NOAA Fisheries Recovery Planning

Populations of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and coho (O. kisutch) and chinook (O. tshawytscha) salmon in California have declined to extremely low levels. Factors for this precipitous decline include overfishing, habitat loss, changes in land use and land cover, invasive species, hatchery practices, water withdrawals and diversions, and natural factors such as the warm Pacific Decadal Oscillation in the 1990s (see the Climate section). In 1991, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) conducted a comprehensive review of the population status of salmonids in California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. NOAA Fisheries identified 52 evolutionary significant units (ESUs) of salmonids – half of which are endangered or threatened (NOAA Fisheries 1999). To better address the regional needs of recovery planning, NOAA Fisheries created Recovery Planning Domains. There are nine regional Recovery Planning Domains in the western United States.

NOAA Fisheries Southwest Region Protected Resources Division and Science Center are collaborating on the development of recovery plans. There are two Recovery Domains in the San Mateo / Santa Cruz region, the North-Central and South and South-Central California Coast Domains (NOAA Fisheries 2003). Each Recovery Domain encompasses a specific geographic area and has a Technical Recovery Team (TRT) comprised of scientists from NOAA Fisheries, other federal and state agencies, and academia, and is chaired by a NOAA Fisheries scientist. Each TRT is charged with developing population structure, viability, and recovery criteria for all salmonid ESUs that are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the Domain. The North-Central California Coast TRT is responsible for the following ESUs: Central California Coast Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), California Coast chinook (O. tshawytscha), and Central California Coast and Northern California Steelhead (O. mykiss). The South and South-Central California Coast TRT – which encompasses a part of Santa Cruz, but not San Mateo County – met for the first time on November 17, 2003. This TRT will focus on the South-Central California and the southern California Steelhead (O. mykiss) ESUs (NOAA Fisheries 2003). For a more detailed discussion of the listed species in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties, see the State of the Fisheries section.

NOAA Fisheries' approach to recovery planning is a two-phased process comprised of the Technical Phase (Phase I) and the Planning Phase (Phase II). During the Technical Phase (Phase I), the TRT provides biological criteria and technical guidance for ESA recovery plans. Phase II involves planning initiatives such as policy forums, refining goals, and developing administrative de-listing criteria. During the Planning Phase, ongoing recovery efforts are evaluated and linkages between them are made, recovery action plans are evaluated for adjustment, and activities are prioritized. Phase II will incorporate socioeconomic conditions in the watershed with the recovery plan, so communication with the public regarding the recovery planning process will be an important component of the Phase II work (NOAA Fisheries 2000).

The goal of NOAA Fisheries is to remove the salmonid populations from listed status under the federal ESA. An understanding of the status of these populations is necessary to accomplish this (see the State of the Fisheries section), as well as an understanding of the limiting factors that affect salmonid survival in specific watersheds (see the Factors Limiting Salmonid Production section). Geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to support these tasks by enabling evaluation of spatial and temporal distributions of salmonids and assessment of landscape features that influence salmonid habitat. See the GIS for Planning section for more information on how resource managers and restoration practioners can use GIS to support salmonid recovery. To determine the status of the Recovery Planning Process for your region, go to the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center's Technical Recovery Planning Web site.

In September 2001, a Federal District Court in Oregon ruled that NOAA Fisheries should take hatchery fish into account when making determinations of population status and potential ESA listings (NOAA Fisheries 2004a; Espenson 2003). After NOAA Fisheries decided not to appeal the ruling, a group of environmental plaintiffs appealed in November 2001. In February 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court denied the appeal, upholding the district court’s 2001 opinion (NOAA 2004b). In response, on May 28 2004, NOAA Fisheries announced a new hatchery policy proposal and a report that outlines NOAA Fisheries’ recent assessments of the current biological status of West Coast salmon stocks – including both wild and hatchery fish.

The new policy embraces the same goal as the former policy,“the conservation of naturally spawning salmon and the ecosystems upon which they depend" (NOAA 2004a), but would include hatchery fish closely related to wild salmon in all of the ESUs that are currently listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The new policy also takes into account that while some hatcheries potentially hinder salmonid recovery, other hatcheries are potentially contributing to recovery efforts, while still other hatcheries may have no effect on wild salmon. To learn more about hatchery efforts on the Central Coast of California, visit the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project Web site. To learn more about this issue and NOAA’s response, see NOAA Fisheries Northwest Regional Office’s “NOAA Fisheries’ Response to the Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans U.S. District Court Ruling (Alsea decision)" Web page.

References

NOAA. 2004a. NOAA Fisheries expresses continued commitment to Pacific salmon recovery with new hatchery policy. United States Department of Commerce News NOAA04-R144. View on-line document .

NOAA. 2004b. "Chronology of events leading to NOAA Fisheries' hatchery policy and proposed updated listing determinations." National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. View on-line document.

Espenson, B. 2003. Ninth Circuit in May to hear arguments on hatchery vs. wild. Columbia Basin Bulletin. April 4, 2003. View on-line source.

NOAA Fisheries. 1999. Recovery Planning for West Coast Salmon [Web page]. NOAA Fisheries, August 2000 [cited November 24, 2003]. View on-line source.

NOAA Fisheries. 2000. "Recovery Planning Guidance for Technical Recovery Teams." Draft Report. View document (PDF).

NOAA Fisheries. 2003. Technical Recovery Planning [Web page] [cited November 15, 2003]. View on-line source.