PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON TROUT

PO Box 402 Duvall, WA 98019 · Tel 425/788-1167 · Fax 425/788-9634 · wildfish@washingtontrout.org

Contact: Ramon Vanden Brulle, 425/788-1167 x222; ramon@washingtontrout.org

For Immediate Release: November 15, 2001

 

Science Panel Criticizes NMFS Over Salmon-Harvest Plans

A federally appointed science panel charged with evaluating and guiding Endangered Species Act-related salmon recovery has severely criticized the National Marine Fisheries Service over its approach to managing salmon harvest.

The Salmon Recovery Scientific Review Panel was appointed by NMFS to oversee the work of so-called Technical Recovery Teams, or TRTs. The Review Panel evaluates salmon-recovery efforts for “scientific credibility,” and determines whether they are based on “well accepted ecological and evolutionary principles.”  The Panel is made up of six highly qualified scientists, nationally recognized experts in genetics, ecology, and conservation biology. All six have participated in National Research Council activities and hold prestigious awards, fellowships, and scientific and academic leadership positions. The TRTs are responsible for developing salmon-recovery plans for each ESA- listed population of salmon and steelhead, called Evolutionarily Significant Units, or ESUs. The Review Panel meets with the TRTs several times a year to review their work and make recommendations.

In early November, the Review Panel issued a report from its August meeting that was harshly critical of the way NMFS manages the harvest of Threatened and Endangered salmon and steelhead. Many observers were surprised by the unusually sharp tone of the report. The panel said they were “mystified” how NMFS could justify current harvest-rates on ESA-listed salmon.  After calling it “clear” that harvest had contributed significantly to salmon declines, the panel noted that NMFS continues to permit “biologically unsustainable” harvest levels of listed salmon. They bluntly admonished NMFS to develop a more “rational policy.”

Here are some quotes from the Review Panel’s report on its August meeting:

 

·        “Despite hours of presentations and numerous probing questions… we remain somewhat mystified concerning the scientific justification for current allowable harvests, especially the continuation of substantial or high allowable harvest rates on listed salmonid ESUs [populations].”

·        “[NMFS] presenters were unnecessarily defensive, and at times even obfuscatory.”

·        “NMFS should develop a rational [harvest] policy that does not demean scientific common sense.”

·        “It is clear that exploitation contributed, in several cases quite significantly, to the [salmon] population declines…. Substantial harvest of listed ESUs continues to be permitted by NMFS.”

·        “NMFS personnel… use subjectivity and legalism, and their inability to promote a transition to terminal fisheries to justify biologically unsustainable harvest rates on several listed ESUs.” [Emphasis added.]

·        “The… models used to set allowable harvests each year need to be much more thoroughly tested and validated.”

·        “Legal and policy constraints under which NMFS operates (Indian treaty rights and the Magnuson-Stevens Act) …should also be carefully reexamined to determine whether they are superceded by the Endangered Species Act.”

·        “It appears that harvest decisions are never connected with other factors in an overall restoration and recovery plan.”

·        “We were frustrated… to hear discussion of optimal harvesting strategies, as if no other factors were involved… it was our view that it was this isolation that led to some counterintuitive recommendations, such as to continue the harvesting of declining populations.”

·        “NMFS should reexamine their policies and procedures for setting allowable yearly harvests and evaluating their long-term consequences.”

 

In September, Washington Trout, a state-wide environmental group, filed a 60-Day Notice of intent to sue NMFS over the federal agency’s approval of a salmon-harvest plan for Puget Sound.  The group welcomed the panel’s report.

“For a long time Washington Trout has been critical of the way NMFS and other agencies manage fishing,” said Kurt Beardslee, Washington Trout’s Executive Director. “It’s encouraging to learn that NMFS’s own Scientific Review Panel apparently shares many of our concerns over the way ESA-listed salmon are being harvested.”

The full text of the Review Panel’s report, along with the names and backgrounds of the panel members, is available online at http://research.nwfsc.noaa.gov/cbd/trt/rsrp.htm .

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