217 



DRAFT 



'No data are available on the contribution and distribution of wild fall 

 Chinook salmon from the Columbia River. But it probably is similar to 

 that observed for these hatchery fish. ' 



This statement is erroneous. Columbia River wild fall chinook (lower river wild and 

 upriver brights) are far more northern in their oceanic range and there is considerable 

 data available from coded-wire tagged fish. For example, ODFW's salmon manager, 

 Dr. Donald O. Mclsaac, has studied Lewis River fall chinook and published the results 

 (Mclsaac 1990). 



The authors claim '...no specific catch data were found" regarding the contribution of 

 coastal chinook and coho to out-of-state fisheries. Considerable information is 

 available especially in Pacific Salmon Commission documents. 



Page 24, 1.1.8. Mixed Fisheries Issues 



This section is a discussion of mixed stock fishery issues. The entire theme is that 

 mixed stock fishing will cause less abundant stocks to decline and ". . .possibly become 

 extinct. ' The authors use several examples: 



'It is easy to understand how declining stocks like summer chinook 

 salmon or Snake River sockeye salmon can be depleted in an ocean 

 mixed fishery. ..." 



Summer chinook inriver fisheries have been closed for nearly 30 years, the ocean 

 harvest on these fish is light, yet these fish continue to decline in the absence of 

 harvest. Also, Snake River sockeye have been nearly completely protected since the 

 Snake River dams were completed in the 1970s yet these stocks declined to near zero 

 returns. The Department objects to the suggestion that harvest caused the decline of 

 these Snake River fish. 



The authors provide another conclusion based upon only a partial analysis of the reason 

 for stock declines. The authors portray harvest rates on Columbia River hatchery coho 

 (average of 88%) as being excessive (as compared to the OCN MSY rate of 69%) and 

 conclude with the statement that this "...harvest rate should be closer to zero if the 

 population [lower Columbia wild coho] is to survive. " This simple conclusion provides 

 no mention of the potential affects of reduced stock productivity on these declines due 

 to human-caused habitat changes. 



The weakness of this analysis is evident in the discussions of lower Columbia coho, 

 Snake River summer chinook and Snake River sockeye. 



A-11 



