Dick Doi
and Dick Dyrland will be outlining
our 2006 projects at the May 18 Fish First meeting held at 7 p.m. at the Oak
Tree Restaurant. All interested
people are welcome to join us.
ÉÉÉ.
The
Dave Barta East Fork Lewis River Project is a Lower Columbia Community
Salmon Fund grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Salmon
Recovery Funding Board partnership.
The project cost is $21089.00; $18,000.00 grant and $3089.00 match.
The
project location is River mile 12.8, about 0.3 miles west of the Lewisville
Park Bridge on State Highway 503.
This is a Tier 1 Priority Reach project located in the Lewis River
Watershed (WRIA-28) in Clark County, WA.
The
treatment is to reactivate 130 ft. of a old side-channel. Off to the side
of the side channel is a pond 130 ft. long and 40 ft. wide and 80% filled with
sediment due to improper land clearing by a landowner at the head of this small
drainage. The filled pond will be excavated to about 30 ft. wide and 130
ft. long and will be used as a rearing pond for native steelhead and Coho
salmon.
The
Mason Creek Rearing Pool Project is funded through a partnership with the
Clark-Skamania Fly-Fishers and Fish First. The cost is $16,000.00 with both
partners sharing the cost equally.
The
project is located about 1.5 miles east of La Center at River Mile 6 and 0.5
miles upstream from the mouth of Mason Creek, where Heittman Creek joins Mason
Creek. This is a Tier 1 Priority
Reach Lewis River Watershed (WRIA-28), Clark County project.
A
rearing pool will be constructed and six root wads will be added to the pool
for fry and juvenile rearing cover, flood protection and a food source. A small
cross-vane will be installed at the head of the pool to move sediment out of
the pool and to maintain complexity and structure.
The
project will benefit Steelhead and Coho juveniles survival from the high summer
temperatures in the degraded lower reaches. The increased survival and
production will help to increase returning fish populations.
The
Swanson Side-Channel Project is a Lower Columbia Community Salmon Fund grant
from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Salmon Recovery Funding
Board partnership. The project
cost is $63,955.13; $47,835.00 grant and $16,120.13 match.
The
project is located about 1.5 miles east of La Center at River Mile 6.6. This is a Tier 1 Priority Reach project
located in the Lewis River Watershed (WRIA-28), Clark County.
This
project will reactivate a 570 feet old side-channel to the East Fork Lewis
River. The channel will be
deepened and a rock-vane installed to protect the side-channel from flood
overflow. Five root wads and other LWD will be added for rearing cover and
protection from predators. Completion of this treatment will help in restoring
the proper functioning of a once highly productive reach of the East Fork.
The
project will benefit the Chinook, Coho and Chum Salmon by increasing juvenile
survival off the main stem.
The
Cliff House/East Fork Emergency Stabilization Project is being funded by WA
Fish and Wildlife ($150,000.00), Clark County ($50,000.00), Clark County
Conservation District ($8,000.00) and the Lewis River Ridge Cliff Lot Owners
($20,000.00). Fish First has
undertaken this project to stabilize the cliff and reduce stream bank erosion.
This
is a Tier 1 Priority Reach, Lewis River Watershed (WRIA-28) project in Clark
County located at river mile 9.1.
The
treatment objective is bank stabilization and stream improvement using a
combination of root wads, J-hook vanes and ÒbenchingÓ out the south bank.
The
project will benefit all four T & E threatened anadromous species: Coho,
Chinook, Chum and Steelhead.
The
Wille Culvert Access on Stavie Creek Project is being funded by a Fish
America Foundation grant. The
project cost is $66,880.00; $49,100.00 grant and $17,780.00 match.
The
project is located about 4.8 miles east of Woodland, WA below Highway SR-503 in
Cowlitz County. Stavie Creek is a tributary of the North Fork Lewis River below
Merwin Dam.
The
objective of this project is to restore culvert access to 2.8 miles of stream
spawning and rearing habitat in Stavie Creek. Currently, there is a 4.5 feet round concrete culvert that
does not allow upstream movement because of a four foot plus drop caused by
erosion. Egg boxes have been
installed in the watershed and are producing parr that can swim out the
culvert, but returning adults cannot get into the culvert.
The
treatment involves building a series of five rock step-pool transitions to the
culvert.
The
results will re-activate a high quality sustained spawning production.
The
Edwards/Cedar Creek Project is being funded by a Salmon Recovery Funding Board
grant through the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board.. The project cost is $111,730.00;
$94,970.00 grant and $16,760.00 match.
The
target reach is about 1.4 miles west of Amboy, WA on Cedar Creek, a tributary
of the North Fork Lewis River; Clark County, WRIA 27. This is a Tier 1 Priority Reach project in the Lewis River
Watershed (WRIA-27), Clark County.
The
objective is to restore the structure and complexity of 1400 feet of stream
channel. The in-stream treatment will include 28 root wads, 2 gravel
holding-pool generating rock cross-vanes, spawning gravel and reactivating a 60
ft. side channel.
The
results expected are new, high quality spawning production with resting pools,
cover and protection for Chinook, Coho, and Steelhead adults and parr, rearing
habitat for parr, bank re-vegetation and reduced summer temperatures.
The
Lower Manley Road Creek Project-Phase 1 is a Community Salmon Fund grant
from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Salmon Recovery Funding
Board partnership. The project
cost is $77,570.50; $43,473.00 grant and $34,097.50 match.
The
project location is on Vancouver-Clark County Parks and Recreation property off
259th Street downstream from Day Break Park, a tributary of the East
Fork Lewis River. This is a Tier 1 Priority Reach; Lewis River Watershed
(WRIA-28), Clark County, WA.
The
treatment will restore the loss of stream structure and complexity along 564
feet of the creek by digging a pool between the culvert and existing pond,
filling the existing pond and creating a new channel and building step pools
leading to the East Fork.
The
objective is to eliminate two obstacles for juvenile Steelhead and Coho during
out-migration.
ÉÉÉ.
WINTER PROJECTS REPORT
Egg Boxes
As of March 31, 2006
twelve Fish First members have invested 178 1/2 hours and traveled over 900 miles
on this project, successfully hatching 860,000 eggs with about a 5%
mortality.
Nutrient Enhancement
As of March 31, 2006 Fish
First volunteers logged 453 1/2 hours and traveled 2836 personal miles and 784
miles in the FF one ton truck, delivering 15,250 fish carcasses to streams of
the North Fork Lewis river.
On April 13 Tony MeyerÕs
Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group (LCFEG) and a crew of 9 Fish First
volunteers chipped 520 silver salmon into totes to be placed upstream of egg
boxes. There were 1520 frozen carcasses in the freezer. We hauled and dumped
500 whole carcasses to Pigeon Springs and 500 to the Wright Rd. bridge (both on
Cedar Creek).
Echo Net Pens
As of March 31,
volunteers have 471 1/2 hrs. and 337 personal miles accumulated tending to the
fish in the net pens at Echo. On April 15 we turned 50,000 steelhead
loose. Six members worked three
hours washing each net and placing them back into the water for the next 50,000
fish that were delivered April 18.
Glen Johnston over saw a crew of five members and placed the last 50,000
fish into the net pens for the 2006 season. Their projected release date will
be May 11.
Speelayi Net Pens
As of March 31 volunteers
have logged 479 hours and 2296 personal miles tending to the fish at Merwin.
March 22 saw the release of Kokanee.
April 17 Glen, Greg, Cody
and Eric pushed the net pens to Speelayi Bay so the fish could be transported
to the Echo pens April 18. We are
moving the steelhead from Merwin and down to Echo to have the fish imprint with
the surrounding area. On April 18
seven members and four Dept. of Fish & Wildlife personnel pumped steelhead
into 10 truck loads and hauled them to Echo. They washed nets and predator nets and then hauled them to
the hatchery with around sixty 20 pound anchors and pushed the net pens to the
boom by the hatchery for the summer.
All project totals this far equal 1582 1/2 hours
as of March 31, 2006 and over 10,353 miles. Thank you to all of our dedicated volunteers!
By Dan Balch
ÉÉÉ.
A special thanks to Steven Balch (DanÕs grandson) for
helping stock fish at Echo in April. He
provided some much needed relief to a group of tired (but dedicated) volunteers.
Al
Fulcer
ÉÉÉ.
Salmon Over-Harvest?
By Bruce Harpole
Virtually all commercially
harvested fish stocks worldwide have been over-harvested. A few examples are the Grand Banks, the
Gulf of Mexico, and the North Sea.
Historically, the primary response to declining numbers of fish was to
fish for the survivors more intensively.
This is certainly true for salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Only in the last decade has harvest been
reduced for conservation purposes.
If you think the over-harvest of
Pacific Northwest salmon is a recent occurrence, guess again. The first salmon cannery opened on the
Columbia River in 1867, and by 1883, 55 canneries were harvesting 43 million
pounds of Chinook annually. The
first conference on the alarming decline in Columbia River salmon was held in
1873, 60 years before the first dam.
The first salmon hatchery on the Columbia was built in 1887, 45 years
before the first dam. The harvest
level of Columbia and Snake River salmon had declined more than 50% by the time
the first dam was built in 1933.
The reality is, salmon numbers have been steadily declining for 150
years, and now runs are less then 5% of historical levels in the states of CA,
OR, WA and ID.
In a paper titled ÒSalmon Decline Creates
Nutrient Deficit in Northwest StreamsÓ Ted Gresh, Jim Lichatowich and
Peter Schoonmaker stated Òthe historical level of salmon production for the
Northeast Pacific Ocean ecosystem was 228 million—351 million fish
annually, with the following distribution: 56 percent- 65 percent of fish
turned to Alaska; 19 percent-26 percent returned to British Columbia;
and 15 percent- 16 percent returned to California, Oregon, Washington, and
Idaho. Today, 142 million—287 million fish are produced and 81 percent-90
percent return to Alaskan rivers; 8 percent- 17 percent return to British
Columbia rivers; and 1 percent—1.5 percent to rivers in California,
Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.Ó
Why does Alaska get such large
salmon runs when a century ago the great Bristol Bay salmon were virtually
extinct? The only difference for these
runs has been to eliminate over-fishing.
In Alaska all fishing is managed on an Òescapement basisÓ, meaning
they only allow commercial fishing to begin after a certain number of fish have
entered the rivers to spawn. Meeting this
Òescapement goalÓ prior to commercial fishing is a hard constraint to
follow. With this system fishing
levels become the dependent variable, not the numbers of in-river spawning
fish. In contrast, Oregon,
Washington and California first allow salmon fishing to occur, and then hope
enough fish return to the rivers to repopulate the population. This policy does not work. Fish harvest should only be allowed
after escapement goals are met.
Some argue it is AlaskaÕs
pristine habitat that is solely responsible for the health
of their salmon stocks. But some Alaska rivers with healthy stocks are far from
pristine; while several rivers in Washington State that remain nearly pristine
have current escapement levels at a fraction of historic levels. So why pick on commercial fishermen and
not sport anglers? Good question,
especially when sport anglers have been part of the over-harvest problem for
decades. The answer is in the
harvest method. Sport
anglers can selectively harvest by using hook and line, whereas most commercial
fishing methods are non-selective. In
todayÕs world, where abundant fin-clipped hatchery produced salmon swim
side-by-side in the ocean with endangered naturally spawning salmon, the
ability to selectively harvest fish is critical. The continued non-selective intercept fishing of
mixed stocks (hatchery fish, healthy naturally spawning fish, and Endangered
Species Act-listed fish) will only result in the continued decline of the
weakest stocks, the oneÕs we are obliged to protect. The only thing that can save these weak stocks of salmon is
adequate escapement.
Some argue, ÒWhat about all the other
problems salmon face, its not just over-harvestÓ? And theyÕre right.
Salmon do face many other problems; water quality issues, dams blocking
upriver spawning grounds, irrigation interests reducing in-stream flows,
counterproductive hatchery practices, seals, fish-eating birds, and stupid
humans. But, these things only
come into play once the fish come back to the rivers. These naturally spawning fish need to be allowed back to
their natal waters in sufficient numbers for them to have any chance to
recover.
Fin-clipping of hatchery fish
provides one means to change recreational and commercial harvest methods to
allow more ESA-listed naturally spawning salmon to escape, while also allowing
for a higher harvest rate on hatchery salmon. It wonÕt work everywhere. It would work in many, many more places than it is currently
being used.
One big source of over-harvest is
the Canadian commercial fishermen.
It is estimated that 69% of British Columbia commercially caught salmon
are returning to Oregon, Washington and California. A full 70% of those are ESA listed stocks. Fortunately, the United States is
renegotiating with Canada on the Chinook portion of the Pacific Salmon Treaty,
and a new federal policy is to appear by the end of 2006.
Gary Loomis had a good suggestion
on how to solve the non-selective harvest by commercial fishermen. He suggests the government subsidize
the commercial fishing industry for a period of three years. During those years commercial fishermen
and others must come up with a true selective way to harvest salmon, without
nets and without impact to naturally spawning fish. By the end of year three, if there is no program for
selective harvest in place, then the government can help train the commercial
fishermen for a new occupation.
Before you get all weepy-eyed for
the poor commercial fishermen, know that their industry will not collapse if
they can not kill salmon. In
Oregon, only 7% of the industryÕs revenue comes from salmon, the bulk of their
revenue is from Crab, Whitting and bottom fish.
We must stop the non-selective
commercial harvest of our dwindling salmon stocks and establish generous basin
by basin escapement numbers. To
supply fish for the public to eat, the Indian Tribes are more than willing to
harvest their allotted salmon, as agreed by treaty. The harvest would be more selective and escapement goals
would be more adequately met. Over
2 million sport anglers from California to the Puget Sound would have twice as
many salmon available to selectively harvest. Sport fishing would boom and so would the small communities
and businesses associated with sport fishing.
Bruce Harpole is President
of the Oregon Fishing Club. He
writes a column for the Salem Business Journal, a monthly publication. The
article ÔSalmon Over-harvest?Õ will appear in the May issue. He can be reached
at 541-967-8301 or 877-521-8947.
ÉÉÉ.
At our April Fish First Board
meeting, Brigadier General Chuck Yeager and Angela Hult were added as board
members.
General
Yeager has supported Fish First for years by attending our banquets, and speaking highly about the good work
we do while at Sportsman shows and other events nationwide.
Angela
Hult brings promotion and marketing skills to utilize the national attention
Fish First has been receiving.
Please
welcome our new board members.
ÉÉÉ.
General Chuck Yeager
Brings ÒThe Right
StuffÓ to Fish First Board
The Fish First Board of Directors
enthusiastically appointed General Chuck Yeager, the first man in the world to
break the sound barrier, to the organizationÕs Board of Directors.
Yeager,
who shares a passion for angling and conservation with Fish First President
Gary Loomis, will be officially welcomed to the Board at the organizationÕs May
6 dinner and fund raiser.
In
1976, Chuck Yeager was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, presented to him
by President Gerald Ford. President Ronald Reagan later honored him with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. These are the highest honors the nation bestows
for outstanding service or achievement.
General
YeagerÕs other decorations include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star with V
device, the Air Force Commendation medal, the Silver Star with oak leaf
cluster, the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Service
Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two clusters, and the Air Medal with
ten clusters. His civilian awards include the Harmon International Trophy
(1954) and the Collier and Mackay trophies (1948). He was the first and the
youngest military pilot to be inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame (1973).
Angela Hult
ÉÉÉ.
Project Tracks
Columbia River Salmon
Ocean Migration
There
is a project in the works to track the ocean migration of salmon and other
sea-going fish up the North Pacific coastÕs continental shelf. It will detail fish movements and
survival trends.
The
Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking project (POST) will utilize the latest
technological acoustic sensors to track the progress of tagged fish from the
Columbia River and elsewhere.
The
POST study will help address the status of listed stocks and the critical
uncertainties regarding their welfare, information that to this point has been
unavailable to fish managers.
The
project includes the deployment of six picket lines or ÔarraysÕ nodes that will
sense and record data from passing fish with surgically implanted, coded
acoustic tags. The highly advanced
development of tags and receivers allows a unique ability to monitor individual
movements. The acoustic sensors
have a life of up to seven years.
Six
arrays will track fish movements from Cascade Head, about 80 miles south of the
mouth of the Columbia River, to Icy Strait in southeastern Alaska. The arrays
will track fish the width of the continental shelf.
Fish
managers are looking for information to guide their decisions in the
future.
They are looking for answers to 1) the timing and rate of migration, 2) the residence
locations of different fish species, and 3) differences in stock and species
behavior.
The
new acoustic sensors have the capacity to record and transmit information about
ocean conditions such as salinity, temperature, currents and plankton
density.
Researchers
will be able to track where fish are going and what they encounter.
Future
monitoring can be used to evaluate how conditions change when an El Nino
prevails. The arrays could also help evaluate how fish movements and survivals
might alter during those changing conditions along their migratory path.
The
POST project is funded by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, backed
by Bonneville Power Administration, which funds the Council program and issues
contracts for recommended work.
The
Acoustic Tracking for Studying Ocean Survival (POST) research project is part
of the larger POST effort that includes funding from the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation, the Gordon and Mary Moore Foundation, the Census of Marine Life,
the Pacific Salmon Commission and the Canadian government.
The
POST project plans to complete the full-scale marine telemetry array along the
North American Pacific Coast from Baja to the Bering Sea by 2010. It will
include 2000 receivers and 30 listening devices according to its website at
http://cbb.c.topica.com/maaeC4dabphmBbrt0c8b/.
ÉÉÉ.
KIDS FISHING DERBY
Mark Saturday, June 10 on your calendar
and plan to bring the kids and the grandkids to Merwin Park, to participate in the Kids Fishing
Derby. (8 a.m. to 2 p.m. approx.)
There will be environmental education
exhibits, a Salmon tent with a
story teller, a casting contest, and face painters.
Prizes will be given for biggest
fish in each age group: 0-3, 4-7, 8-11 and 12-16. Everyone is allowed to fish. Free hot dogs and drinks
will be provided by the Camas Moose Lodge.
This event is sponsored by US
Forest Service, WDFW, Fish First, Camas Moose Lodge, Clark Co. Trout Unlimited,
Cowlitz Co. Fire District 1, Pacificore, and Corwin Beverages.. It has been a yearly event for about 15
years.
Merwin
Park is located about 10 miles east of Woodland (I-5 exit 21) near Ariel,
Washington on Hwy. 503.
Look
for signs addressing Merwin Fish Hatchery, Merwin Dam Picnic Area and the Kids Fishing Derby as you
approach or call Adam Haspiel 360-449-7833 or Brice Michaelis 360-449-7870 for
more information.