Or. Admin. Code § 635-500-6500

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 12, December 1, 2024

Section 635-500-6500 - Implementing the Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan for the State of Oregon

(1) Policy. The Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan for the State of Oregon (Coast Coho Plan) (State of Oregon 2007, available at Department offices) implements the State's strategy for protecting and enhancing Oregon coastal coho populations, in cooperation with other federal and local partners, including Oregon Plan natural resource agencies and NOAA Fisheries. This rule describes the Commission's contribution toward this collective effort and directs the Department's implementation of the Coast Coho Plan. The Coast Coho Plan is based on the following general premise: habitat management and improvement is the key to protecting and enhancing coastal coho; much of the most important coho habitat is on private land; habitat improvement on private land is most likely to occur through incentive-based cooperative partnerships with landowners; and fourth, and the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds provides the best vehicle for securing these partnerships and implementing habitat improvements. This rule describes the Department's role in implementing the Coast Coho Plan consistent with the Department's statutory authorities and the Native Fish Conservation Policy (OAR 635-007-0502 thru 635-007-0505). The rule is not intended to be a rigid recipe but rather to identify the range of opportunities the Department should pursue and how the effectiveness of those opportunities should be evaluated, following the template first established in the Native Fish Conservation Policy.

(2) Description of Species Management Unit and Populations. The Species Management Unit (SMU) for Oregon Coast coho is the Oregon Coast Coho Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) that is comprised of component populations, variously defined as independent, potentially independent, and dependent, as described by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Oregon/Northern California Technical Recovery Team (TRT) reported in Lawson, et al. 2005. The Department adopts the definitions of coho populations proposed by the NOAA TRT. These include all historical coho streams flowing directly into the Pacific Ocean from, and inclusive of, the Necanicum River south to, and inclusive of, the Sixes River. To avoid confusion and because the SMU is the same as the federal ESU designation, the term ESU will be used to designate the SMU for Oregon Coast coho.

(3) Desired Status. The desired status goal is to improve coho habitat and coho populations across the Oregon Coast coho ESU so that:

(a) All independent populations perform at a level substantially above the level classified as sustainable, based on the Biological Recovery Criteria for the Oregon Coast Coho Salmon ESU, as described at the time of this rule's adoption by the NOAA Oregon/Northern California TRT; and

(b) All dependent populations have habitat that is capable of supporting coho salmon at productive levels, especially during periods of medium or high marine survival, as defined by the Pacific Fishery Management Council's (PFMC) Amendment 13 of the Salmon Fishery Management Plan;

(c) This desired status goal for the ESU shall be achieved when all independent and potentially independent coho populations pass all of the measurable criteria for independent and potentially independent populations and the aggregate of dependent populations within each bio-geographic stratum of the ESU pass both of the measurable criteria for dependent populations. In general, this means the average number of naturally produced coho spawners in the ESU is unlikely to drop below 100,000 fish even when marine survival is as poor as experienced during the early and mid 1990s when natural spawners averaged approximately 50,000 fish;

(d) The six measurable criteria for desired status of Oregon Coast coho independent or potentially independent populations are:

(A) Abundance;

(B) Persistence;

(C) Productivity;

(D) Distribution/connectivity;

(E) Diversity; and

(F) Habitat.

(e) The two measurable criteria for dependent populations are:

(A) Spawner trend; and

(B) Habitat condition.

(f) The above measurable criteria are defined in the Metric and Evaluation Thresholds sections of each criterion in Appendix 2 of the Coast Coho Plan. While criterion for survival rate to each critical life history stage can not yet be developed with the available information and monitoring, staff shall establish a criterion for this biological attribute when adequate information and monitoring is available. Secondary criteria, such as age structure, are not incorporated into desired status criteria, but may be developed in the future to assess the effectiveness of specific management actions.

(4) Current Status. The current status of the Oregon Coast coho ESU at the time of the adoption of this rule is described in the State of Oregon's Oregon Coastal Coho Assessment (May 6, 2005). This assessment describes the biological attributes, criteria and metrics used to assess the status of the ESU. Those biological attributes, criteria, and metrics are adopted by reference into this rule. The Department shall update current status periodically consistent with timelines described in Chapter 9 of the Coast Coho Plan, Application of Adaptive Management, but these updates do not require rule modification of current status, but rather will serve as a measurement of progress toward desired status.

(5) Primary Limiting Factors.

(a) Numerous factors contribute to the gap between current and desired status of populations comprising the Oregon Coast coho ESU. Marine survival of coho associated with ocean conditions is the largest single factor regulating coho productivity and abundance. Marine survival is not considered a primary limiting factor for coho because the desired status criteria are scaled appropriately for variable marine survival and because management has little influence on marine survival;

(b) The factors generally causing the gap between current and desired status for the Oregon Coast coho ESU that can be managed are, in general order of importance for the ESU:

(A) Stream habitat complexity;

(B) Water quality;

(C) Exotic fish species;

(D) Hatchery impacts;

(E) Water quantity; and

(F) Spawning gravel.

(c) Primary and secondary limiting factors are identified for each population within the ESU in Table 4 of the Coast Coho Plan. Staff will continue to help identify management actions addressing these factors to aid reaching desired status. Staff may analyze the limiting factors at a finer, more localized scale when selecting or prioritizing management actions for specific areas. These analyses may find primary and secondary factors different than what was found at the ESU or population scale.

(6) Management Strategies. Staff shall consider and attempt to implement these management strategies designed for the SMU as a whole, and for constituent populations as applicable, as mechanisms to reach the desired status:

(a)Short-term Strategies (1 to 5 years):

(A) Provide technical support to local watershed groups to identify and address primary and secondary limiting factors at local scales within populations, with emphasis on independent and potentially independent populations;

(B) Modify hatchery coho programs in the Salmon River and the North Umpqua River thereby addressing the primary factor currently limiting viability of these populations.

(b)Long-term Strategies (1 to 25 years):

(A) Manage hatchery coho programs in a manner that will contribute to fisheries and attainment of the desired status goal;

(B) Manage harvest impacts to naturally produced coho consistent with the Pacific Fishery Management Council's (PFMC's) Amendment 13 of the Salmon Fishery Management Plan, includ-ing subsequent modifications to the plan;

(C) Provide monitoring data applicable to annual and periodic reviews of the efficacy of the PFMC's Amendment 13 to support the desired status goal for the Oregon Coast Coho ESU;

(D) Provide technical support to, and coordinate with, federal, state and local agencies and groups to protect existing high quality coho habitat;

(E) Provide technical support to, and coordinate with, federal, state and local agencies and groups to create additional high quality coho habitat;

(F) Provide technical and outreach support to willing landowners that will enhance the maintenance and/or creation of beaver dams in appropriate habitats.

(7) Adaptive Management. The Department shall employ adaptive management principles within its statutory authority in support of achieving the desired status goal for the ESU. The Department's contribution to adaptive management of the ESU by the state of Oregon will include five elements: research, monitoring, evaluation, a feedback loop, and reporting:

(a)Research. The Department shall identify and support research that addresses uncertainties related to management strategies and actions needed to achieve desired status. Research needs identified in the Coast Coho Plan at the time of adoption (but which are not intended to be the exclusive research projects to be pursued) are:

(A) The mechanisms that cause poor ocean survival of coho and methods to predict ocean survival conditions;

(B) The relative importance of limiting factors to coho throughout freshwater and estuarine residence;

(C) Validation and refinement of the Coho Winter High Intrinsic Potential model (as described in Burnett et al. 2003);

(D) The methods to maintain, enhance, or promote beaver dams in areas where they can create or maintain high quality coho rearing habitat;

(E) The impact of predation (from marine mammals, birds, and exotic fishes) on Oregon Coast coho;

(F) The re-establishment of a naturally producing coho population in Salmon River; and

(G) The development of standardized tools to evaluate limiting factors at stream-reach scales;

(H) Future research needs shall be identified during periodic assessments of the effectiveness of the Coast Coho Plan.

(b)Monitoring. The Department shall identify, implement, and support monitoring needed to assess the status of coho populations relative to desired status criteria, evaluate habitat status trends in the Oregon Coast coho ESU, and evaluate the effectiveness of management actions:

(A) The Department shall immediately implement annual juvenile coho, adult coho and habitat monitoring, as funding allows and as approved by the Oregon Plan Monitoring Team, at levels that provide estimates at the scale of independent population and dependent populations aggregated by strata:

(B) A monitoring need identified in the Coast Coho Plan at the time of plan adoption is the monitoring of habitat restoration projects;

(C) Future monitoring needs shall be identified during periodic assessments of the effectiveness of the Coast Coho Plan.

(c)Evaluation. The Department shall identify and support evaluation needed to determine the effectiveness of management strategies and actions in achieving their intended outcomes:

(A) An evaluation need identified in the Coast Coho Plan at the time of adoption is the evaluation of habitat protection, management and restoration programs in the Oregon Coast ESU;

(B) Future evaluation needs shall be identified during periodic assessments of the effectiveness of the Coast Coho Plan.

(d)Feedback Loop. The Department shall review the results of assessments identified in 635-500-6500(7)(e) and modify management strategies and actions as appropriate and within its statutory authority based on the review results. The Department shall recommend to the Oregon Plan Core Team and other agencies or entities, as necessary, appropriate modifications to management strategies and actions needed to support attainment of the desired status goal for the ESU. This feedback shall include refinement of research, monitoring and evaluation programs and desired status criteria based on the best available scientific information;

(e)Reporting. Monitoring data analyzed for the annual and periodic evaluation of ESU status shall be made available to the public. As part of the Oregon Plan Core Team, the Department shall help prepare a report available to the public summarizing the results of the 6-year (2013), 12-year (2019) and each subsequent 12-year assessment, or additional assessments called for by the Oregon Plan Core Team, of the effectiveness of the Coast Coho Plan;

(f) Modifications to the Coast Coho Plan are required if the fish become listed under the federal ESA or by the direction of the Oregon Plan Core Team in periodic Coast Coho Plan status reports. These reports by the Core Team will serve as an early warning system that will direct additional monitoring, evaluation, or management actions, if needed, based on annual review of monitoring data.

(8) Impact on Other Native Fish Species. Management strategies identified in the Coast Coho Plan are likely to be neutral or somewhat beneficial to other native fish species present in the ESU. New or modified actions shall consider impacts to other native species, as appropriate, to minimize harm and optimize benefits.

Or. Admin. Code § 635-500-6500

DFW 22-2007, f. & cert. ef. 4-5-07 DFW 129-2003, f. & cert. ef. 12-15-03

Stat. Auth.: ORS 496.138, 496.146 & 506.119

Stats. Implemented: ORS 506.109 & 506.129