15 



Next we will hear from Mr. Rollie Schmitten of the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service. Nice to see you. 



STATEMENT OF ROLLIE SCHMITTEN, DIRECTOR, NORTHWEST 

 REGION, NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE 



Mr. Schmitten. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, it is 

 indeed a pleasure to welcome you back to the Northwest. Those of 

 you from the Northwest, we welcome you home. 



I am Rollie Schmitten. I am the Northwest Regional Director for 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service, and as this committee well 

 knows, we are a part of NOAA, and our parent organization is the 

 Department of Commerce. It is a pleasure today to focus on some- 

 thing that has been extremely important to all Westerners and, in 

 fact, I think to all peoples of this Nation, that is our Pacific 

 salmon. 



The Service's most visible role in the recovery of Pacific salmon 

 populations is through its delegated authority from the Secretary 

 of Commerce to administer the Endangered Species Act for both 

 marine and certain anadromous resources and their habitat. 



However, the Service also has Federal authority and responsibil- 

 ity for marine and estuarine and anadromous resources under a va- 

 riety of laws that can affect the recovery of salmon. There are 

 many laws that guide our actions, but even with those authorities, 

 let me state that salmon restoration will only come from collabora- 

 tion and cooperation. 



Additionally, the Service actively participates as a member of re- 

 gional task forces, the Pacific Council and other salmon oriented 

 groups, including the Klamath Fishery Management Council, and 

 reviews activities associated with Federal land and hydropower op- 

 erations that have the potential to affect anadromous fish or their 

 habitat. 



Also the Service is directly involved in managing ocean and in- 

 river fisheries and the Columbia River Basin hatchery production, 

 which affects both treaty and non-treaty fisheries. 



In this context, the Service encourages the protection and en- 

 hancement of all anadromous habitat. We strive to restore and im- 

 prove the productive capacity of all fish habitat, not just that habi- 

 tat that is for a listed species under the ESA. We accomplish this 

 task in cooperation with other Federal, State and tribal manage- 

 ment bodies. 



Under the Endangered Species Act, the Service has three major 

 roles for the protection and recovery of Pacific salmon. First is de- 

 ciding whether a species or distinct population of a species should 

 be listed as threatened or endangered and, if so, promptly designat- 

 ing critical habitat. 



The second is conducting the section 7 consultations and evaluat- 

 ing applications in issuing section 10 permits to the States; and the 

 third and final is the development and implementation of recovery 

 plans. 



Let me just digress from my text and discuss the key lessons that 

 we have learned in the listing of the Northwest salmon. First, our 

 focus has shifted from a hatchery to a wild stock similar to what 



