[env-trinity] Trinity Journal- SOS II: Fish report documents decline

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_b2b69f38-4027-11e7-bcd4-f3aec2936951.html

SOS II: Fish report documents decline
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
 - May 24, 2017
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   - Mike Wier | Special to The Trinity Journal
Chinook salmon    
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A new report out on California’s native salmon, steelhead and trout populations predicts widespread extinction of the fish within the next century if present trends continue.Specifically, the report, “State of the Salmonids II: Fish in Hot Water,” says that 74 percent are likely to be extinct in the next 100 years and 45 percent are likely to be extinct in the next 50 years.This is the second such report released by the advocacy group California Trout (CalTrout) and the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. The first edition was published in 2008.The researchers reviewed literature and agency reports and consulted with more than 60 individuals and experts to compile the report, which should be considered “an alarm bell,” said lead author Dr. Peter Moyle, associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences.“It should also be seen as a roadmap for how we can correct course to better support native aquatic species,” he said.The five fish populations identified as experiencing the most immediate threat — Central California coast coho salmon, Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon, southern steelhead, Kern River rainbow trout and McCloud River redband trout — are not in the Trinity County area.However, the Klamath and Trinity River basins are home to several fish populations listed in the report as being of “critical” concern.Those include Klamath-Trinity spring-run chinook salmon, Southern Oregon/Northern California coast coho salmon and Klamath Mountains Province summer steelhead.The spring-run chinook, which remain primarily in the Salmon and South Fork Trinity rivers, are likely to disappear in the next 50 years, the report states. It identifies climate change as likely the greatest threat due to anticipated increases in summer water temperatures.The coho salmon are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act and are critically vulnerable to extinction as wild fish within the next 50 to 100 years, the authors found.Dam construction and habitat degradation from various land use practices are cited as factors.In the Trinity River, it appears the wild coho salmon have been completely replaced by coho from the Trinity River Hatchery, according to the report.Regarding steelhead, not all management agencies distinguish the summer from the winter steelhead, but this report does due to different genetics and timing and finds the summer steelhead to be of “critical” concern. The report authors found that these stream-maturing fish face a high likelihood of extinction in California in the next 50 years due to their reliance on cold water sources during the warmest summer months.This area’s fall-run chinook and winter steelhead are in somewhat better shape than the coho, spring chinook and summer steelhead.The report authors listed the Upper Klamath/Trinity Rivers fall chinook at a “moderate” level of concern.The run is not in immediate danger of extinction, although their numbers have declined in recent decades. Returns of hatchery-origin fish may be masking a decline in wild production in the Klamath-Trinity Basin, according to the report.The ocean-maturing winter steelhead in this area are faring better than their summer counterparts and are listed in the report as “moderate concern.” They are not as vulnerable to climate change due to their migration timing.“Generally, they’re on a downward trajectory but they’re not of high concern yet,” said Pat Samuel, one of the report’s authors and conservation program coordinator with CalTrout.The report includes lists of conservation actions that hopefully could change the trajectory for each of the struggling fish populations.These include several actions that are already in the works, such as removal of the four lowermost hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, which are privately owned, to open up historical habitat. Groundbreaking on that project is slated to begin in 2020.Other recommendations include adaptive management of stream flows and habitat restoration which is ongoing with the Trinity River Restoration Program, and updating of hatchery practices, which is under way with a state Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery review.The report also recommends limiting harvest of chinook to fin-clipped hatchery fish to determine hatchery impacts on wild fish. Currently, agencies attempt to preserve enough fish to spawn with fishing quotas.The report authors recommend halting all production hatchery programs for coho to allow wild stocks to recover. Hatchery fish can compete with wild stocks for food and habitat, and reduce their fitness for reproducing in the wild through interbreeding. Hatchery production is not believed to be the main reason for the coho’s decline, but is a factor, Samuel said.However, emergency rearing facilities are recommended to increase juvenile coho survival during drought or a significant watershed restoration project.The report recommends amending fishing regulations to protect vulnerable spring-run chinook salmon and summer steelhead while in fresh water.Management of land-use activities is also on the list.While climate change is the overarching threat to the salmonids, Samuel noted that in the North State, agriculture in general and marijuana growing in particular are “a major driver in the decline of fish in the area.”The plants need water in the summer, “but that’s when coho and steelhead need it the most,” he said. “They’ll be in those small tributary streams over the summer and if sucked dry it reduces their survival.”
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