Faith in Nature: The Missing Element in Salmon Management and Mitigation Programs Dr. Richard N. Williams Research Associate Department of Biology The College of Idaho -- and -- Jim Lichatowich Alder Fork Consulting Columbia City, Oregon -------------------------------------------------------------- River Restoration NW Symposium February 2, 2016 1
Introduction Rick Williams Native Idahoan; Brigham Young Univ, MSc. 1981, PhD, 1986 Columbia River, ISAB, ISRP, 1987-2012 Federation of Fly Fishers, Sr. Conservation Advisor Outfitter and Guide, Idaho Angler Jim Lichatowich Former Chief of Fisheries Research, ODFW Independent Scientist ISAB, ISRP; 1989 2003 Author 2
Original Range of Pacific Salmon State of the Salmon, 2005 3
Commercial Value: Pacific Salmon The average annual catch of anadromous fish in the North Pacific between 2003 and 2007 was 432 million fish. The total ex-vessel value from the commercial fisheries in 2007 was estimated to be $USD 818 million and the value at the first wholesale level was estimated to be $USD 2.2 billion. Wild Salmon Center, 2009 4
Columbia River Salmon 5
1883 = 2.3 million Ck harvested in Lower mainstem Columbia River (Mullan et al. 1992) 6
At the time of Lewis and Clark, the Columbia and Snake Rivers were home to up to 16 million annual returning salmon and steelhead. Today, just 2-3% of the wild runs persist. Many including the Snake River Coho, have gone extinct. Lewis and Clark 7
Columbia River Basin Drains 260,000 mi2 (WA, OR, ID MT, NV, BC) 15,000 miles of stream used by salmon; Historical salmon runs of 6-17 million fish Sustained significant harvest levels Current runs total less than 1 million 8
Columbia River Basin info 80-90% of the returning salmon are of hatchery origin Several species (sockeye, Chinook, steelhead, bull trout) have been listed under ESA The most abundant anadromous fish in the Columbia River is an exotic species (American shad) Wind River Canyon 9
Blocked Areas: natural and man-made
Salmon decline Returning Columbia River salmon (Chinook, steelhead, sockeye, coho) Estimated Avg 17,000,000 millions of fish 1,754,334
Salmon in Idaho Nez Perce Indian Fishers Black Canyon Dam - Built in 1924 on Payette River - Blocked access of Chinook, steelhead, and sockeye to Payette River and lakes Swan Falls Dam - Built in 1901 - Oldest dam in Snake River system - Fish passage failed - Blocked access of Chinook and steelhead to Rock Creek and Salmon Falls 12
Snake River: ~ 1.5 million CK in 1880s Snake River 1,167 CK in 1995 13
BPA Fish and Wildlife Obligations 1978-2003 FWP initiated 14
Distribution of Funds: Artificial Production Artificial Production Funding 15% Operations and Maintenance 47% Operation/Maint. Planning Monitor/Evaluate Research Construction Construction 19% Research 8% Monitoring 11% Evaluation 15
Fish Ladders and Dam Passage Adult Passage John Day Bonneville Sweden The Dalles 17
Harvest History in CRB Dam Building Period Period of Decline Decline and Extinction Period of Initial Development Period of High Sustained Harvest
How have we managed Salmon? Two books by Jim Lichatowich Salmon Without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis (1999) 1999 Washington State Book Award Salmon, People and Place (2013) 19
Existing (Old) Conceptual Foundation River corridor acts primarily as a conduit for smolt migration Increasing the numbers of smolts in the river will result in more returning adult salmon Hatcheries can be used to increase the number of salmon smolts Barging of juveniles can circumvent in-river mortalities Emphasizes technological solutions to biological problems 20
Status Report: Columbia River Salmon Summarizes 15 years review work (1991 2005) on Columbia River salmon and steelhead management Outlines new approach to salmonid and ecosystem recovery Elsevier Academic Press 2006 CofI-1/19/10 21
Inadequate Conceptual Foundation Columbia River salmon management relies on an outdated agricultural-based conceptual foundation that is not ecologically sound This leads to substitution technology: Hatchery production for habitat degradation Barging of smolts instead of in-river migration Need for habitat and life history based CF Williams et al 2006 Return to the River Stanford et al 2005 Shifting Habitat Mosaic Quinn 2005 Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon 22
What is a Conceptual Foundation? System of ideas that explains something at its most basic level. Can be described in writing Ultimate source of explanation and justification upon which theory and practice are based. Basic beliefs should be clearly evident at any time Guides theory, practice, and management actions May change/evolve over time
Salmon-bearing Ecosystem: Conceptual Foundation Natural river ecological processes and functions Habitat Complexity and Diversity Biodiversity life history, population, phenotypic, genetic Salmonid Productivity abundance, diversity, resiliency Braided floodplain, Flathead River, Montana 24
Ecological Conceptual Foundation [ from Return to the River 2006 ] Salmonid life history diversity and habitat diversity are linked Increased habitat, habitat diversity, and habitat connectivity leads to increased salmon life history diversity Increased habitat and life history diversity will result in increased salmon production Increased abundance and production will yield increased resilience Upper Imnaha River, Oregon Spring Chinook spawning habitat 25
CRB - Current Conceptual Foundation Status of the Ecological Conceptual Foundation! Good acceptance among fisheries scientists for the salmon-bearing ecological conceptual foundation Less acceptance by fisheries managers and administrators Presently a hybrid between old and new Habitat issues new CF Production issues old CF Dam passage issues mix, but mostly old CF Is a hybrid Conceptual Foundation viable? Likely the source of the continuing BiOp challenges 26
The Problem of Shifting Baselines Perspectives (and expectations) for baselines change over time, often without recognizing the change How does this affect the Conceptual Foundation and subsequent Management Plans? Atlantic Halibut and Greenland Atlantic Salmon 27
CRB Salmon Harvest Since 1991 ESA Listings 5000 Since 1991 ESA Listings 4500 Lbs x 1000 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Year
CRB Salmon Harvest Since 1981 NW Power Act 16000 Since NW Power Act 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 ESA Listings 2000 0 Year 30
CRB Salmon Harvest Since Bonneville Dam (1934) 35000 Since Bonneville Dam 30000 25000 20000 NW Power Act 15000 10000 5000 ESA Listings 0 31
CRB Salmon Harvest 1865 2000 (in lbs x 1000) 55000 CRB Harvest Record 50000 45000 40000 Period of Sustained High Harvest 35000 30000 25000 Dam Building Period 20000 15000 10000 NW Power ESA 5000 0 32
Shifting Baseline Syndrome What are the consequences of a Generational shifting baseline, and a Flawed Conceptual Foundation 1. Managers will (falsely) believe that the impoverished state of the salmon when they entered the profession is the baseline. 2. Conclude that natural production cannot be expected to make a significant contribution to the existing fisheries and satisfy the growing demand from an expanding population. 3. Implement an artificial production solution! 33
Reliance on Hatcheries 34
Anadromous Fish Propagation Facilities 35
Faith in Nature We have frequently heard managers claim that natural production cannot sustain a fishery. Therefore, artificial production is needed! This belief persists even though historically, natural production sustained harvest levels that have never been equaled by artificial propagation. We characterize this attitude on the part of salmon managers as a loss of Faith in Nature. 36
Consequences of a Lack of Faith in Nature Ready acceptance of and reliance on Substitution Technologies for salmon production Salmon Production via Hatcheries Juvenile Salmon Barging and Bypass Systems at Dams 37
A New Model: Place-based Salmon Management We propose a new management model for salmon that emphasizes management actions directed at local and regional scales, rather than at large aggregated units. Place-Based Salmon Management is based on three Conservation Principles. Red salmon hanging on a drying rack along the Kuskokwim River, Alaska, National Geographic photo 38
Conservation Principle 1 Work at an Ecosystem Level Restoration of salmonids must address the entire ecosystem, which encompasses the continuum of freshwater, estuarine, and ocean habitats where salmonid fishes complete their life histories. This includes human developments, as well as natural habitats. 39
Conservation Principle 2 Link Naturally-Maintained Habitats Sustained productivity requires a network of complex interconnected habitats, which are created, altered, and maintained by natural physical processes in freshwater, the estuary, and the ocean. Diverse and high-quality habitats are crucial for salmonid spawning, rearing, migration, predator avoidance and maintenance of food webs and biodiversity. Ocean conditions are variable and important in determining the overall patterns of productivity of salmon populations. 40
Conservation Principle 3 Diversity (of all kinds) is key! Genetic, life history, and population diversity are ways salmonids respond to their complex and connected habitats. These factors are the basis of salmonid productivity and contribute to the ability of salmonids to cope with environmental variation that is typical of freshwater and marine environments. 41
Implementing Placed-Based Salmon Management We know of no program in the Columbia Basin that has adopted every idea expressed in the alternative conceptual foundation. We recommend seven steps that will begin shifting salmon management into a place-based approach. Adapted to fit each particular watershed or management unit. 42
Address Escapement and Harvest Issues 1. Set an escapement target for each breeding population and establish a program to monitor compliance. 2. Clearly separate major harvest management activities: Set the allowable harvest, and then Allocate the allowable harvest among the different sport and commercial fisheries. 3. Link allowable harvest to ocean productivity Set allowable harvest (numbers and rates) to vary proportionally with a real time index of Pacific Basin ocean productivity. 43
Inventory and Evaluate Diversity 4. Develop a catalogue of the genetic and life history diversity of each breeding population and periodically evaluate and report to the public on the status of those attributes. Two sexually mature steelhead Bulkley River, BC 44
Establish Habitat Criteria 5. Establish habitat protection and improvement criteria that effectively sustain life history diversity, abundance, productivity, and distribution of native wild fish in each watershed. 6. Fish and wildlife agencies should not avoid habitat protection with this excuse: Habitat protection is out of their hands, because they do not have the authority to control the activities of other agencies that influence salmon habitat. 45
Adaptively Manage the Program 7. Periodically review the information collected and revise the conceptual foundation and the management program. Opportunity to develop community-based management and local stakeholder relationships Pacific Northwest citizens are refocusing attention back to the local salmon runs in the nearby watersheds. 153 watershed councils in California 159 watershed councils in Oregon 103 watershed councils in Washington Local watershed councils and Native American Tribes could be mobilized to provide the additional information and monitoring that place-based management will require. 46
Case Studies Lake Osoyoos Sockeye Salmon Elwha River Restoration and Dam Removals 47
Lake Osoyoos Sockeye Salmon Example of successful Place-Based Salmon Management informed by technology 48
Osoyoos Lake Sockeye Recovery The spawning area for Osoyoos sockeye is above nine dams in the upper Columbia River Artificial propagation plays a minor role in the recovery effort. Hatchery fish make up 10 percent of the adult returns. 49
Osoyoos Sockeye Recovery Initiated with studies of the Osoyoos sockeye s life history Identification of ecological factors that limit survival in spawning area above nine dams In 1999, following a review of the capacity of spawning habitat, the sockeye escapement target was increased from 38,900 to 58,730 spawners with provision to increase to 135,471 (McMillian 2013). 50
Fresh Water Management Tool The FWMT is a decision support model helped managers reduce density independent mortality on eggs and fry. Implementation of the FWMT reduced the incidences of flow deviations causing redd desiccation/freezing, redd scouring, and reduced availability of spawning habitat. Prevented expansion of the anoxic conditions in Osoyoos Lake that reduced the rearing habitat available to juvenile sockeye salmon (Kahler 2013). 51
Osoyoos Success Once the FWMT was implemented (2005), smolt production jumped from an average 300,000 / year to 3 million with a high of over 8 million. In 2008, the number of adult sockeye salmon underwent a dramatic increase in abundance with 213,607 fish crossing Bonneville Dam In 2015, 614,179 sockeye passed Bonneville However, 50% in-river mortality from high summer water temps 52
Abundance of Okanagan/Osoyoos Lake sockeye, 1977-2014, showing the dramatic increase in recent years. (From McMillan 2013) 53
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Elwha River Restoration and Dam Removals Example where Place-Based Salmon Management was not empoyed 55
Elwha River and Dams Elwha River Flows for 45 miles north out of Olympic National Park All five species of Pacific Salmon Chinook, coho, sockeye, chum, and pink Four anadromous trout species Steelhead (rainbow), coastal cutthroat, bull trout, and Dolly Varden River has been blocked for 100 years Largest dam removal project in history $350 million removal cost Dam removal started in 2011 Will be completed in 2013-2014 56
Elwha River and Dams Why is the Elwha Dam Removal Project Important? Elwha Dam Remnant cohort of native salmonid species Natural experiment on river restoration Natural experiment on salmon and trout response to large-scale river restoration Restoration of natural processes Salmon Stronghold Concept Wild salmon need wild salmon habitat Glines Dam Role of hatcheries in Elwha recovery? 57
Chinook gather below Elwha Dam 58
Elwha Dam: 1912-2012 59
Glines Dam on Elwha River Built: 1927 Removed: 2013 60
Elwha River Restoration Restoration Chronology Sediment Dispersal River Channel Re-Development 61
Elwha Salmonid Restoration Plan Restoration Strategy --------------------------------- Hatchery production Winter run hatchery Summer run natural Hatchery production Hatchery production Natural recolonization Natural recolonization Hatchery production 62
Are Hatcheries Needed for Elwha Recovery? Pros: Remnant runs very low numbers Hatcheries can help boost numbers Cons Hatcheries reduce fitness of wild fish Expensive; rarely closed Lower Elwha Tribal Hatchery 63
Comparison of Osoyoos and Elwha Recovery Plans 64
Place-Based Salmon Management Recap Can we implement a different approach to salmon management and recovery? Heavy investment in existing infrastructure and program Entrenched political positions Removal of Lower Snake River dams Tribal treaty obligations International Harvest Treaties 65
Questions? Osher Inst_Dec 2013 66