Contact: Brian Gorman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Susan Smith 10/25/96
The National Marine Fisheries Service said today it was taking immediate action to protect central California's coho salmon population -- in serious decline at present -- by listing the species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The announcement comes as the result of a federal court order requiring the fisheries service to make a final decision about coho by today.
Fewer than 6,000 coho are returning annually to their spawning streams in central California, only a small fraction of the 50,000 to 125,000 that historically have returned to the region to spawn, the Commerce Department agency said.
At the same time, the agency said it has deferred until next April 25 a final decision on whether to list two other wild populations of California and Oregon coho salmon as threatened under the Act because of "substantial disagreement" over scientific data regarding the status of these two stocks and the potential threats to their existence.
The listing of the stocks in central California includes all naturally reproducing coho in at least nine major river basins from Punta Gorda in northern California south to the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz.
Hilda Diaz-Soltero, the fisheries service's Southwest regional administrator in Long Beach, Calif., said the fisheries service and other federal agencies will continue to work closely with federal, state and county officials, private landowners, fishermen and environmental organizations on current and future conservation measures aimed at restoring coho in the region.
"We recognize that the state of California and private landowners have begun to take steps to protect central California coho," she said, "but because of the court's order and the population's serious condition, we need to take action immediately."
Fisheries service scientists said the coho's decline in California is attributable to a number of reasons, including habitat degradation from logging, agricultural activities, flood control, mining and urbanization; hatchery practices; and natural factors such as drought and adverse ocean conditions over the past two decades.
Diaz-Soltero noted that while ocean conditions have likely contributed to the population losses, losses from human activities must be managed to make sure the species survives during times when ocean conditions are poor so it can thrive when conditions improve.
Decision on Two Coho Populations Deferred
Regarding the other two coho salmon populations, the agency said it needed the additional time to gather supplemental information and resolve conflicting data before it could make its final decision. The stocks are coho salmon in the southern Oregon/northern California group and in the Oregon coastal population group.
"We've reviewed comments and new information from fishery scientists and other outside reviewers who have disputed our assessment of the status of these two stocks and the natural and man-made threats they face," said William Stelle, head of the fisheries service's Northwest region in Seattle.
"This extension will give us time to gather and analyze information aimed at resolving these disagreements," Stelle added. The new deadline for final action on these two proposed listings is April 25, 1997.
Central California "Threatened" Listing to Proceed
"Even though all three of these population groups were proposed as a package, we felt we had sufficiently strong evidence for a final listing for the central California group," said Diaz-Soltero. "We have decided to move directly to a final listing today, while our scientists continue to examine the two more northerly coho populations."
Under the federal species protection law, after a federal agency proposes to list a species as "threatened," it then gathers further comments and scientific information and makes a final decision within a year. The Endangered Species Act defines a threatened species as one "likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range."
The law also allows the agency to take an additional six months if there is "substantial disagreement regarding the sufficiency or accuracy of the available data relevant to the determination."
The fisheries service originally proposed the listings in July 1995 after a coast-wide status review identified three population groups of naturally reproducing coho salmon that had substantially declined over the years. These populations, considered distinct by scientists because of their genetic and ecological differences, occur in three coastal areas: the Oregon coast from the Columbia River south to Cape Blanco, the southern Oregon-northern California coast from Cape Blanco to Punta Gorda in northern California, and the central California coast from Punta Gorda to the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz.
A final decision was planned for a year later -- in July 1996 -- but was delayed by three months because of a moratorium on Endangered Species Act listing activities imposed by Congress earlier this year.
A population group, or evolutionarily significant unit, that has separate and distinct genetic and ecological characteristics, can be considered a separate species under the Endangered Species Act. Fisheries service scientists divided West Coast coho into several of these so-called ESUs, when it proposed its coho listing last year.
The listing was triggered in July 1993 when Oregon Trout, Portland Audubon Society and Siskiyou Regional Education Project petitioned the fisheries service to list several populations of naturally spawning coho in Oregon. In October of that same year the Pacific Rivers Council and 22 co-signers asked the agency to list wild coho throughout its range in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California.
The petitioners identified freshwater habitat loss, deteriorating ocean conditions and the adverse effects of artificial propagation as key factors responsible for the fish's declines.
The fisheries service will hold a meeting among scientists in November on how best to evaluate risks faced by all Pacific salmon, including coho. The agency said it will also use the six-month extension to assess conservation plans for coho salmon being developed by California and Oregon.
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