Salmon target released

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Friday, April 12, 2002

SPOKANE -- The federal government has finally indicated how many wild salmon and steelhead it would like to count in the Columbia River and its tributaries before it would consider removing the fish from endangered species protections.

The National Marine Fisheries Service recently released preliminary numbers for many rivers and streams.

For instance, biologists would like to see 3,750 naturally spawning chinook in the Wenatchee River and 400 steelhead in southeastern Washington's Asotin Creek.

They'd like to see 1,500 sockeye spawning in Idaho's Stanley Basin.

Reaching those targets at least four times in eight consecutive years would be just one factor used to determine whether a particular species from a particular area is safe from extinction, said Elizabeth Gaar, the fisheries service's Northwest salmon recovery coordinator. Eight years represents two generations of salmon.

Long-term productivity is another factor, along with genetic diversity and geographic distribution within a watershed. But the numbers are of major interest to people from the Methow Valley to the Salmon River basin.

"Before this, we've been kind of operating in the dark," said Bob Bugert, the governor's Eastern Washington salmon recovery coordinator. "This gives a sense ... of how we can start coming up with recovery plans" for individual rivers.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

back to Outdoors index