NOAA 97-R150

Contact:  Brian Gorman        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          Rob Jones           July 15, 1997

FEDERAL FISHERIES AGENCY'S NEW RULE PROTECTING WEST COAST COHO TAKES ADVANTAGE OF STATE CONSERVATION EFFORTS

The federal agency responsible for safeguarding salmon under the Endangered Species Act is applying a rule to both protect dwindling West Coast coho salmon stocks and take advantage of existing efforts in Oregon and California aimed at salmon conservation.

In April, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed coho salmon in southern Oregon and northern California as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and said that regulations to protect the fish would be announced later. The regulations, the agency said, would contain certain exceptions for state conservation initiatives that were beneficial to coho.

At the time of the listing, Oregon had made commitments to protect coho through its own salmon conservation plan and a signed agreement with the fisheries service that strengthened the plan. In addition, the fisheries service said it would continue to work with California to help it develop and implement a state conservation plan that builds on restoration efforts already underway.

Today's rule --known as a 4(d) rule after the section of the Endangered Species Act where its characteristics are outlined -- uses the flexibility built into the Act to make state conservation initiatives that are credible and reliable the foundation of coho salmon rebuilding.

Because Oregon's conservation plan and its signed agreement deal directly with fishery harvest, hatchery management, habitat restoration, and research and monitoring, today's announcement means these activities will be free from Endangered Species Act "take" regulations in the state. Such regulations prohibit killing coho or harming it or its habitat, activities known collectively as "taking."

California does not yet have a conservation plan, and prohibitions against take there will be in place except for ocean fishery management and most fisheries research and monitoring activities. The rule sets out conditions under which certain habitat restoration activities in California may also be exempt from requirements under the Endangered Species Act in the future.

Other private and governmental activities will be subject to federal restrictions that prohibit the "take" of coho in northern California and southern Oregon.

"Coho salmon rebuilding is moving ahead now without delay with local, state and federal support, and with tremendous voluntary citizen contributions," said William Stelle, head of the fisheries service's Northwest Region in Seattle. "This is certainly the best approach for the fish and for the public."

This interim rule will become effective Aug. 15. Written comments on the interim rule received by Sept. 15 will be considered by the fisheries service before it adopts and publishes its final rule later this year.