Environmental conditions in the Columbia River estuary and nearshore ocean environments are 

 factors that intluence juvenile salmonid survival. The Proposed Recovery Plan calls for 

 improvement in the estuarine ecosystem through better management of dredging and water 



quality issues. 



Harvest Management 



Snake River salmon are not directly targeted for harvest, but they are incidentally caught by 

 commercial, recreational, and tribal fisheries in the ocean and in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. 

 Incidental harvest in the ocean of Snake River sockeye salmon and Snake River spring/summer 

 Chinook salmon is minimal. However, fall chinook salmon are caught incidentally in 

 commercial and sport fisheries from Southeast Alaska to California, in non-treaty inriver sport 

 and commercial fisheries, and in treaty fisheries above Bonneville Dam. In each of these 

 fisheries, listed Snake River fall chinook are mixed with a number of other natural and hatchery- 

 origin stocks. At present, these fisheries are managed through a complex system of interrelated 

 forums. 



The proposed Recovery Plan recommends amending the existing inriver harvest management 

 rules so that they incorporate explicit management criteria to protect Snake River salmon. To 

 minimize the number of fall chinook caught in ocean fisheries. NMFS proposes to implement a 

 management strategy that is consistent with the Pacific Salmon Commission's objective of 

 meeting adult chinook goals by 1998. These goals are established for a number of stocks and are 

 based on a chinook rebuilding program that was fully implemented in 1984. This approach takes 

 a broad view of stock protection and focuses on the coastwide status of chinook stocks including 

 those from Puget Sound, the Washington and Oregon coast, and the Columbia River, all of 

 which are under review for listing under the ESA. 



Artificial Propagation 



Artificial propagation of salmon in the Columbia River Basin has successfully contributed to 

 ocean and inriver commercial, sport, and tribal fisheries. In some cases, hatchery production has 

 slowed the decline of natural salmon populations or helped preserve them. However, effects 

 from intensive hatchery production (such as supporting harvest rates in excess of what the natural 

 populations can withstand, using natural fish for hatchery broodstock, and causing introgression 

 into natural gene pools) have also contributed to the continued decline of some natural salmon 

 populations. Ecological interactions between hatchery fish and natural fish such as competition, 

 predation, displacement, and disease transfer need to be minimized. 



Under the proposed recovery plan, captive broodstocks are being maintained to conserve 

 remaining sockeye and spring/summer chinook salmon gene pools. Other supplementation 

 efforts designed to support listed salmon recovery are also underway in the Snake River Basin. 



The proposed Recovery Plan also suggests protecting listed species from excessive genetic 

 introgression. minimizing impacts on listed salmon resulting from interactions between 

 Columbia River Basin hatchery salmon and natural salmon, improving the quality offish 

 released from hatcheries, reducing predation and competition interactions between listed salmon 

 and steelhead and hatchery trout, restoring listed chinook by reintroducing them to historic 

 habitat, and conducting research for the purpose of optimizing production and conserving natural 

 populations. 



The final Recovery Plan will not be self-implementing under the Endangered Species Act. 

 Instead, it will be used by NMFS and a Regional Implementation Team to guide the various 

 agencies in refining their management plans, procedures, and strategies. This is so that 



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