Abstract 



124 



A review and analysis of available information indicate that several factors, acting now or in 

 the past, have reduced the abundance of Washington's native and wild anadromous species of 

 salmon and trout in the Columbia River, Puget Sound, and coastal fisheries. Environmental factors, 

 which include water- and land-use practices, human-influenced biological interactions, and natural 

 phenomena, have affected the success of migration, spawning, growth, and survival of wild fish. 

 Management factors, which include fishery agency harvest and hatchery practices, have affected 

 the numbers and genetic makeup of wild fish that can return to streams and rivers to spawn. 

 Recent fishery statistics, including in-river run size, compliance with established spawning 

 escapement goals, and stock composition, confirm these effects. Many, but not all of Washington's 

 salmonid stocks have a dominant hatchery component. Sockeye and pink salmon are almost 

 exclusively wild fish. Stocks of chum salmon and sea-run cutthroat trout have more wild than 

 hatchery fish, while stocks of echo and chinook salmon and steelhead trout are mostly hatchery 

 fish. The reallocation in catch from ocean mixed-stock preterminal fisheries to coastal and Puget 

 Sound terminal fisheries has helped protect declining wild stocks even though Canadian interception 

 of Washington chinook and echo salmon has increased the total harvest rates for these species 

 above desired levels. However, Washington's interception of Canadian sockeye and pink salmon 

 has more than compensated for these losses. Pink salmon, whose juveniles spend less than 8 days 

 in fresh water, and sockeye salmon, almost exclusively from Canada, account for almost 60 percent 

 of Washington's commercial salmon catch. The majority of this catch, therefore, is composed 

 of wild fish little influenced by the state's freshwater environment. Thus, the harvest of hatchery- 

 produced fish and continued interception of Canadian stocks have enabled the statewide commercial 

 salmon catch to remain at historical levels of about 50 million pounds per year. 



Columbia basin fisheries have been affected most severely. Water-use practices (primarily dams 

 and irrigation diversions) and human-influenced biological interactions are the primary factors 

 contributing to stream blockage, degradation of freshwater and estuarine habitat, increased mortality, 

 and markedly reduced run size. Fewer than 25 percent of these salmonids are wild fish. Puget 

 Sound fisheries are in somewhat better condition: more than 50 percent of these salmonids are 

 wild. However, past water-use and land-use practices, and a growing and sprawling human 

 population have eliminated productive lower river and estuarine habitat. Washington's coastal 

 fisheries have been least affected, although important freshwater and estuarine habitat has been 

 lost. Forest and agricultural practices and localized urban-industrial impacts are the primary adverse 

 factors. However, more than 75 percent of coastal salmonids remain wild. 



