Posted on 12/22/2003 9:41:32 PM PST by farmfriend
Catching wild coho
12/22/03
JOE ROJAS-BURKE
Encouraged by relatively bountiful returns of Oregon's coastal coho salmon -- protected under the Endangered Species Act -- wildlife authorities are letting anglers have a go at the threatened fish for the first time in a decade.
Legal fishing for wild coho is taking place in only two shallow coastal lakes near Florence -- Siltcoos and Tahkenitch -- where populations held up stronger than most during the decades of overfishing and habitat destruction.
"It's a unique situation," said Lance Kruzic, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency that approved the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife proposal for the fishery.
"These particular lake populations are doing well," Kruzic said, "but if you look at Oregon coast coho as a whole, it is still a threatened species."
Fishing enthusiasts and coastal business owners, who spent months lobbying for the fishery, are delighted with the government's flexible enforcement of the Endangered Species Act. But some conservation groups say the decision was premature and could set back recovery.
Ron Caputo, a volunteer in Florence's salmon-trout enhancement program, was among those calling for the fishery.
"I think it's great," said Caputo, who runs a plumbing business in Florence. "It will be good for the community. It will be good for the economy."
His volunteer group has helped restore native shrubs and trees along several miles of spawning streams around the lakes.
Critics say state and federal agencies are taking an unnecessary gamble.
"We think they could have taken more precautionary measures before allowing this fishery," said Kaitlin Lovell with the Portland office of Trout Unlimited, a national conservation group.
Overfishing played a big part in the decline of Oregon's coastal coho salmon, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 1998. Ocean and freshwater fishing during the 1970s and '80s routinely killed 60 percent to 80 percent of the returning adults.
"In hindsight, it was too high of a harvest rate for poor ocean conditions," Kruzic said.
Since 1993, regulators have banned recreational fishing directed at wild coho and severely restricted ocean trolling to reduce incidental catches of wild fish. Kills have been reduced to about one-fifth of pre-1994 levels.
Coho numbers have rebounded strongly, aided by a cyclical shift in ocean currents and an abundance of prey that are boosting survival at sea. Estimates of the coastal coho run -- seldom more than 50,000 fish since the 1970s -- last year pushed above 264,000.
State and federal authorities said they are managing for long-term sustainability. During the three weeks allotted this year, which began Dec. 11, anglers are allowed to keep no more than five fish. The season will stop earlier if the catch reaches 500 fish. In future years, regulators expect to limit the total catch to about 1,000 fish, or about 30 percent of the returning population. The maximum allowable catch could reach 45 percent at the highest run sizes and rates of ocean survival.
"This thing will shut down if we have a bad ocean year," said Bob Buckman, a biologist with the state Fish and Wildlife Department.
The lakes, although far from pristine, support the densest population of coho on the Oregon coast. Logging continues along much of the surrounding watersheds. Nearby wetlands have been drained and developed. Lake levels are as much as 15 feet lower than before early settlers cut channels to the sea.
Biologists say the lakes support huge runs of coho by providing refuge from storm floods that scour coastal streams. Some juveniles in the lakes reach more than double the average size before heading to sea, which could increase survival.
Lovell, the salmon policy coordinator for Trout Unlimited, said regulators are acting without a full understanding of the importance of the lake stocks to the larger coastal population. For instance, she said, the lakes might act as a natural source for replenishing wiped-out runs elsewhere.
"Without the answers to those questions, we think it's premature to allow this fishery," she said.
Buckman said the lake population "isn't that critical" as a source for supplying nearby watersheds, given the rebounding numbers up and down the coast.
"We're seeing big runs in all adjacent streams," he said.
Anglers, meanwhile, aren't shaping up as much of a threat this year. One week into the season, Fish and Wildlife officials said seven fish had been taken.
Joe Rojas-Burke, 503-412-7073; joerojas@news.oregonian.com
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After all the hand ringing we get to the facts. I wonder how long the season has been open and how many fish have been caught. These lakes sound a little like our Lagoons here in Humboldt County...
Those areas that well known and well developed are south TX around Hebronville, west TX centered around Roby, and north Texas close to Wichita Falls. Roby which is located in the upper Colorado valley is an area where bobs and blues range together. Most of west Texas is this way and each species influences the other to be more cooperative.
Oh, I agree with this. But then, saving the species is not the goal of the enviros now is it?
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