97 



Green Sturgeon Population Status 



This species supporte a small percentage of the commercial fisheries in Grays 

 Harbor. It is not known to what degree green sturgeon caught in GrayB Harbor 

 originate from Grays Harbor as opposed to other river basins. Green sturgeon 

 are suspected to spawn in estuaries throughout the northwest, and Grays Harbor 

 is a likely spawning ground, along with Willapa Bay (Devore, WDF, pers. comm) . 

 Spawners do not migrate far upstream from tidewater, and occur in the Chehalis 

 below Monteaano. Green sturgeon are far fewer than whites, and there has been 

 no accurate assessment of their population. Green sturgeon and white sturgeon 

 are covered by the same fishing regulations. 



AMERICAN SHAD 



American shad (Aiosa aapidlsslma) were introduced to the Pacific coast in 

 1871, 1885, and 1886 (Craig and Hacker 1940). The Grays Harbor shad catch 

 very likely represents a local spawning stock, based on the high degree of 

 homing tendency in Atlantic coast populations (Dadswell et al. 1987). Shad 

 have been observed in the Chehalis River as far upstream as Rainbow Falls (RH 

 97), but the greatest concentration of shad spawning is likely near Rochester 

 (Wolfe, FWS, pers. comm.). Young-of-the-year shad were captured from 

 Hontesano and points downstream; most apparently move downstream in August- 

 October (WDF 1971). American shad juveniles and adults occurred frequently in 

 experimental seine samples from the inner Harbor but never occurred in large 

 numbers in any one sample (Simenstad and Eggers 1981). 



The stock may have been depleted, 

 because the first reported catch, in 

 1945, was much larger than that of 

 any subsequent year (Figure 16). Few 

 catches have been reported from the 

 GrayB Harbor Catch Reporting Area 

 over the last ten years . Some 

 caution is warranted, however, in 

 using catches as the sole measure of 

 stock success because 1) the weak 

 market for shad may control reported 

 catches, i.e., small catches may not 

 be reported if they axe never sold, 

 and 2 ) decreases in shad catches 

 could be due to spring Chinook 

 closures since shad are mainly 

 captured incidentally to spring 

 chinook. 



CHEHALIS SHAD CATCH 



uLi 



luiiilUlllU 



!•«• IfM »•■» !»«« l»«t X9T DTf 



Figure 16. Chehiiii Buin Amcncu dud commercial ulch, .945- 

 1989 (W«ni et «l. 1970; WDF 1990). 



Habitat problems for Chehalis Basin shad have not been identified, but it is 

 known that shad recovery in the Delaware River coincided with reduction of 

 point source pollution and consequent increases in dissolved oxygen (Maurice 

 •t al. 1987). In the Sacramento River, pollution was a potentially important 

 ■had stressor (Stevens et al. 1987). Juvenile shad are in the Chehalis during 

 July and August, the time when water quality is at it* worst. 



40 



