Puget Sound Harvest

1
Puget Sound Harvest

• Status of ESA and NEPA Review
• Susan Bishop
• Sustainable Fisheries Division
• NOAA Fisheries
• susan.bishop_at_noaa.gov

2
ESA Actions

• Puget Sound chinook, Hood Canal summer-run chum
  ESUs listed March, 1999
• ESA Evaluations
• 1999 Biological opinion
• 2000 Biological opinion
• 2001-2002 4(d) application (Limit 6), NEPA
• NMFS concluded that actions would not
  appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and
  recovery

3
2001 Harvest Plan Challenged

• Lawsuit on 2001-2002 4(d) approval
• Process NEPA, ESA biological opinion
• Substance Harvest Approach
• Settlement agreement reached

4
Terms of Settlement

• 2003
• One year 4(d) application
• One year biological opinion
• Environmental Assessment
• 2004
• Multi-year 4(d) application
• Multi-year biological opinion
• Environmental Impact Statement

5
Alternatives for NEPA Analysis

• Determined from
• Settlement agreement
• Public scoping
• Internal scoping
• Proposed Action (EA and EIS)
• Escapement goal management (EIS)
• Escapement goal management population level
  terminal only fisheries (EA, EIS)
• No take of listed Puget Sound chinook (EA, EIS)

6
Basis of Alternatives

• Fulfill terms of settlement agreement
• Reasonable range of alternatives
• Focused on alternatives to general harvest
  management framework
• Harvest-centric

7
Proposed Action

• Uses a mixture of exploitation rates and
  escapement thresholds
• Accounts for all fishing-related impacts across
  all fisheries
• Incorporates uncertainty in data the
  environment, minimizes risk
• Harvest objectives updated with changing
  environmental and habitat conditions

8
Proposed Action objectives

• Abundance thresholds
• Critical maintain population stability
• triggers additional fishery restriction
• Upper abundance with negligible risk of
  extinction
• measured under current habitat conditions
• Exploitation rates
• Based on abundance thresholds or recent years
  with stable escapements
• 2 steps rebuilding rates above critical
  threshold
• minimum regime below critical threshold
• Incorporates error and uncertainty

9
Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Plan Hypothetical
Puget Sound Chinook Stock
Recovered
Rebuilding
Proportion of adult population harvested
Extreme low abundance
Max. ? harvest
Max. 30 harvest
Max. fishery restrictions
Number of Spawners
Recovery is achieved
Habitat productivity capacity increases
Current estimate of habitat productivity
capacity
Low abundance threshold
10
NEPA Analysis

• Will
• Evaluate harvest effects
• General framework
• Broad scale look
• ESU level assessment
• Provide information for other processes

• Wont
• Watershed specific
• Other H scenarios
• Fine level tuning

11
Opportunities for Input

• 2003 RMP final determination pending
• Public scoping for EIS has already occurred
• Public review and comment
• DEIS
• Proposed determination on 2004 RMP
• General input opportunities, but not as
  collaborative a process as Shared Strategy

12
Schedule for Completion of 2004 RMP EIS
Harvest Plan Implemented
DEIS published for public review
Comment closed
2003 Harvest Package Final
Final EIS
30d cooling off
Address public comment, revise
45d Public comment
5/15 summer/03 fall/03
winter/04 5/04
2004 Harvest Plan Development
2004 Harvest Plan Review and Revision 4(d)
Evaluation and Determination Biological Opinion
Harvest Plan to NMFS
2004 Fisheries Open
13
Integration

• 4(d) rule requires monitoring, review, evaluation
• Section 7 requires re-initiation upon substantial
  new information
• RMPs evaluated so far include adaptive management
  processes