summer range” was published in the journal Endangered Species Research. Collaborators included scientists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and in Washington, Cascadia Research Collective, the Center for Whale Research, the University of Washington and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
For more information on Southern Resident killer whale recovery, see the Web at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Killer-Whales/ESA-Status/Orca-Recovery-Plan.cfm
"Our findings identified specific Chinook stocks from Canada’s Fraser River that fish managers need to pay particular attention to because these killer whales are so dependent on them,” said Dr. Brad Hanson, lead author of the study and a marine mammal scientist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. This group of killer whales, known to scientists as the Southern Resident population, is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Canada’s Species at Risk Act.
Both governments identified lack of food as a risk factor that could interfere with the recovery of these killer whales.
Southern resident killer whales spend their time in the inland waters of Washington and British Columbia from late spring to early fall before swimming to the Pacific Ocean for the winter months.
Scientists estimated that the vast majority of the Chinook the whales ate – as much as 90 percent -- was from the Fraser River. The whales ate mostly salmon from the Upper Fraser in June, the Middle Fraser in July, and from the South Thompson and Lower Fraser in August and September. In general, only a small fraction of the Chinook salmon samples came from Puget Sound rivers.
Salmon return to the same stream or branch of a river where they had hatched to spawn. Therefore, salmon from a particular stream become a genetically distinct population from those that spawn in other streams or river systems. Each population returns at a slightly different time of year than other populations. The whales ate the salmon as the fish returned to the Fraser River to spawn.
The four-year study involved collecting fish tissue and scales, as well as whale feces, while the killer whales fed during the summer months. In the laboratory, scientists used a relatively new molecular genetic tool to identify which fish species were eaten and, more specifically, where they came from.
“This study not only confirmed previous research that suggested these whales eat mostly Chinook salmon, it also allowed us to identify the specific genetic groups, and therefore the specific areas from within the river system, from which these salmon came,” said Hanson. This gives managers more information with which to make decisions about conservation measures to ensure survival of these salmon stocks, which in turn are vital to the survival of the killer whales.
The study, titled “Species and stock identification of prey consumed by endangered ‘Southern Resident’ killer whales in their summer range” was published in the journal Endangered Species Research. Collaborators included scientists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and in Washington, Cascadia Research Collective, the Center for Whale Research, the University of Washington and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
For more information on Southern Resident killer whale recovery, see the Web at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Killer-Whales/ESA-Status/Orca-Recovery-Plan.cfm
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